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Somewhat successful/hit the deer. Never found.

Te

texas gulf coast. 6:41 AM. I think shooting light was 6:20 or so.
there was fat. It wiped the arrow pretty clean. The blood on the arrow was lighter red, not pink but not dark.
it didn’t stink, when I saw that he wheeled away I was worried about guts, but it smelled like normal blood.
That’s why after talking with the dog handler and reviewing everything. We think it went in behind the shoulder and maybe came out his front. That would explain the fat.

sorry I was thinking PM. Not sure why.

it’s certainly possible when he ducked and dropped back it opened a window to do just what you described.

my money is on hitting him above the spine based on all the information gathered. But obviously way too much unknown for that to be a useful opinion.

Good luck going forward and thanks for sharing with everyone. Hopefully you guys get good intel in the coming days. Let us know if any thing comes up!
 
Te

texas gulf coast. 6:41 AM. I think shooting light was 6:20 or so.
there was fat. It wiped the arrow pretty clean. The blood on the arrow was lighter red, not pink but not dark.
it didn’t stink, when I saw that he wheeled away I was worried about guts, but it smelled like normal blood.
That’s why after talking with the dog handler and reviewing everything. We think it went in behind the shoulder and maybe came out his front. That would explain the fat.
Judging from your description, maybe it didn't hit the lung, just shoulder muscle.
 
Thanks everyone for the support and criticism. You need both from any situation to learn.
If I end up finding the buck or getting pictures I’ll let you know.

Just for the record, I was upset that you posted this on the Successful Hunts thread and that in your mind you felt it was a successful hunt. This should have been posted in the Unsuccessful Hunts thread. That being said, I appreciate the effort you put into trying to find the buck. As a I stated in my original post everyone ends up loosing a deer on occasion. Mature bucks are tougher than boot leather and can take a licking and keep on ticking.
 
I would say that the biggest place where wires are getting crossed is where "success" is being equated with "hit the deer".

The success here is in getting into position to take a good shot at the deer. i can understand stand how after 5 years of trying every step closer to success feels like a "success" of its own - but there are 2 different goals here.

The first is to get into position to take a great shot at the deer you seek.

The second is to execute thst shot and recover the deer.

"Hitting the deer" is 100% a failure (or 200% - as a clean miss is far better) of the second task, after what sounds like a great success at the first. Hitting the deer is NOT an incremental success toward taking the deer - but I can understand how it feels that way. Mortally hitting a deer is the instant success becones wholly defined by recovery.
 
Update:
Several people have seen the deer and they got some trail camera photos that show him alive and quite well. Looks like the arrow hit no man’s land between the spine and the vitals.
Shouldn’t affect him too badly in the future.
 
Update:
Several people have seen the deer and they got some trail camera photos that show him alive and quite well. Looks like the arrow hit no man’s land between the spine and the vitals.
Shouldn’t affect him too badly in the future.

no area between the spine and vitals!

but good to know! Sleep well now my friend
 
Update:
Several people have seen the deer and they got some trail camera photos that show him alive and quite well. Looks like the arrow hit no man’s land between the spine and the vitals.
Shouldn’t affect him too badly in the future.
Thank you for the follow-up. Sounds like a good chance to reflect on what succeeded and what failed on this hunt.
 
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