[mnshortdraw]

What should I do? I smacked a doe tonight and had a great blood trail until the downpour. I was on my hands and knees for an hour and a half looking for blood, but I think it washed away as it was probably still wet. I am going back in an hour with the lantern, but am at a loss what to do. 25 yard broadside shot and tucked it in just behind the shoulder, she should have fallen over immediately. I thought about bringing my dog with, but she is old and I don't think she is capable of staying on a trail. My confidence is at a new low, and my hunt is badly soured. I hate wasting a doe that I watched grow up for the past three years. I cant let it sit until tomorrow or the meat will be wasted. Any tips appreciated.

 

[copterdoc]

It takes A LOT of rain to remove the scent of blood. A dog can smell blood better after a 1" downpour then after 4 hrs of sun on a low humidity, high temp day.

 

[PSUBowhunter]

If you hit her as well as you think, then i doubt she will go far. How far did you track her before you lost the trail?

If you have no blood to track, you might be better off just waiting until morning when you will be able to see her laying. I am sure the meat will still be okay in the morning. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[JLR]

More info

Give us more infirmation. Did the arrow pass through? What was the blood sign on the arrow? How did the doe react to the hit? Did she stumble or hunch up? Did you hear her fall? What kind of cover were you in? Open woods or thick cover? How long since the shot?

 

[Bowhunter57]

mnshortdraw,
You're doing the right thing by keeping after the deer and not giving up. :nod: The dog may be a plus, as their noses are outstanding.

If worse comes to worse, try laying some white toilet paper on the wet areas where you think the blood trail should be and the paper (if there's blood) will turn pinkish....indicating blood. :thumb:

Otherwise, you'll have to resort to looking for the nearest water source, broken twigs, torn leaves, game trails, etc. .....the usual stuff in tracking.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

 

[mnshortdraw]

deer

Thick cover, but good open shot, she hunched down at the shot and then wheeled around and flat out ran. I didn't find my arrow, but I saw it flying upwards away from her after it hit, it passed through. It made a sharp crack when it hit. I was able to track her for about 40 yards with good medium red blood and lots of it. There were four other deer with her, and they kept criss crossing eachother's trails so I can't tell exactly where she went. She seemed to go in a straight line through some dry cedar swamp, so I will start there, and hope for the best. After the shot, I waited for an hour before I went to look. She didn't crash through the woods or lay down at all. After 10 yards, she didn't make any noise so I am at a loss as to what happened. I am going back once my clothes are dry. Thanks for the input, and keep it coming.

 

[spivaroni]

Do you have an ultraviolet flashlight, or know anyone that has?
These are awesome for finding blood,

 

[STRIPMINER]

If you have any volunteer firefighter friends see if they can bring a thermal imager into the woods for you. It works REALLY well. I have seen deer from over 60 yards away in the dark. Sometimes they will do it for you as training for a lost child or Alstheimer's patient.

 

[mnshortdraw]

flashlight

I don't have any experiance with these, do they really work? I don't have access unfortunately.

 

[JLR]

The thick ceder swamp may have kept the rain from washing all sign away by acting like an umbrella. If the blood you found was bright red clean blood I would assume a good heart/lung hit. If the blood was a darker crimson color it may be a liver hit. Either way, under the circumstances I would wait at least four hours just to make sure she is down for good. Go very slow and try your best to stay on sign that she left behind such as blood, tracks, scuffed leaves, broken branches, etc. Dont forget to look for blood up on the vegitation about waist high. Especially on the underside of leaves and branches (protected from the rain), as well as on tree trunks. With a good hit she will be within 150 yards of where she was hit. If you don't find her tonight do not worry about the meat. The temperatures will be down in the 50s and should be okay. Stick with the trail, go slow, and save the grid searches for tommorrow morning when it is light out.

 

[JLR]

What happened, did you find the deer?

 

[mnshortdraw]

deer

I tracked in the rain from midnight to 5 am this morning before I had to work. I found more blood in the dry swamp, and laid a string trail as I went. I didn't find her yet, but she had laid down and bled quite a bit in two spots. She has for sure made it 100 yards. I am about to change into my rain gear and get back on her. It has been pouring rain all night and all day with 40 mph winds, but I have three people to bring with to start a grid search. Wish me luck. I am losing faith in my skills.:sad:

 

[JLR]

Keep at it. Don't give up till all options have been exhausted. You owe the deer and your peace of mind your best try. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

 

[mnshortdraw]

found

Thanks for the tips everyone, I recovered the deer today. It had been almost exactly 24 hours since i shot her, but there was a cold rain, and low temps last night. I think much of the meat is salvageable. I did get a full passthrough including an edge of a shoulder blade. I was using a four blade muzzy 90 gr. on a gold tip shaft 365 gr. total from my Bowtech Mighty Mite at 65 lbs. Very pleased with the holes, but wondering how it went 125 yards bleeding like it did. It should have fallen over right there. Anyway, I am glad that I did my part. I can now rest easy knowing I did everything I could. Best of all, It is my first bow kill. 172 lbs. Thanks everyone.

 

[upstatwhitetail]

nice , glad to see you stuck with it and found the deer. like i had said in another post i hit one last yr in the spleen and it went 100yrd or so and bled all the way to the crash.. nice job.

 

[hilltophunter]

congrats on your recovery....nothing like taking the first animal with your bow...lifetime memory

 

[Greg]

Great to hear you recovered your deer! CONGRATS

 

[tarheelbuck]

Congratulations on finding your deer. I harvested my first bowkill this evening. I'm in central NC and the rain was falling when I left the woods. Stayed out for two hours and was lucky enough to find a blood trail that could be followed.

 

[Butternut]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I recovered the deer today. It had been almost exactly 24 hours since i shot her, but there was a cold rain, and low temps last night. I think much of the meat is salvageable. I did get a full passthrough including an edge of a shoulder blade. I was using a four blade muzzy 90 gr. on a gold tip shaft 365 gr. total from my Bowtech Mighty Mite at 65 lbs. Very pleased with the holes, but wondering how it went 125 yards bleeding like it did. It should have fallen over right there. Anyway, I am glad that I did my part. I can now rest easy knowing I did everything I could. Best of all, It is my first bow kill. 172 lbs. Thanks everyone.

AWESOME STORY!!

Congratulations!!!!!

 

[Charlieeasy]

The Way It "should" Be!

I tracked in the rain from midnight to 5 am this morning before I had to work.


Plus the 1 1/2 hours before on hands and knees. GREAT JOB, now there
is a "Stand Up" bowhunter. Congrats.......Chuck