Great buck! Congrats. Judging by the entry hole in his shoulder, quartering to and no exit so that explains the poor blood trail? Just guessing/curious.
He was 30 yds broadside when I shot. Hickory Creek Mini turned all the way up, 100 grain Swhacker broadhead. I put the red dot behind his shoulder and touched off the shot. Felt good, looked good, and he reacted with the death run like it was a vitals kill shot. After the shot, my confidence was 99%.
I waited 30 min then got down to start my crime scene investigation. Found the arrow broken in half and only bloodied part way up. Sick feeling in my stomach and confidence dropped to about 5%. Very little blood and a difficult track through a jungle of brush and ragweed. What little blood I did find was bright red and had bubbles.
It was supposed to be cold overnight and with my presumption of a possible single lung hit, I decided to back out until morning. Possible rain over night might wash away the trail, but there wasn't much of a trail to begin with, so I called a dog tracker (First time ever) and set up a bright and early appointment for the next morning.
I had tracked only maybe 50 yds and backed out, so if the deer was dead, I figured a dog would be able to find it, since I didn't really trample all over the scent. I took the guy and his dog Red (yes, the Blake Shelton song was in my head the whole time, even though he wasn't a blue tick hound) to the hit sight in the AM, then showed him last blood spot.
It was literally a 2 min track job and the dog wasn't even necessary because he found the deer 23 paces from where I quit the night before, in the same direction I was heading. Nonetheless, I gave the guy $100 for showing up, and an extra $50 finders tip. (He only asks for gas money, so he got 3x)
This is the deer tra...er, uh...tunnel I was tracking through, hence the reason I decided to try a dog for the first time. I figured it would be more effective and less invasive than a grid search.
We found the deer with his legs tucked under his body, which tells me he laid down and later died. It did not look like he crashed on a run.
Long story short, I don't know how or why I hit so far forward. Unsure if I pulled the shot a hair, if the arrow deflected off of something, or if he jumped the string in some way. Arrow punched thru the front leg bone, wrecked the lungs, and sliced part of the heart with 8-10" of penetration. I found the arrow and broadhead inside the chest cavity when I gutted him. (Very carefully, ha)
He got the last laugh though, because it was the most miserable recovery of my life, even with the help of my dad and a jet sled. He got to make a bunch of "last rubs" on his way out.
just curious, looks kind of like a mountain pa buck
