Archery: collasped then stagered away?

[Heath423]

I hate it when big things collapse at impack then gets up and staggers away. 35yard Shot was a little high right behind shoulder. Giving it some time before I go to impact zone at try to find arrow and blood for more clues. Hoping that he expires quickly and have a clean successful recovery.

 

[Ski]

Sounds like you possibly clipped the spine. Not enough to sever the cord or break anything, but enough to drop him momentarily. If it was the bottom side of the spine he's dead with a double lung hit. But if it nicked the top of the spine he's probably not going to die because you only hit muscle. I hope you got him/her!!!

 

[Volbuck777]

What's the blood look like

 

[ImThere]

Any update?

 

[cbhunter]

Good luck in your recovery and update us when you can

 

[ROVERBOY]

Hope you find it.

 

[Safari Hunt]

My father had the same thing. Found the scope was waaay off, shooting high. Guys figure he hit the antlers and stunned it for a few seconds. Only place it could have hit with the POI so high with no possibility of a body hit. No blood or hair anywhere.

 

[RS]

I had the same thing happen on a recent archery hunt in Kansas. Sounds about like the hit was in the same place as my deer. I believe I clipped the top of a lung. I let it go overnight and the coyotes found it first. Kansas has some hungry coyotes.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Good luck....hope you make recovery

 

[Heath423]

What's the blood look like

It was a pass through. Arrow was burried in the ground.
Blood was heavy at 1st. Bright red but no bubble. I've tracked a good 600 yards. Blood is getting very slim at this point. No signs of bedding down.
Had to leave and pick up daughter from school but will resume shortly. Not looking good though.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

How long did you wait before tracking him? I am always timid on questionable shots and give the deer a few hours. By that time, they are usually too weak and don't spook or bugger off as easy when you are tracking. I've walked up on several deer that were just laying there looking the opposite direction from me, like they were so delirious. Best of luck

 

[Heath423]

How long did you wait before tracking him? I am always timid on questionable shots and give the deer a few hours. By that time, they are usually too weak and don't spook or bugger off as easy when you are tracking. I've walked up on several deer that were just laying there looking the opposite direction from me, like they were so delirious. Best of luck

3 hours before i started tracking. However it is public and there were 2 guys hunting. I spoke to them and they said they have not seen anything.

 

[Crappieaddict]

Good luck.

 

[Volbuck777]

It was a pass through. Arrow was burried in the ground.
Blood was heavy at 1st. Bright red but no bubble. I've tracked a good 600 yards. Blood is getting very slim at this point. No signs of bedding down.
Had to leave and pick up daughter from school but will resume shortly. Not looking good though.

Good luck man, blood looks fairly good in my opinion. Hope you find him

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

It was a pass through. Arrow was burried in the ground.
Blood was heavy at 1st. Bright red but no bubble. I've tracked a good 600 yards. Blood is getting very slim at this point. No signs of bedding down.
Had to leave and pick up daughter from school but will resume shortly. Not looking good though.

Good luck.

 

[Ski]

It was a pass through. Arrow was burried in the ground.
Blood was heavy at 1st. Bright red but no bubble. I've tracked a good 600 yards. Blood is getting very slim at this point. No signs of bedding down.
Had to leave and pick up daughter from school but will resume shortly. Not looking good though.

It sounds like a back strap hit. The bright blood with no bubbles, knocking him down but getting back up, and 600+ yard blood trail with no beds, tells the story. My guess is you hit a spinous process, momentarily crippling him, but he'll likely recover and live to be hunted another day. Had you hit vitals or a major artery, he'd have expired & you'd have found him before 600yds. I know it sucks. I've been there more than once. Doesn't mean you did anything wrong. Sometimes things just happen.

 

[Heath423]

So just got home. To sum it up, post #16 of Ski pretty well tells the story. I did go back and look around some bedding area's just in case. Thirty minutes before dark I start heading back to the truck with head hanging low. This walk was through a thorn covered field that has not been bush hogged in numerous years. When all of a sudden I bump an antlered buck looking very similar to the deer (remember I had my bow so no shot taken). I walked up to where the buck jumped up from....numerous beds in the area. I find the one he came from and it has fresh blood on both sides of the bed. This confirms that it was the buck that I passed my arrow through just 9 hours earlier. The blood was very minimal. Which brings me back to post #16 summing it all up. Hopefully, the nice 8 pointer will survive.
My head is still hanging low right now as I had the chance this morning and managed to mess it up somehow. But there is a part of me that feels better about the situation of bumping him this evening and at least I can hope he will heal and not end up with a coyote eating its backside off.
Had I been able to harvest that buck, it would have been the 1st time I've ever tagged out on bucks. I always hold on to the last buck tag for something rare that doesn't come often. Anyway, will be back after it in a few days.

 

[reloadxx]

It sucks if you hunt long enough it is going to happen. Good thing is he was back in there even after being shot. My guess is get back in there asap and kill him

 

[Ski]

You might get another chance yet. It's amazing how tough they are. He no doubt will make a full recovery. Perhaps there's even a silver lining to the otherwise depressing situation.

Same thing happened to me one year. I arrowed what at the time was a really nice, perfect 3yr old 8pt, but he ducked a bit and the arrow went through back strap. I never saw him again the rest of the season but caught him on camera several times. The following year he exploded and grew all kinds of trash and weird stickers. Not quite a non-typical but a cool rack. I've always been told that injuries cause abnormal antler growth but never actually saw it happen on a deer I had been monitoring. Perhaps your deer will not only survive, but also put on some junk to make for an interesting rack next season.

 

[MUP]

Several of us have been there this year. It really does suck, but we have to keep going, and redemption is just around the corner sometimes. I've shot and missed a good buck during ML season, killed a nice 10 pt opening day of rifle, and then missed a bigger buck last Saturday with the same rifle again! I'm hoping I still have one redemption tag left!

 

[Heath423]

Thanks for all the comments. Sitting today out to get some things done. Will be back in the woods Thursday.