No blood trail does not equal missed shot

[Nathanael_Greene]

I was hog hunting Tuesday evening, and right at sunset I shot a pig at about 40 yards. It took off running, but I was sure I'd hit it.

I investigated but found no blood trail; I thought, "I can't have missed it--but where's the blood? Not a drop!"

To make a long story short, my guide and another hunter showed up and we started looking through the brush, but found no blood. (I don't blame them if they thought that I'd missed.) About 30 yards into the brush, though, I found the pig. She had a little blood around the entry wound, behind the shoulder; the exit wound had been plugged by internal organs. Even on the spot where she died, there was virtually no blood.

She was about 80 pounds; good eating size.

I guess the moral of the story is that if you think you got a hit on an animal, look around even if there's no blood trail. It would've been a shame if I'd written off that shot as a miss, and left that pig behind.

In case anyone's wondering, I was hunting at Dos Plumas Ranch (www.dosplumasranch.com) in Trent, Texas, and had an excellent experience. I shot another pig the next morning. Allen, the owner, is a terrific guy and offers a great hunt at a very reasonable price. He knew that I don't have a lot of big-game experience, and really went out of his way to see that I had a good hunt.

 

[ambush]

I've had broadhead pass throughs that resulted in little or no blood due to organs plugging the hole.

 

[Skoghund]

I had the same thing with a roebuck. I shot it at 70 yards broad side while it was standing Still. It took of with no reaction to the shot apart from running of. When i looked where it had stood there was No blood and no hair. Strange thought i as i don't miss many at that range. I always hunt with a dog at heal so i sent the dog and of he went on the same line as the deer and dissapeared out of site. After a while i followed the same way the dog had gone and after about 80 yards there was the dog with the dead buck. The bullet had gone in between the ribs through the lungs and out the other side between the ribs with what looked like no bullet expansion at all. If i remember right i was useing the old Nosler solid base boat tails in .308. The Roe buck is not a heavy deer 60-80 pounds live weight. with out the dog i would have had a job finding the animal as the hunting was mainly around thick bramble patchs. My dogs have paid for ther food many times over the years. I was hunting in England at the time where a dog is not compulsery. Here in Sweden you must have a trained dog or quick accesst to one for following all wounded game bird or beast.

 

[birddog]

I've had similar occurences with the bow, rifle, shotgun, and muzzleloader. Most often, a good shot has a good blood trail.

But not always.

 

[Matt G]

One of the bigger bucks I've shot was crossing a plowed winter wheat field when I put a .257 bullet through him at 300 yards. He ran out of the field. After taking 300 of my long steps to his tracks, I found no blood. Nothing. Not a drop. Certainly no blood fan from the spray of blood following the bullet. After an hour of looking, I was getting worried that I'd missed him, before my partner found him under a mesquite tree about 80 to 100 yards away.

He had been walking, and I apparently had caught him with the hide stretched out, put the bullet through and through him, and the hide slid back over the entry and exit wounds. I found no blood where he was piled up, either. He was a nice 10-pointer, with a broken-off 11th and a fighting wound on his haunch. The meat's long gone now, but I still have the rack, and somewhere, the pictures.

 

[ACP230]

My first deer left no blood trail that I could see.
I was sure I'd hit the spike buck, however, because on the ground where he'd been standing I saw two inch and a half long tufts of hair lying on the ground about 18 inches apart. I figured the 150 grain Remington Core-Lokt bullet from my .30-06 had gone right through him.
He was lying about 25 yards down the deer trail he'd been facing when I shot him. The bullet had gone right through behind the shoulder.
Since then I've always looked for hair as well as blood when I shoot a deer.

 

[Art Eatman]

Way more often than not, I'll hear the bullet hit. Generally, on a deer, a body hit in the heart/lung area will cause a stumble, even if he doesn't go to the ground. A gut shot will have him all humped up in the middle.

Generally, a wounded buck (and a lot of other animals) will run upwind, and/or uphill. Knowing that helps when playing the probabilities game in the absence of a blood trail...

Generally. Sorta.

, Art

 

[mete]

I've had that happen tone tiny bit of hair at the scene but no blood trail even though I could see the deer down 40 yds away. Another put down the first drop of blood about 50 yds away, most of the blood absorbed by the heavy belly fur...Just watched a OLN tv program - he hit a good sized wild boar which went down . While he repositioned himself for another shot the pig got up and disappeared. In these cases full penentration and big boar carteidges help .

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have shot an elk through and through (breaking both shoulders) with my .35 Brown-Whelen. Skinning him out, I found the hole through the body was big enough for me to put my thumb in.

Yet at the point where I shot him, I found nothing but tracks. I stood there and visually scanned the mountainside downhill and could see a trail through snow-dusted leaves, but no blood. The trail ended at a boulder, and when I used my binoculars to see if I could pick up the trail beyond that point, I noticed the "boulder" had a stubby tail.

He had fallen about fifty yards down the steep slope and stopped when his fighting tines dug into the ground -- but no blood anywhere along the trail and none at the spot where he lay.

 

[Sunray]

"...plugged by internal organs..." The fat will seal over a fatal wound too. You can never rely on a blood trail. What firearm and bullet did you use? Just curious.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

The rifle was a Savage 110 in .30-06. Bullet was a 180 grain soft point.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

"...plugged by internal organs..." The fat will seal over a fatal wound too. You can never rely on a blood trail. What firearm and bullet did you use? Just curious.

In my case, I used a .35 Brown-Whelen, the most radical form of the Whelen. This rifle drives a 225-grain Nosler Partition Jacket (the bullet I used) to slightly over 2,800 fps.

And when I skinned him out, you could stick your thumb in both the entrance and exit holes in his body (the bullet expanded on hitting the shoulder -- and broke both shoulders, one going in, the other coming out.)

 

[killzone]

I wish I could say the same thing... Its gotta be my luck that everytime I end-up with a ugly bloody mess. Who knows may be someday.

 

[Guyon]

Last week, I shot a decent size doe with 150 gr. Core-Lokt in .30-30. She didn't jump, buckle, or stumble. Just turned and ran as though scared. I got down from stand, went to the spot about 20-25 yards out. Nary a trace. No blood, no hair, nada. I knew I'd made the shot, but without any tell-tale signs, I began to wonder. First, I went down the hill in the direction she ran. Nothing. So I made my way around the base of the hill in the other direction and soon saw her laid up in some pine scrub about 20 yards from where I'd shot her. It was a good lung shot; the bullet entered and exited through the rib cage, and when I finally found her, a small amount of blood was bubbling out of the exit hole. However, around the area where I shot her, there wasn't a sign on the ground.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Last week, I shot a decent size doe with 150 gr. Core-Lokt in .30-30. She didn't jump, buckle, or stumble. Just turned and ran as though scared. I got down from stand, went to the spot about 20-25 yards out. Nary a trace. No blood, no hair, nada. I knew I'd made the shot, but without any tell-tale signs, I began to wonder. First, I went down the hill in the direction she ran. Nothing. So I made my way around the base of the hill in the other direction and soon saw her laid up in some pine scrub about 20 yards from where I'd shot her. It was a good lung shot; the bullet entered and exited through the rib cage, and when I finally found her, a small amount of blood was bubbling out of the exit hole. However, around the area where I shot her, there wasn't a sign on the ground.

A couple of valuable things to have in your pocket are a Silva protractor-type compass and a roll of surveyor's tape. Without moving a step after shooting, shoot an azimuth to the point where you saw the deer disappear (the Sliva and similar compasses are set when you shoot an azimuth.)

Put a length of tape where you were, and walk to the spot where the deer disappeared. Shoot a back azimuth to be sure.

Now put up another flag and cast around. Look for hoofprints, dirt kicked up, and so on. Go slowly in the direction of the tracks. If you lose them, put up another flag and walk a circle around the spot to see if you can pick them up again.

If nothing else works, do a circle or half-circle around the original point of disappearance, mark the limits, and do a larger sweep.