First deer w/ .257 Roberts, no blood?

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uvausmc

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I just got my first deer with my new Ruger Hawkeye in .257 Roberts. The load was a 117gr Hornady SST over 35.4gr of H4895. I hit her perfectly in the shoulder at about 20 yards. There was a clean entry/exit hole but no blood trail whatsoever. She ran about 15 yards down hill and was down. When i dressed her everything in the chest cavity was jelly. The SST has always given me good results. Any idea why there was no blood trail?
 
You probably took out the heart. Contrary to popular belief, that is the worst place to hit a deer and expect to get a good blood trail. With no heart, you have no blood pressure to push the blood out. If you hit it and then exit at a lower then chest cavity level, then you will get some gravity drips of blood. If you go through center mass and take out the heart, you will get no blood trail until the chest cavity fills up to be level with the entry or exit wound. Lung hits or arterial hits on the other hand will create GREAT blood trails because you still have good blood pressure. Lung hits also create more shock than a heart hit in my opinion. You learn a LOT about blood trailing and best hit options in Archery.
 
Freedom fighter nailed it.
Hit the heart, no more blood. The good thing is that when they only go 15 yds, you don't need much of a blood trail.
 
I hit her perfectly in the shoulder at about 20 yards.
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Badly placed shot. The bullet probably broke up on bone and just a piece of lead core exited.

Try just behind the shoulder in the lower third of the rib cage for a heart/lung shot.
 
Thanks for the replies. Not sure why i didnt think of that but Freedom Fighter is right. Looking at the entry/exit wound from the inside and outside of the deer looks like the bullet didnt break up much though i'm sure it did partially due to the high impact velocity since it was so close. I usuallly take shots just behind the shoulder but I would never say shooting the shoulder is a "badly placed shot." It shattered the front shoulder and blew up everything in the chest cavity. It's hard to argue with those results.
 
I would hope he wouldnt be using a 117gr bullet on a moose or an elk out of ANY firearm.

uvausmc, Since you reload, give the interloc or the interbond bullets a try. They are a little tougher than the SST's. I used SST's for a pretty good while in my 7mm.08 and did find them a little bit too frangible at closer in shots. But those Interbond and Interlocs are the ticket. They fly pretty much right with the SST's so you SHOULD have no difference in your POI.
 
Blow up the heart muscle = no blood trail until like FFIL said the chest fills up. However hit them above the heart through the "spaghetti" junction and you'll get a 5 star blood trail.

Your shot was NOT badly placed it was perfect.
 
You probably took out the heart. Contrary to popular belief, that is the worst place to hit a deer and expect to get a good blood trail.
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VINDICATION! :D

I've been trying to teach folks at hunter safety this tid bit, especially when they have a good shot, BUT the surrounding area is overgrown with brush, and the deer going 10 - 20 yards might "disappear", and you could use a good blood trail to find the animal. Several "old salts" among the local instructor community here have cast dispersions on that idea claiming that the heart is THE place to shoot, but I found a good broadside lung hit means I've never had a problem finding the deer. Thanks!

Oh and with that a .257 hole is tiny..., compared to my .530 round ball, but I know fellows with the same size bullet as mine, hit deer in the heart, and even with entry and exit wounds, with the heart gone the deer didn't leave a good trail.

LD
 
I've shot deer square in the heart and the little distance they went it looked like somebody was pouring blood out of a Coke bottle.

I've shot deer through the lungs and the fat plugged the entry and exit wound to the point there was no blood trail until the hair had soaked up as much as it could and then they started to drip.

I've shot deer through the chest and it body slammed them right there.

I've shot deer through the chest and they ran 200 yards.

All with quality bullets and a cartridge definitely big enough.

If you think this or that bullet placement is always going to result in this or that, you're nuts.

Except for head and neck shots, provided you can make that shot and don't just think you can.
 
Every shot deer is going to be different as ZeroJunk pointed out.
I have lung shot several deer with the bullet exiting and never found blood but always found the deer nearby.
On the otherhand many left a significant blood trail even while using my .243.
I heart shot a buck once that ran 106 yards before dropping dead and no trailing blood.
You just never know how things are going to be after firing the shot.
 
Every deer or game have different reaction when shot. Best is shoot the neck behind the head and it be bang flop right there.
 
the best trailing method that I have learned is named pepper... and he's a beagle. he doesn't need a blood trail, just a spot where the deer was hit, and the guarantee that it hasn't been more than an hour or so.

get one yourself they're just great dogs, and behind the lungs is a great target. (ETA, not on the dog, on the deer)
 
The heart and both lungs can be penetrated by shooting behind the shoulder in the lower third of the chest cavity, and you'll waste less meat doing so. Of course, you can't always take that shot because of brush, the orientation of the animal, etc.
Most people tend to shoot too high in the chest which kills them just as dead, but it takes longer.

images
 
Supertac45, Not all situations allow for "hoof tracking". Frozen ground, many deer on the same trail at the same time, water crossings (deer swim very well) and many other things. Being primarily an archery hunter, I have learned to read about every kind of sign there is and even knowing all this, I still will fall back on my reliable little Jack Russel Terrier (Best game recovery breed on the planet) when all else has failed to leave a sign. Put that little bugger on a 10 foot lead and if that deer is down, he will find it.

Like Zero said, I have shot deer with many different calibres of rifles, many different broad heads, many different shot angles and the one thing that remains constant, you NEVER know how that deer will go down. Barring a CNS hit, they are just as likely to run a mile as they are to drop dead right there. A deer can cover a mile in about 20 or so seconds on a full tilt boggie, flat out, get the hell outta dodge, run. Granted, if left unpushed for a good half hour, they more or less will USUALLY run no more than 100 or so yards before laying down. Thats with a pretty poor hit like a liver shot. Heavily traumatized lung or "spagetti" or heart they will go down fairly quickly but the key is to leave them be for at least 30 minutes. I have seen deer drop in their tracks, look dead as door nails, didn't even look to be breathing, I get down after about 10 minutes, get about 20 yards from it, gets up and covers 200 yards before dropping again. They are an incredible animal to say the least.
 
A deer can cover a mile in about 20 or so seconds on a full tilt boggie, flat out, get the hell outta dodge, run.
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:scrutiny:

Alright I'll agree with you as the deer in your neck of the woods might have afterburners. But basic math would prove that to cover 1 mile in 20 seconds said deer would have to be instantly moving at 180 MPH.

That is a FAST frickin deer!!:D
 
LMAO meant to say half mile there H&H, Pardon me I have a MONSTER cold and the Nyquil has a bit of an effect :eek: Thanks for the edit there bud :D
 
Hoof Track an individual deer without a blood trail? on dry ground? Where there are lots of other deer roaming around?

methinks someone is much more of a tracker than i am..

wowser!
 
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