Shot but no blood

[jeffrey.cline9]

Took a shot at a buck tonight 20 or 30 minutes before dark. I can't seem to find any blood at all but the deer jumped and ran. The shot was with a 30-06 shooting 165 grain from about 50 yards away and maybe 20-30 feet up on a cliff overlooking a clearing. My shot was placed behind the forward shoulder maybe a bit high. I found where I think the bullet impacted ground and some fresh droppings. Other than that couldn't find much of anything in the dark. The gun was shooting fairly well about a week ago.

We're going back out in the morning to look for him in the daylight. In the meantime I'm racking my brain as to what happened. I'd like to get a few opinions on whether the deer was hit and how I might locate if so.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[readonly]

It is possible that you missed. All you can do is a thorough search in the morning light and if he is hit good he won't go far if not pushed.

 

[Buckly]

Deer can run a long ways with no blood showing Or blood you can’t see very well especially at night. Or you missed. Good idea to search in the morning.

 

[Drycreek]

Deer, when hit, do all kinds of things. I’ve seen prodigious blood trails almost from the impact point that looked like you painted a trail and I’ve seen little to no blood until 20’ before they fell. Those and anything in between is possible. Good luck and I hope you find him before the coyotes do.

 

[readonly]

So what's the update?

 

[jeffrey.cline9]

No luck finding him. No sign of blood or hair where I think I shot him. Followed what we think was his tracks after the shot. No signs of blood there either. My guess is my shot went high due to shooting downhill and went over his back. Lesson learned I suppose.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Mennoniteman]

There's a pocket of mostly empty space under a whitetails backbone, but above the vitals, where a broadside shot can pass through the chest cavity without killing the deer and without leaving much of a blood trail. During my time working at a butcher shop we saw multiple deer with totally healed wound marks in this area, and the biggest PA buck that we got to date had these healed wound marks.

 

[loshonhora]

There's a pocket of mostly empty space under a whitetails backbone, but above the vitals, where a broadside shot can pass through the chest cavity without killing the deer and without leaving much of a blood trail. During my time working at a butcher shop we saw multiple deer with totally healed wound marks in this area, and the biggest PA buck that we got to date had these healed wound marks.

I did this on October 24. Put an arrow through a big mainframe 8, but hit high. I found one splotch of blood about 100 yds away from where he was hit. I got a trail cam pic of him 3 days ago, and saw him chasing does this evening. The neighbor's son did the same thing last year. I saw that buck 8 days later chasing does too. It probably happens more often than you'd think.

 

[massey]

This is not really true. The lungs expand inside the cavity and then deflate a tad when a mammal exhales, but we’re talking less than an inch. If you hit below the spine, you’ll get lung. It’s just that the spine is much lower than most people think. A hit above the spine is just backstrap and most likely won’t effect the deer too much.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Mennoniteman]

This is not really true. The lungs expand inside the cavity and then deflate a tad when a mammal exhales, but we’re talking less than an inch. If you hit below the spine, you’ll get lung. It’s just that the spine is much lower than most people think. A hit above the spine is just backstrap and most likely won’t effect the deer too much.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

The multiple deer that I've observed with healed scars were all below the spine.

 

[massey]

A deer CAN survive a high lung shot. It’s very rare but can happen. If you hit below the spine In the thoracic cavity you’ll hit lung. Well documented and proven by science.
Most bleeding will be internal however.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Drycreek]

The multiple deer that I've observed with healed scars were all below the spine.

I knew someone would dispute that MM, I’ve seen it so many times on various forums. While I don’t have your experience I did shoot a pronghorn once in the exact spot you’re talking about, he was closer than I thought he was and I had no time to range him. He had a little dribble of blood down both sides and other than giving me a dirty look as only pronghorns can do, he was unhurt. My son and his guide tried to close on him for the next 4/5 hours and never could. We watched him chasing does the next day with binos and no fresh blood was ever seen. I’m quite sure he healed up fine. I’m not saying it didn’t hit the very top of his lungs, because I’m not dead certain. I just know he wasn’t slowing down or bedding and that tells me he was ok.

As in most things in life, the word “never” should be replaced with “hardly ever”.

 

[HoytMan]

Call a tracking dog

 

[Mennoniteman]

A deer CAN survive a high lung shot. It’s very rare but can happen. If you hit below the spine In the thoracic cavity you’ll hit lung. Well documented and proven by science.
Most bleeding will be internal however.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

Yeah, my comment about "mostly empty space" right below the spine was mostly an uneducated guess, I don't know what these shots are hitting, and I don't know what the survivability rate is either. What I do know for fact is that I've personally witnessed multiples of deer that had healed scars on both sides of the upper rib cage, including healing broken ribs from the shot. I politely and respectfully disagree with very rare, in the butcher shop it wasn't very rare, it was several a year.

 

[shawn cox]

Yeah, my comment about "mostly empty space" right below the spine was mostly an uneducated guess, I don't know what these shots are hitting, and I don't know what the survivability rate is either. What I do know for fact is that I've personally witnessed multiples of deer that had healed scars on both sides of the upper rib cage, including healing broken ribs from the shot. I politely and respectfully disagree with very rare, in the butcher shop it wasn't very rare, it was several a year.

Shoot your rifle one time to make sure it is still on. That will at least rule that out for you.

 

[THE LLC]

Sounds like you shot UNDER him.

 

[Letmgrow]

Shoot your rifle one time to make sure it is still on. That will at least rule that out for you.

Absolutely the best comment or advice yet.

 

[Letmgrow]

No luck finding him. No sign of blood or hair where I think I shot him. Followed what we think was his tracks after the shot. No signs of blood there either. My guess is my shot went high due to shooting downhill and went over his back. Lesson learned I suppose.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I'm a little confused here. You said the deer stood up on a cliff 20-30' up yet you shot downhill. You saw where you thought the bullet hit the ground. Was that ahead of where the deer stood or behind where the deer stood when you took the shot? If the shot went high as you suspect it would have to have been behind the deer.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'm a little confused here. You said the deer stood up on a cliff 20-30' up yet you shot downhill. You saw where you thought the bullet hit the ground. Was that ahead of where the deer stood or behind where the deer stood when you took the shot? If the shot went high as you suspect it would have to have been behind the deer.

I think he's saying that the shot was from the cliff... Which would support the downhill shot angle.

 

[jeffrey.cline9]

Right I was on the cliff shooting downhill. I did get pictures of the same deer on my trail cam a week or so later. Seems healthy and no wound but quite skittish.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk