Could both be true?

[fairchaser]

So Friday I shot a buck. A nice buck. He looked like a 3.5 or 4.5 year old 7 point around 120. My best guess. No trail came pics of this one.

It wasn't a long shot, 40 yards but he surprised me, often the case in the woods. I looked up and there he was in front of me. I got my rifle up on my trigger stick and mouth grunted. He didn't stop. I had it behind the shoulder and squeezed off. He immediately donkey kicked and took off. I made myself watch him to see if I could see blood. I remember seeing a red spot about where I aimed. He was slightly quartering away. I immediately thought dead deer.

Nevertheless, I loaded another round and watched him run a semicircle about 60 yds and stopped behind some cover. He stood there for a few seconds. This is where I expected him to fall over but he didn't. I caught one glimpse of him start to walk away. No opportunity for a follow up shot. Still not worried I waited at least 20 minutes.

I called my buddy and he came to help me search. To make a long story short, we found one small spot of blood near the initial hit and that was it.

I went back the next morning to look for any buzzards, crows coyotes and found nothing. I'm clueless as to what happened.

Could I have hit him where I thought and still not kill him? I'm shooting a 150 grain hornady interlock out of a .270 at 2700 fps. Killed many deer with this load.

What do you think happened?

 

[Jim Fred]

Sorry to hear that happened to you, I had the same thing happen to me on the biggest buck I have ever seen. Unfortunately all I can say is that sometimes weird things happen while hunting.

 

[MUP]

Dang buddy, sure hate that for you! I would think, if elevation was good, that any movement forward of the buck would have likely helped your case. Who knows. I have wished many times that I could rewind and watch what just happened!

 

[Jcalder]

Not sure you'd found buzzards the next day but by now you should have. Sucks either way. I've learned of they're still up and I have a shot, take another. Not saying you could have. I hit a coyote this year with my smokeless. Knocked a ton of hair off of him and never found blood nor yote.

 

[GRIT]

You hit low Brisket shot.

 

[mike243]

Well you shoot enuff deer and at some point it's going to happen, don't care who you are or what you shoot the odds are against you being 100% , my average is a dam site better now that I don't twang at deer, bang is much more consistent, no jumping the shot lol

 

[fairchaser]

You hit low Brisket shot.

That's possible. With that I would think a light blood trail that eventually peters out. We found no blood trail. It's like the bullet disappeared and there was no exit.

 

[fairchaser]

Not sure you'd found buzzards the next day but by now you should have. Sucks either way. I've learned of they're still up and I have a shot, take another. Not saying you could have. I hit a coyote this year with my smokeless. Knocked a ton of hair off of him and never found blood nor yote.

I might go check again this week say Wednesday. If it's not too late. I could have tried a shot through a lot of brush. I should have knowing now what I know. It couldn't have hurt anything.

 

[Pilchard]

I have shot two deer way low where they mule kicked but wouldn't have died. Luckily I was able to shoot both a 2nd time. One time the hair was burned off below the brisket(didn't even break the skin) but it mule kicked like a heart shot.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Were you following when you squeezed off your shot or did you have a spot picked for him to step into? Easy to hit forward when following.

 

[Ski]

One of the bucks I killed this year had a healing hole in its high shoulder that had closed up but still had puss gummed up on it. The exit was a nickel size hole behind opposite shoulder that had yet to close up. Best I could tell it was a several weeks or months old wound. When I gutted him both lungs were half disintegrated, and my arrow hit liver. Somebody made a perfect double lung hit and he survived.

Upon butchering him I found another broadhead with about 4" of broken arrow encased in a tumor inside the opposite shoulder of his recent wound. It was at least a year or more old.

As if that wasn't enough, while taxidermist and I were camping him out for mount we found a broken antler tip stick in the top of his skull but no wound in the flesh. So that had been there at least a year.

Two hunters before me had made "lethal" shots on that buck, and another buck had pierced his skull. Yet there he was alive and well for me to hunt. Point being sometimes they simply refuse to die. Doesn't mean you messed up and likely nothing you could have done differently to change it. I hope you find him, but don't beat yourself up if you don't.

 

[fairchaser]

Were you following when you squeezed off your shot or did you have a spot picked for him to step into? Easy to hit forward when following.

I just found the spot and broke the shot. Initially I thought maybe I hit back in the paunch, since he was moving when I shot. This is the only thing that explains the lack of blood and likely only one hole.

 

[fairchaser]

One of the bucks I killed this year had a healing hole in its high shoulder that had closed up but still had puss gummed up on it. The exit was a nickel size hole behind opposite shoulder that had yet to close up. Best I could tell it was a several weeks or months old wound. When I gutted him both lungs were half disintegrated, and my arrow hit liver. Somebody made a perfect double lung hit and he survived.

Upon butchering him I found another broadhead with about 4" of broken arrow encased in a tumor inside the opposite shoulder of his recent wound. It was at least a year or more old.

As if that wasn't enough, while taxidermist and I were camping him out for mount we found a broken antler tip stick in the top of his skull but no wound in the flesh. So that had been there at least a year.

Two hunters before me had made "lethal" shots on that buck, and another buck had pierced his skull. Yet there he was alive and well for me to hunt. Point being sometimes they simply refuse to die. Doesn't mean you messed up and likely nothing you could have done differently to change it. I hope you find him, but don't beat yourself up if you don't.

Thanks Ski, They are amazing animals that have a remarkable will to survive. I don't want anything to suffer at my hand! I'm continually trying to improve my skills to keep this from happening. I've been fortunate for a long time, but if you hunt long enough, well stuff happens. That's a great example of their toughness! I've often said, you can't just shoot them, you have to kill em!

 

[Ski]

I just found the spot and broke the shot. Initially I thought maybe I hit back in the paunch, since he was moving when I shot. This is the only thing that explains the lack of blood and likely only one hole.

If he took a rifle round to the gut he should be dead nearby if you didn't bump him before dying.

 

[Lost Lake]

Was it a fairly open shot, without much brush in the way?

Sorry to hear that. Dang.

 

[Ski]

Thanks Ski, They are amazing animals that have a remarkable will to survive. I don't want anything to suffer at my hand! I'm continually trying to improve my skills to keep this from happening. I've been fortunate for a long time, but if you hunt long enough, well stuff happens. That's a great example of their toughness! I've often said, you can't just shoot them, you have to kill em!

Yessir there's nothing we can do sometimes, even if we do everything right. None of us like the feeling of wounding an animal. It feels like a gut punch. But it's a grim reality of being a hunter. Taking lives is what we're trying to do, and staying alive is what they're trying to do. Sometimes we win. Sometimes they do.

 

[Andy S.]

My guess is point of impact was not where you thought it was (vitals, lethal hit). Many times we "see" what we want to see. I suspect non-lethal hit and he's still walking.

 

[RockMcL]

Thoughts:
I think in OP you said mule kicked. I would think high chest. If nothing "spraying" at entrance or exit, he could have went a long way before dumping much blood.

Low/brisket hits I would have expected noticeable hair at the original impact location.

Do you know where rifle is hitting under 50 yds, especially supported as you shot? I have made that mistake before not accounting for actual bullet path in close and extra muzzle rise with just a light touch stabilizing rest on a limb.

I feel ya on not taking the second shot. Especially in brush I am hesitant on wasting meat and hate a shot where I might be reading the body angle wrong.

Sorry for you, hope you see him running around again or at least get settled on what you feel happened.

 

[timberjack86]

One of the bucks I killed this year had a healing hole in its high shoulder that had closed up but still had puss gummed up on it. The exit was a nickel size hole behind opposite shoulder that had yet to close up. Best I could tell it was a several weeks or months old wound. When I gutted him both lungs were half disintegrated, and my arrow hit liver. Somebody made a perfect double lung hit and he survived.

Upon butchering him I found another broadhead with about 4" of broken arrow encased in a tumor inside the opposite shoulder of his recent wound. It was at least a year or more old.

As if that wasn't enough, while taxidermist and I were camping him out for mount we found a broken antler tip stick in the top of his skull but no wound in the flesh. So that had been there at least a year.

Two hunters before me had made "lethal" shots on that buck, and another buck had pierced his skull. Yet there he was alive and well for me to hunt. Point being sometimes they simply refuse to die. Doesn't mean you messed up and likely nothing you could have done differently to change it. I hope you find him, but don't beat yourself up if you don't.

Would love to see pics of the lungs if you took any!

 

[fairchaser]

My guess is point of impact was not where you thought it was (vitals, lethal hit). Many times we "see" what we want to see. I suspect non-lethal hit and he's still walking.

It's hard to think otherwise based on actual evidence. I've replayed it many times. The buck would not have just walked off with a hit where I thought I hit. There's some inconsistency in what I saw vs what happened. I'm hoping for some clarification but like many things in life, you just have to move on and try for better next time.

 

[fairchaser]

Thoughts:
I think in OP you said mule kicked. I would think high chest. If nothing "spraying" at entrance or exit, he could have went a long way before dumping much blood.

Low/brisket hits I would have expected noticeable hair at the original impact location.

Do you know where rifle is hitting under 50 yds, especially supported as you shot? I have made that mistake before not accounting for actual bullet path in close and extra muzzle rise with just a light touch stabilizing rest on a limb.

I feel ya on not taking the second shot. Especially in brush I am hesitant on wasting meat and hate a shot where I might be reading the body angle wrong.

Sorry for you, hope you see him running around again or at least get settled on what you feel happened.

My rifle is dead on at 100, so very little lower at 50 yds. I looked for any obstructions which might have deflected the bullet. I didn't notice anything like a split tree limb. I also checked my zero back at the truck. With one bullet in the deer, even an obstructed shot is acceptable on follow up shots. I was hoping for at least a piece of fur to shoot but none was offered. Thanks for your excellent observations.

 

[fairchaser]

Was it a fairly open shot, without much brush in the way?

Sorry to hear that. Dang.

Yes, as open as you get in the woods. Often we shoot between limbs. But I didn't notice hitting anything in between.

 

[Ski]

Would love to see pics of the lungs if you took any!

I got pics of the buck alive showing both holes, pic of the embedded arrow, and pic of the antler tip. But I didn't clean my hands up to take s pic of the lungs. I should have. In hind sight I should have splayed the vitals out and took multiple pics documenting all of it. At the time I wasn't thinking I'd be seeing everything I did.

Here you can see the entry wound. The hole had closed but wasn't healed yet.

And here you can see the exit wound.Hole still large enough that I could put my thumb up into it. How the broadhead missed his heart is a mystery to me.

This was lodged in his left front shoulder.

And this was lodged in his skull plate.

 

[timberjack86]

Absolutely amazing!!! At least you got those pics of him surviving! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Ski]

Here's a close up of the entry wound. The flesh around it was nasty almost rotty and that matted up stuff is gummy puss. The line right in the center is the cut wound that began to close up. Looked to be a 2-blade head with pretty substantial cut width.

 

[philsanchez76]

ive had a few bad experiences with high speed cup and core bullets at close distances poking a super tiny entrance hole (like you'd expect) and then blowing up inside the deer with no exit which = no blood trail. This only happens when a deer surprises me at 40-50 yards or closer. All my cup and core bullets do a fantastic job at expanding as long as they go 60 or more yards and leave great exit holes. Could this be a possibility for you? This still means the deer is dead, just no trail to follow though. I really hope you find him.

 

[Ski]

Absolutely amazing!!! At least you got those pics of him surviving! Thanks for sharing!!

Yeah man I've never seen anything like it. Never thought for a minute it could even be possible had I not seen it first hand. There's no way the arrow missed his heart by more than a fraction. Must have passed just above it. I wish I had stopped gutting him & washed my hands so I could get a pic of his lungs. The front half of both were liquified but they both were still puffy in the rear. No idea how he didn't choke to death or drown on blood.

Now having experienced that I have had to completely rethink times in the past when I thought for sure I made a good clean kill shot but never retrieved the animal. It's very much possible to make a perfect hit and the animal not die. From now on if I don't have a tag on it, I'm not assuming it's dead.

 

[timberjack86]

Yeah man I've never seen anything like it. Never thought for a minute it could even be possible had I not seen it first hand. There's no way the arrow missed his heart by more than a fraction. Must have passed just above it. I wish I had stopped gutting him & washed my hands so I could get a pic of his lungs. The front half of both were liquified but they both were still puffy in the rear. No idea how he didn't choke to death or drown on blood.

Now having experienced that I have had to completely rethink times in the past when I thought for sure I made a good clean kill shot but never retrieved the animal. It's very much possible to make a perfect hit and the animal not die. From now on if I don't have a tag on it, I'm not assuming it's dead.

Good idea for sure, I've shot a few deer in that exact same place with a bow and they didn't go 20. I can't imagine how he survived!

 

[Swampster]

but he surprised me, often the case in the woods. I looked up and there he was in front of me.

I call them ghost deer. Sometimes they seem to just appear right in front of you.

 

[Headhunter]

I have shot several deer through the heart or double lunged that had zero reaction. Just walk off or stand there and bleed out and fall over. Mostly with a bow or muzzeloader but a couple times with a rifle. I have many stories I could share. My brother shot one that was the craziest.

My brother shot a deer with a 140 gr accubond out of a 7MM MAG a few years ago. Maybe 40 yard shot. 10 ring, he hit the heart. Buck was following a doe. The buck hit the ground and kicked and laid still. Mid to upper 130's 8 pointer. He said he was excited, his best 8 pointer ever, deer dressed in the mid 180 lb range. The doe stood still a minute, walked back to the buck, sniffed of him, started walking off. The buck GOT UP and started following the doe just like he was before he shot. My brother centered his shoulder with the next shot, he hit the ground and stayed down. No way he would have lived, but I have always wondered if the buck could have walked far enough to make it tough or possibly lost him if he hadn't been able to get the second shot in him. I was there when he gutted him, first shot was through the heart. Deer can be tough.

I shot a nice buck many years ago with a percussion muzzleloader, open sights. 60 yard shot. My friend was standing right beside me. We were scouting, middle of the day, muzzleloader, and my friend looked up and saw the buck just staring at us. Buck was in full rut. His main beams would touch at the ends but one is just inside the other. Only a 110" deer, 8 ptr, my friend did not want to shoot him, I did. I shot really fast, like the moment the butt of the gun touched my shoulder. The deer never reacted, nothing, just walked off. No kick, no run, no flinch, no jump. Just walked off. It was quiet an dry and deep leaves. He got out of sight quick, we could hear him walking, my friend said if I knew you were "blanking" going to miss, I would have shot him. I am thinking I shot before I was on him, but I remembered seeing what I wanted to see through the open sights. We heard a crash. Deer walked about 80 yards. I shot him through the heart. There was zero reaction. Like I said deer can be tough.

I killed a nice buck a 7MM STW at about 60 yards many years ago. Dressed out 191 lbs. 140 gr accubond that chronograph at over 3500 fps. Kind of same as percussion shot above. I threw gun to shoulder and shot after yelling and getting him to stop. Right after I shot, he looked like a bull in a bullfight, he trotted a few steps and was looking around like he wanted to fight something. I thought there was no way I missed. I worked the bolt as fast as I could and was going to shoot him again, when he started wobbling and fell dead. Double lunged, exit hole as big as a softball.

I shot a nice buck in KY at 40 feet with a 30/30, he trotted a few steps, stopped, saw a doe, put his head down in doe chase mode and took off trotting, I shot him in the center of the shoulder with the next shot, he still kept on going for about 20 yards and died.

One deer I lost with a percussion muzzleloader, I had made a stalk, got real close and he took off. He was running full speed. I shot him at about 60 yards, he rolled like a rabbit, 2 or 3 tumbles head over butt. When finished rolling, his antlers were kind of stuck in the ground, feet sticking straight up for a few second before feet fell over sideways, nice buck for sure. Laid still, I started reloading to walk up and make sure he was dead. He got up, and for sure hobbling, got out of sight before I could get reloaded. Several friends helped me look for the rest of the day. Never saw that buck again.