Please help me learn from this lost deer. Since there is no carcass to inspect, I don't know how I blew it.
Firearm/Load: Savage Axis II XP in .25-06 shooting Nosler Custom Ammo, 100 gr. Partition
Conditions: 10 - 15 Fahrenheit; snow on the ground and new snow falling fast enough that visibility was somewhat reduced. Wind was maybe 10mph right to left.
Shot: About 75 yards, certainly no more than 100 yards. Deer facing into the wind (but short enough range wind shouldn't have been a factor). I could clearly see the front 2/3 of the deer at the shot (back 1/3 still behind a tree).
Deer's reaction: The good sized doe jumped (but not like a heart shot), turned to its left and ran about 40 yards up slight slope and turned to run along a ridge line. I saw it pause in some thick stuff. I could see it raise a front leg. Then I couldn't see it again. The deer appeared to be running with all four legs while I could see it.
Tracking: There was about a 4' diameter spread of hair at the point of impact, but no blood. It was chest hair according to my buddy's hair chart. Some of the hair had skin/fat attached (hard to tell which since everything was frozen). The blood trail began about 20 yards up the slope. Most of the time, the blood appeared in a hoof print. The blood was bright red. There were two spots along the track where the deer apparently paused and there was a larger area of blood, maybe about a square foot.
The deer ran across the line onto our neighbor's property (mighty inconsiderate). We texted the neighbor and he gave permission to pursue, but requested that we be "in and out quickly" since he was going to be arriving shortly to hunt.
I was hunting on my buddy's property, and after we had tracked a total of about 200 yards he called it off. The deer had headed downhill into the prime bedding area on the neighbor's property, so he didn't want to ruin the neighbor's day of hunting. Also, there were so many deer tracks that it wasn't like simply following the one set of tracks on the ground (the snow had been on the ground for at least a week).
So, I felt good about the shot until the deer took off running. I wasn't breathing heavy and I had a clear view of the chest. I clearly hit the deer! My question is, how did I lose that deer?
Edit to add: I sighted in the rifle about 2 weeks ago. The air temp at the time was a little below freezing. I chose the ammo because it had grouped about 1" at 100 yards on a previous trip and I was looking for one "do-it-all" load.
Firearm/Load: Savage Axis II XP in .25-06 shooting Nosler Custom Ammo, 100 gr. Partition
Conditions: 10 - 15 Fahrenheit; snow on the ground and new snow falling fast enough that visibility was somewhat reduced. Wind was maybe 10mph right to left.
Shot: About 75 yards, certainly no more than 100 yards. Deer facing into the wind (but short enough range wind shouldn't have been a factor). I could clearly see the front 2/3 of the deer at the shot (back 1/3 still behind a tree).
Deer's reaction: The good sized doe jumped (but not like a heart shot), turned to its left and ran about 40 yards up slight slope and turned to run along a ridge line. I saw it pause in some thick stuff. I could see it raise a front leg. Then I couldn't see it again. The deer appeared to be running with all four legs while I could see it.
Tracking: There was about a 4' diameter spread of hair at the point of impact, but no blood. It was chest hair according to my buddy's hair chart. Some of the hair had skin/fat attached (hard to tell which since everything was frozen). The blood trail began about 20 yards up the slope. Most of the time, the blood appeared in a hoof print. The blood was bright red. There were two spots along the track where the deer apparently paused and there was a larger area of blood, maybe about a square foot.
The deer ran across the line onto our neighbor's property (mighty inconsiderate). We texted the neighbor and he gave permission to pursue, but requested that we be "in and out quickly" since he was going to be arriving shortly to hunt.
I was hunting on my buddy's property, and after we had tracked a total of about 200 yards he called it off. The deer had headed downhill into the prime bedding area on the neighbor's property, so he didn't want to ruin the neighbor's day of hunting. Also, there were so many deer tracks that it wasn't like simply following the one set of tracks on the ground (the snow had been on the ground for at least a week).
So, I felt good about the shot until the deer took off running. I wasn't breathing heavy and I had a clear view of the chest. I clearly hit the deer! My question is, how did I lose that deer?
Edit to add: I sighted in the rifle about 2 weeks ago. The air temp at the time was a little below freezing. I chose the ammo because it had grouped about 1" at 100 yards on a previous trip and I was looking for one "do-it-all" load.
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