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Curious on tracking


DaveC

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Hi Guys, 

Im not a hunter by no means. But something has me asking this question. I came across a buck on the weekend that was shot just back of the front right leg. Looked like a perfect kill shot. The deer was on the creek bank dead. I thought to myself, did this hunter fail to track the deer? and how far can it run on what looked to be a perfect target shot from what I have see as to where to shoot them. Looked like it had been there possibly a day and starting to decay. Kind of thought to myself...surely it could not have run that far? or the guy lost sight of it and could not find its tracks. Is that possible what happened?

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Iknow a guy that shot one near port robinson said it was a good shot but very little blood trail and he searched for 4 hours.then went back next mornin found where it had bed down bleeding and thinks it was alive and he pushed it through the bush further and completely lost blood and there was other deer tracks all over the area?the guy was pretty bummed as he had only shot 1 other before....and i msgd him and he said green n yellow arrow fletchings ?

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Unfortunately this happen's more than we like even if it was a good shot the animals adrenaline kicks in and will run as far as it can if this happen's the best thing to do is to keep an eye on the deer as long as you can then go to the last point it was seen the deer might not be dead yet so risking running the deer mark the last spot it was seen if the deer was shot in the morning leave it alone for a few hours then go back to look if in the evening let it go for the night then go look in the morning But some times the shot hole will stop bleeding and not make a blood trail to follow . I wouldn't say he just did'n bother with it it's sad but some times it happens . There is one other point to make is that the deer might have ran on to a property that he does not have permission to go on he might have asked to go look for it and the owner said no this also happen's a lot even if you go to the M.N.R they can't make the owner let you go look sad but true.So there is a number of things that could have happen'd or he just didn't bother to look very hard and gave up on it but i really don't think this is the case 

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As i stated in my previous post that i know a guy who shot an 8 point buck in port robinson along the railway and canal area ...he had searched and followed blood as far as he could till the blood was gone ...it was shot what he thought was right behind the front (right)shoulder and he said at least half the arrow was stickin out while the deer ran away ...blood was just drops here and there until it was lost..not that it really matters now but it would give this hunter some closure as to where it went and if it lived or if its not the same deer at all and just a real crazy coincidence! It was shot 430 friday evening and it he jumped the deer off its bed saturday morning it probably wouldve started bleeding again and succumed to its injurys or expires shortly thereafter...just waiting for a response from dave c...and it does happen alot as gunner pointed out .....i lost 2 deer in one year back in 1999.one jumped in a river an drowned right in front of me!

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It really  is amazing how far a deer can run with an apparently fatal wound. Your shot placement and bullet or arrow performance is very important. I know it is hard but the best thing to do after taking your shot is to sit tight for at least 30 min. If the animal is not pushed, there is a good chance it will lie down after a short distance, stiffen up and die. While you're sitting, mark the spot you shot it exactly in your memory, once you get to the spot you can become confused as to the exact location. Several years ago one of our party shot a cow and calf moose in a big swamp. He thought they both dropped right away but try as we did, we could not find the calf. Half a dozen of us were in there all morning field dressing the cow and positioning it to be hauled out with an ATV. It was only when we were leaving several hours later that we stumbled on the calf. It was within 50 feet of the cow and we had walked by it many times without seeing it.

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The hunter that shot the buck is a friend of a friend that has only hunted maybe 10 times in 4 yrs of having his liscense.....i was told that he shot and watched the deer run about 100 yrds lost sight of it in the thickets so he got down and checked for blood at the sight of impact and then left the bush in the opposite direction to go get help and a toboggan...they put the time in to track it but the blood trail was scarce forcing them to go back in the morning omly to find fresh melted snowand blood where it had bedded twice through the night so they figured it was alive and they pushed it but from there they didnt find more blood but several deer tracks goin every which way so they searched an hour more and were outta time at this point....im hopin that dave c. Will see this all soon enough and can elaborate on the whole thing as to where when how and if its even the same one or coincidental...the guy is waiting like a child for a christmas present just to know details as its now just a lost deer and time to move on...but curiosity is killing him and he even asked whether if its his arrow and if dave or anyone removed the deer from the sight cause he woulda went to at least get his arrow and cut the antlers off for his dog....well see i guess

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Part of the problem may be the type of broad head used.

i used to use razor blade insert broad heads, but tried switching 4 years ago to a mechanical broad head in my crossbow bolts.  Tried a Rage brand and lost a 6pt buck because of them.  Made a good, accurate shot at 20 yds, and searched for 3 hours for the deer in a bush I knew intimately because I have hunted it for over 50 years on the family farm, but never found it.  3 weeks later I found it laying in a spot I had walked thru at least 3 times that day I shot it.  The Rage head made a small entry and exit wound w little bleeding. I figured the deer ran in a big circle thru the large bush, and came back after I had left, before finally dropping hours later.

 Totally ticked at the performance of that brand, and quit using them.

3 years ago I started using Excalibur mechanicals, and got a deer each year.  Great performance from those - both deer dead within 25 yards with good entry and exit bleeding, and excellent internal performance from the blades on them!

If the blades don’t do a good job cutting internally the deer will run a long way before succumbing, and that can mean a lost animal even though the hunter can spend a lot of time looking for it.

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1 hour ago, genec said:

Part of the problem may be the type of broad head used.

i used to use razor blade insert broad heads, but tried switching 4 years ago to a mechanical broad head in my crossbow bolts.  Tried a Rage brand and lost a 6pt buck because of them.  Made a good, accurate shot at 20 yds, and searched for 3 hours for the deer in a bush I knew intimately because I have hunted it for over 50 years on the family farm, but never found it.  3 weeks later I found it laying in a spot I had walked thru at least 3 times that day I shot it.  The Rage head made a small entry and exit wound w little bleeding. I figured the deer ran in a big circle thru the large bush, and came back after I had left, before finally dropping hours later.

 Totally ticked at the performance of that brand, and quit using them.

3 years ago I started using Excalibur mechanicals, and got a deer each year.  Great performance from those - both deer dead within 25 yards with good entry and exit bleeding, and excellent internal performance from the blades on them!

If the blades don’t do a good job cutting internally the deer will run a long way before succumbing, and that can mean a lost animal even though the hunter can spend a lot of time looking for it.

That is true genec i never used the rage  I have been using the spitfire max 1 3/4 never had a deer run past 20 yards if they ran at all 

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On 11/19/2019 at 9:00 PM, fishingking said:

Iknow a guy that shot one near port robinson said it was a good shot but very little blood trail and he searched for 4 hours.then went back next mornin found where it had bed down bleeding and thinks it was alive and he pushed it through the bush further and completely lost blood and there was other deer tracks all over the area?the guy was pretty bummed as he had only shot 1 other before....and i msgd him and he said green n yellow arrow fletchings ?

No this was not that area fishingking, was actually south of the border near one of my fishing locations. Like I say, it looked like a perfect shot just back of the left front should behind leg. It was lying on the south bank of the river like it had crossed the river and colapsed on the bank after it ran from the other side...what confused me with its position was looked like it crossed the river from the opposite side. The opposite side has a steep drop off bank about at least 10ft or higher then about 100yds of river to cross about 3-4ft deep. It was a buck with just two small antlers. I was just curious, as as evident by the responses here is you guys go to great effort to try and track your kill down...which is the right thing to do without giving up so easily. After having hit 2 deer with my car at two locations where I live and one of them I snapped its leg off just hanging by its fur...hobbled off the road after looking at me with the saddest face...confirmed I will never be a hunter..lol. I did not let it go to waste though and called my hunting friend and he came and gutted it out, then I went to the local MNR in Cambridge and they gave me paperwork to take to the butcher and asked I return the lower jaw to them. Cost like $30 to have it butchered and I got about 80lbs of meat...the rest, was bruised and not good. The second one, I hit on the 401, came over the center concrete guard rail same senerio, and got about same amount meat. Both times did extensive damage to my car. So I don't even need to hunt..lol. I probably should have reported that deer on the riverbank to the local game@fish but I was not thinking about that. 

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Hi Davec. Yeah the unfortunate truth is that a well "bullet" hit deer could drop in its tracks, but most likely will run, possibly a few hundred yrds. As a hunter you typically wait some time before trying to pickup a blood trail and try your best to track it.

most times you find the animal within 10-50 yrds, but othertimes its just not possible to locate it. Sad truth. The one you found may one of those few that didn't leave a recoverable blood trail. I once tracked a well bow hit deer over half a mile in the middle of a snow storm. It crossed two bean fields and one road before we found it 3 hrs later. Amazing animals.

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Thanks for clarifying the situation dave c.....the hunter is going to take a look this weekend in the area last blood was found and try once more now that he knows it wasnt his deer.hes after his 10 dollar arrow and 20 dollar broadhead and possibly the antlers if its found !

.

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