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Blood trailing help

shmelton

shmelton

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2020
Messages
540
I need some input on blood tracking. I’ve tracked a lot of bow shots in my life, but I’m stumped on this one.

My Pop shot a deer at 7:05am. He said the arrow was still in the deer when it ran, he could see the lighted nock center rib cage running off. I tracked for 40-50 yds before pulling out. I found a glob of pinkish transparent fluid with what looked to be brown stomach matter in it 10 yds from the shot. The matter didn’t have a smell. There was a couple of eraser size drops of dark blood and brown hair around. I followed the trail he took, and found another glob of the same fluid, matter on the ground. I searched all the trails around, and didn’t find any other sign. We pulled out just to make sure we didn’t bump him.

My father said the buck may have been quartering to a little. He heard “the pop” when he hit him. Pop said if anything he hit him high, but if there is a I’ve never seen or heard of a straight gut shot with a compound that didn’t get a clean pass through. My thought is he caught high lung down through the liver maybe, and into the stomach. The only way I see the arrow staying in him is if it’s wedged in the rib cage.

What is throwing me for the loop is the non smelling matter. It’s brown and grainy. Am I mistaking bile for stomach matter? Another thing that makes me think it’s liver is it’s really watery. It’s been 3 hrs after the shot, and it’s starting to get warm. We need to retrieve the deer sooner then later, but I don’t want to push it. Just to be clear, I’ve only found 2 spots of dark blood. I believe the hit was fatal, it just a pita to not have an arrow to look at.


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I shot a doe a few years back that had a real watery trail. Only one I have ever shot or seen shot like it. She was hit about as perfectly as I know to shoot one perfectly broadside. She made it maybe 80-85 yards. Didnt have the brown grainy stuff on that one but know what you mean there. Which side was entrance, how high was the shot from and how far was the deer? Taking a wag, it sounds like on a quarter too shot, he hit mid line or just above and middle or just a bit back lung going in and low liver exit side. That would explain all 3 types of sign you were seeing. I would expect that deer to be dead in 100-150 yards if not bumped. Have seen em go further but not often hit like described.
 
Did the arrow hit anything? I had a high stomach not pass thru after the string bounced off my arm. Kicked my arrow sideways. It was an older slower bow.. But a sideways arrow doesn't pass thru to well.
 
What is your Dad's setup? (type of bow, approximate arrow weight (heavy or light?), and type of broadhead) and does he usually get pass throughs?

I ask because unless I hit spine, then an arrow going clearly into ribs and stopping is a GREAT sign. It means I hit the off side shoulder or leg bone (no other way I don't get a pass through)

Does he know how much arrow approximately was hanging off?

If quartering to, he might have hit the near side shoulder. If so, I hope his bow has the juice to get to the lung.
 
Another scenario is it hit liver (dark blood) and was slightly more quartered to then he realized or the deer moved more during the shot, and it angled back through the intestines (watery and brown matter). It may have angled enough to hit rear hindquarter and stopped. In this case, it has been my unfortunate experience that the deer could live a very long time and travel a long way before death... I would give the deer lots of time. Good luck and Godspeed in finding it
 
From what I was told…deer was perfectly broadside, arrow was buried deep, and knock was about center of the ribs. He was shooting 100gr Shwacker mechs out of an old Matthew’s LD with a 30” draw. He shot him at 18 yds, and there was no way it deflected. I went back to the 2nd spot I found blood/matter after I posted, and it did smell like gut. I took several different trails about 50 yds each, and found nothing. We will grid search tomorrow am, but he won’t make it through the night without being devoured by Yotes unfortunately.

I’ve killed close to 100 deer in my life. The vast majority with a bow. I have done my fair share of tracking jobs on deer for others also. I have never in my life seen stomach matter, and no blood. This just blows my mind.


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shmelton said:
From what I was told…deer was perfectly broadside, arrow was buried deep, and knock was about center of the ribs. He was shooting 100gr Shwacker mechs out of an old Matthew’s LD with a 30” draw. He shot him at 18 yds, and there was no way it deflected. I went back to the 2nd spot I found blood/matter after I posted, and it did smell like gut. I took several different trails about 50 yds each, and found nothing. We will grid search tomorrow am, but he won’t make it through the night without being devoured by Yotes unfortunately.

I’ve killed close to 100 deer in my life. The vast majority with a bow. I have done my fair share of tracking jobs on deer for others also. I have never in my life seen stomach matter, and no blood. This just blows my mind.


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Trailed one for a buddy several years ago that we had blood for about 40-50 yards. The next 100-125 yards was on pinky nail size drops of green goo and digested browse bits. I found the first drop about 6 feet past the last blood. Finally lost that trail but found the deer about 25-30 yards to the right of line travel. A bear had eaten on it pretty good on one side and completely covered the entire deer except for about 2.5-3" of the tail. We spotted the little white patch and went to it. Toughest trail and recovery I have been on.
 
Had a doe earlier this season that I shot high while ground hunting an area. I hit her high; frontal shot that she dipped at 14yrds.

I use a heavy arrow single bevel setup @ 765gn so it basically unzipped her spine from front to back. Entry just at the first rib and exit out the opposite side hip.

I also found thick pink fluid on the arrow and a few spots of dark oxengenated blood. She died only 40-50 yards away but it was a thick bedding area so it took some time to find her. I made a spider web pattern from the last blood found

I used my onX to make a track on each trail leading from it, taking the most obvious ones first. Looked for signs of frantic travel like broken branches etc… also went to the memory bank to recall how she sounded after the shot (no breaking twigs etc) so took the grassy paths first)

Found her an hour later on a trail I had to crawl through but it worked.

The onX helped eliminate doubling back on previous routes. Hope you find your harvest good condition


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From reading that your father's impressions of the hit possibly being a bit quartering too I am guessing the broadhead stopped in the stomach or offside ribs. If the buck had a stomach full of crushed acorns and leaves that could be a pretty substantial barrier to penetration. If the arrow stayed in that would hinder blood getting out also. Hopefully you find the deer. Good luck.
 
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Sorry fellas for not updating sooner. We found him 3 days later in a ditch 60 yds from where he was shot. He went off in the ditch and disappeared in a bunch of vines. I walked with min 10’ of him atleast twice and never saw him. Never found another drop of blood or stomach contents during the whole search. It still baffles me.


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shmelton said:
Sorry fellas for not updating sooner. We found him 3 days later in a ditch 60 yds from where he was shot. He went off in the ditch and disappeared in a bunch of vines. I walked with min 10’ of him atleast twice and never saw him. Never found another drop of blood or stomach contents during the whole search. It still baffles me.


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Glad you recovered him, sorry it wasn’t sooner. The fact that you didn’t give up on it speaks volumes about you and father as sportsmen and people. Appreciate you sharing the perseverance and the good and bad.
 
shmelton said:
Sorry fellas for not updating sooner. We found him 3 days later in a ditch 60 yds from where he was shot. He went off in the ditch and disappeared in a bunch of vines. I walked with min 10’ of him atleast twice and never saw him. Never found another drop of blood or stomach contents during the whole search. It still baffles me.


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He probably wasn't there the first time you tracked. Gut shot deer tend to circle when being tracked too soon

What you described previously is pretty typical of gut shot deer
 
shmelton said:
Sorry fellas for not updating sooner. We found him 3 days later in a ditch 60 yds from where he was shot. He went off in the ditch and disappeared in a bunch of vines. I walked with min 10’ of him atleast twice and never saw him. Never found another drop of blood or stomach contents during the whole search. It still baffles me.


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Happens all of the time. At least you have closer.
 
TreeRecon said:
He probably wasn't there the first time you tracked. Gut shot deer tend to circle when being tracked too soon

What you described previously is pretty typical of gut shot deer
Click to expand...

I got a feeling he was there…I smelled a rutted up deer in that area, that’s why I kept going back to it.


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