sick to my stomach and having troubling sleeping.. Looking for advice

[mcs33]

Hello to all and I want to thank everyone that takes the time to read and help... I shot a deer with a crossbow, nov.10th in the afternoon.. It was the first deer I have ever shot with a crossbow. I had practice with it and was confident with how accurate it was...To make a long story short, as soon as I shot,I felt that the shot was low and back a bit,but it went right through. The deer didn't jump or hunch up.. it scrambled away as fast a it could ( as anything would do when it is hit by something), ran 50 yds( tail down) past some brush,and came to an immediate stop and looked all around him. It stood there and I thought maybe the shot was better than I thought and he will tip over.? Then after standing for a good 45 seconds to a minute, I thought, maybe I didn't hit him at all? He then took a few steps forward, stopped again, took a few more steps forward and jumped a short fence.. I watched him walk slowly into thick brush where he looked like he was going to lay down.. Within 2 minutes, he comes running back full speed like something kicked him out, and stops right before the area where I shot him..I waited, ready to take another shot if I could get one. He was a smart old buck and knew he needed to get past this spot to not have this happen again. He turns a bit goes down a gully, back up the other side, and bolts across the opening, tail down.. No way could I shoot again
I thought I must have missed him, got right down, and went to get my arrow..
To my surprise, it was covered in blood. I followed his first trail where he scrambled away and saw drops of blood. I continued to where he stopped the first time and saw a foamy bubble about the size of a plum and saturated blood a little smaller than a pie plate. I followed the trail a little further, until he ran back down and up the gully and he was spraying blood pretty good on the way up. I stopped there, left and came back 5 hrs later with help. There was a constant blood trail with nickel to quarter size drops every foot or so. Some spots were every 3 or 4 inches and others were 2 ft apart. There were bubbles in some of the drops but not all. He stopped briefly a few times where he had saturated puddles the size of a coffee cup.He basically walked for 1/2 mile and never quit. The blood trail began to get hard to follow and it was 17degrees, so we marked the spot, got a few hours sleep and started again in the morning.
We picked up the blood trail right away, since daylight made it much easier. We followed the trail another 100yds. In that blood trail,we found 2 spots that were the size of coffee cups or soup bowls and a frozen clump of solid blood a half inch thick, in each area, the size of a half dollar.
After that, the trail slowed up a bit, and I seemed to lose track. I went towards water hoping he went that way and i may pick up trail again..I found a bed that he had finally stopped and rested. Very little blood. When he got up he started bleeding again. He went another 30 yrds and bedded down again.Next thing you know I see a flash and its a deer but all I see is the back end. I contined ahead and see it must be him..fresh blood with bubbles.
We tracked another 200 yrds, the whole time he is dropping blood every foot or so, and spraying in some areas. I thought for sure hes going to be down.. We tracked til dark where he crossed a dirt road and we lost trail again. I just couldn't give up, went back next morning and couldn't find a new trail. I just about gave up, got on the 4 wheeler and started looking around thick areas where he may have stopped. Getting ready to quit I look down and see a fresh drop of blood, and then another.. Now I see another soup bowl size splatter and soaking leaves with bubbles in blood. Following still another 100 yards where he is zig zagging and circling, not leaving drops as much, but puddles here and there..lots of bubbles and splatter at times. Finally the trail has stopped, or so we think. He has bled with bubbles, for probably close to a mile, sprayed blood at times, puddles of blood, from friday afternoon til fresh new trail Sunday morning.. foamy bubble blood in the beginning.Can he live? We searched again today to see if he is balled up somewhere and found nothing. Has anyone seen a deer bleed for 2 nights and two days for a mile and live?. I want to put him out of his misery or at least find him before the crows and coyotes do. Or are these signs he could live? Any advice is appreciated.. Thank you

 

[George]

Moving around and bleeding for 2 days and nights would suggest a non lethal hit. The bolt going clear thru not leaving hardware inside of him that would fester will give the animal a good chance to heal and live on.

G

 

[mcs33]

Thanks for your reply. We did see the deer running a doe last night !!! He seemed to be ok.. It is a relief to know he is alive and will probably recover. Its a terrible feeling to think he was suffering and laying down until he died..Thanks again for your time

 

[Vector]

There is a great book to read to learn more about hits and recovery. It is called Dead On and it is by John Jeanneney. It is a section of his larger book on blood tracking with dogs. You should be able to get it on his website or Amazon. It is pure gold.

I am glad you got to confirm he is still living.

 

[mcs33]

I just looked on Amazon and they have some great deals on the book. The day I happened to see him again, I was feeling so bad, and thought how he must be suffering and bedding down ready to die.... And then, there he was, running a doe like nothing had happened. Even though I didn't get him, it was almost as good to see him alive and well. Thank you for your reply, and the info on the book !. Have a great day !!

 

[Vector]

It is a small book and an easy read, but it is JAMMED full of information. I would suggest reading it with a highlighter in hand, and don't be afraid to dog-ear the pages.

Best of luck to you in the future!

 

[mcs33]

Thanks again and Best of luck to you as well !!

 

[Tap]

There is a great book to read to learn more about hits and recovery. It is called Dead On and it is by John Jeanneney. It is a section of his larger book on blood tracking with dogs. You should be able to get it on his website or Amazon. It is pure gold.

I have that book. It's excellent.
J.J.'s other book is great as well. Even if you don't ever plan on owning a recovery dog, there's a lot of priceless info in it. I actually got it to help myself understand how dogs use their sense of smell. I figured that I would learn some things about how deer use their sense of smell by learning how dogs use theirs. I learned some valuable info in both those books.

 

[mcs33]

Good old New York state has so many restrictions on EVERYTHING we do. From what I understand, an individual cannot use a dog to track a deer,...it has to be a licensed and approved dog with the state DEC. You would think that dept. of environmental conservation would want a person to find a deer they have shot , and not make it so difficult. But again, that's NY for you.. High taxes and too much government. Lucky they haven't taken our guns yet. Next they will want us to throw rocks at the deer to kill them. I am definitely getting the book. What is the other book? I have 4 dogs, I think it would be great to TRY to train one for tracking.. It does sound like there plenty of valuable information...Thanks for your input !!

 

[Tap]

I am definitely getting the book. What is the other book? I have 4 dogs, I think it would be great to TRY to train one for tracking.. It does sound like there plenty of valuable information...Thanks for your input !!

"Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer".
But there's a lot more info in it than just what pertains to dogs.
JJ has tracked over 900 deer (as of the writing of that book). If a guy can't learn anything from John, then he either already knows it all (BS) or should be writing books, too.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[mcs33]

I will look into it for sure... learning something new is always interesting...Thanks again and best of luck to you in the future!

 

[Vector]

When I have mentioned the dog book to folks in the past, I sometimes hear things like: I don't own a dog though.

An important note.....everything in Dead On is in the dog book!

 

[Drycreek]

Vector, thanks for the heads up ! I have a blood trailing JRT, but I ordered the book anyway. More knowledge is always a good thing !

 

[Vector]

Good looking dog!!

 

[Drycreek]

Good looking dog!!

Thanks, he's the boss around his house !

 

[Fish]

Finding Wounded Deer, which is the sequel to Trailing Whitetails.
Great look at true to life wounded whitetails.
I remember a few of those tracking jobs.

 

[TheOldOak]

That's pretty amazing. If you tracked that deer over a mile and found steady blood over two days, I would have thought there is no way he could survive that. But if you saw him 2-3 days later chasing a doe, it's obvious it was a nonlethal hit that apparently did not clip any organs, although he did lose a lot of blood. Amazing how tough those animals are.

 

[Brushpile]

I will look into it for sure... learning something new is always interesting...Thanks again and best of luck to you in the future!

The buck you shot was the perfect description of a single lung shot deer. The amount of blood makes a hunter believe the deer is dead, but the deer will normally survive on one lung. A deer has one ounce of blood per pound, and must lose 35% to die. The rate of loss is also a big factor, so following a drop every 10-20 feet for a mile, almost always is tracking a live deer.

 

[Tap]

The buck you shot was the perfect description of a single lung shot deer. The amount of blood makes a hunter believe the deer is dead, but the deer will normally survive on one lung. A deer has one ounce of blood per pound, and must lose 35% to die. The rate of loss is also a big factor, so following a drop every 10-20 feet for a mile, almost always is tracking a live deer.

Another point about 1 lung hits that is seldom mentioned is the LOCATION of the hit in the single lung.
High and back in 1 lung is not as fatal as center or lower and forward.
And yes, you can 1 lung a deer hit in the center of that lung...steep, down angle shots are prime for 1 lung hits. A straight down, 5 yard shot is more risky than a 18 yard shot that presents a less extreme angle.
Not all 1 lung hits are created equal.
We see frothy blood on the trail and sometimes treat the tracking job incorrectly.

 

[Brushpile]

Another point about 1 lung hits that is seldom mentioned is the LOCATION of the hit in the single lung.
High and back in 1 lung is not as fatal as center or lower and forward.
And yes, you can 1 lung a deer hit in the center of that lung...steep, down angle shots are prime for 1 lung hits. A straight down, 5 yard shot is more risky than a 18 yard shot that presents a less extreme angle.
Not all 1 lung hits are created equal.
We see frothy blood on the trail and sometimes treat the tracking job incorrectly.

Have you ever recovered a one lung shot deer, where only one lung and nothing but one lung were hit? I asked that question on the United Blood Trackers Forum, and it's very rare.