Has this ever happened to anyone?

[pwrstrkd]

I shot a deer the other night with an arrow and had a pretty good idea of where it ran. It was getting dark and the blood wasnt the best. Anyways... I actually walked past the deer as i was looking at the blood trail and it seems the blood went on in the opposite direction of where it ran/expired. So the deer must have circled back and expired allowing me to actually pass it without realizing. This never happened to me and was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

They sometimes get a little light-headed & disorented just before they run clear out of blood.

Or he could have circled back to kill you??

rc

 

[archer 9505]

I haven't had that happen but I had 3 deer drop dead with in a couple of feet of each other, three years in a row. Two shot with a bow and one with a rifle. I was hunting the same small field and all three ran out on the same exit trail and dropped almost in the same spot.

Post Script: Your Lucky it was a deer.

http://www.4westernart.com/DoubleBack.html

 

[buck460XVR]

Have trailed several deer that backtracked and then jumped off to the side of the trail. Easy to see in snow, on grass/leaves it's tough unless you notice just like you said. Blood suddenly on opposite side and drops pointing the other direction. Usually a sign the deer knows your trailing it. Comes from evading scent trailing predators. They backtrack, then jump off to the side of the trail and after the predator goes by with his nose to the ground(kinda like you did) the deer will run back down the trail it came up on mingling the scent and hopefully confusing the predator long enough to get away.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Oh yeah, I've had several whitetails "button hook" before they died. I lost one in Nebraska last year who did that. He was leaving a good trail then dried up or so I thought. I found him later the next day his quit bleeding had slowed enough that I lost his trail in the dark and missed where he'd made the turn. Before he died he made a button hook (U-turn) and sprinted another 45 yards or so before dying. I found him about 30 to 40 yards off the blood trail headed the direction he'd come in some of the thickest nastiest brush you can imagine.

The only reason I found him was the birds had started on him. I hate loosing one like that!

If I'd have had one of my Jadgtterriers with me it would have been about a 30 second deal to a find. As it turned out he was completely sour by the time I recovered him.

 

[1911 guy]

Not had that exactly happen, but I did have one hit with an arrow get up and run face first into a tree as I approached. If I'd waited another five minutes, it would have bled out before i got there.

 

[kanook]

My wife shot the same deer twice.

She shot the deer, it ran off to the right of the brush and then into it. She called me to tell me, as she was talking, (less than a min from first shot) she said a deer was walking up behind her, I said shoot. She did.

Walked to the stand and started to track first deer and noticed it had circled around to behind her, where she shot tit a second time.

(we are allowed 12 deer each, 10 does and 2 buck)

 

[JohnM]

12 deer in a season? Whew!
You could have venison all year long and probably have some left over.

 

[pwrstrkd]

here in jersey were allowed unlimited does and one buck per season. (one per fall bow, one per permit bow, muzzleoader... and so on) And the seasons together are from early september to february. Its nuts cause theres so many deer in a such a small area.

 

[hardluk1]

I have watched deer circle back and fall close to where they were hit .

 

[interlock]

i always take a dog. in the half light deer seem to become quite invisible very easily! I have had them double back and also as another poster had found, go to the same place to die as previous deer had. I only hunt with rifle so a very large majority are drt or only a few paces... bet even then 10 yards into thick woods in the dark is a long way