Wounded deer

[john fisher]

So I went deer hunting as was sure I shot the deer in the lung. When I went to find it all I found was just one drop of blood. After search and searching I couldn't find any other signs of the deer. I then gave up and saw another deer, I shot it right in the heart and when I went to look for it I saw a tiny drop of blood like the other deer I shot but 5 yards away there deer was right there died. I used a 30 30 and had previously just shot two javelinas and they didn't go far as well. Any ideas as to what might have happened to the deer I wounded?

 

[homers]

He went off and died

 

[Enfielder]

This year was a first for me hunting in a shotgun only zone. I shot one with a 1oz slug across both tops of the lungs and the heart. Not a drop of blood hit the snow. He died 30 yards away. Keep looking. It's out there.

I never expected a slug to stop for anything, even bone.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

It can take a bit for the chest cavity to fill with blood. If a deer runs after it is shot, as they usually do, it can be 20 to 50 yards before a blood trail starts.

 

[Dibbs]

He went off and died

Possible he ran into brush and hid, possible you didn't make a mortal wound. It's fairly normal for a badly wounded deer to bolt 150 yards plus, almost as a reflex action, about half the time.

 

[caribou]

The carcass is feeding the scavengers.

 

[jmr40]

An animal shot through the lungs will live 15-30 seconds. What they do during that 15-30 seconds varies. Some lie down and die. Others make a mad dash. A deer can cover a lot of ground in 15 seconds and be hard to find.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sometimes they dash, but even if they don't they can move a good distance and hide well in a mere 10 seconds.
As mentioned if you hit high up, then sometimes the chest cavity takes time to fill.
Another mistake is looking straight down. I followed a wounded doe about 40 yards with very little blood on the ground. When I found her I had moved in a very low crouch, looking hard at the ground. I stood up and turned around to look at the back trail,...and DUH I had walked right past several bushes with blood sprayed all on them at about 3' high...the doe was coughing, but I was too focused on the ground to spot obvious sign on the bushes.
If you're lucky in that you're in a hilly area, if the deer didn't do a 180 and head back the way it came, then look for it near where it was standing when hit..., but downhill from where it was standing when hit. You'll be surprised at how small a clump of brush will hide a full grown deer. Pinpointing where it actually was standing when hit is also very important. Being "short", in other words going from where you were when you shot, but not going far enough to find the actual place where the deer stood, and add a lot of time trying to find that blood trail.
If you're unlucky, you hit much higher, and might have gone between the lungs and the spine

LD

 

[FL-NC]

You may not have gotten a complete pass-through. With no exit wound, you tend to have less of a blood trail- I have experienced this a few times with 7.62 x 39 SP. Or the bullets may not be opening up, and become less effective. Or the bleeding may have been internal. Or any number of other variables, to include a shot that was not as precise as you think it may have been. My 243 (100 grain Win power points) gets me an exit wound every time with exceptional blood trail, if it even runs. My 223 (75 grain Hornady BTHP) tends to pass through and anchor them either DRT or after a very short distance. My 300 B-O I shot one with this year (190 grain Hornady SUB-X) got a great pass-through, but not much blood trail, and the deer piled up within 20 yards- lots of blood in the chest cavity, both lungs destroyed.

 

[Hookeye]

I've shot em where there's no blood for 30-50 yards.
Go another 30-50 yards with specks or drops and there's the dead deer.
Sometimes they pour red from the start.
Just never know.
Do think an exit hole a good thing.

 

[25-20 WCF]

Depending on the bullet, range and angle, a .30-30 should exit on a lung shot. I think the biggest question is, did the OP really hit it where he thought he did. Sounds like the OP is a new hunter, does he know where the lungs really are? Many do not.

.

 

[PapaG]

I spent an hour and a half one time on my hands and knees looking for a deer I'd hit high in the chest, broadside. One drop at a time. When I came to a fence he'd jumped, there were two big splashes and ten yards on, the deer, bled out inside. Got the top of both lungs and it took him all of fifteen seconds to cover a hundred and fifty yards of heavy brush and bleed "in".

 

[entropy]

Tracking is an essential deer hunting skill, no matter your marksmanship level.
The OP might benefit by getting some targets that have the internal anatomy of a deer.
I like these. Trained my two boys with them:

 

[Axis II]

How far are your shots?

How big was the deer?

What did the blood look like?

Did you shoot behind she shoulder or elsewhere?

Javelinas are way smaller than a deer so it doesn't matter what killed them and what happened with the deer.

How are you sure you hit them in the heart? I have yet to actually see where a bullet hit a deer through my scope.

Not trying to be a jerk here because it sound like your new to this. How long did you wait until you decided to look for blood? It sounds like to me you are very new, shot the deer and then decided to look for blood and jumped them. I suggest finding someone experienced to guide you in tracking deer or deer hunting in general. Once you shoot and if the deer doesn't drop where it stands you should wait at least 30-40min before looking for first blood or searching for the deer. Sometimes I will climb down after 10min and check for first blood and then wait to track. I shot a doe through both lungs who bled badly and ran 100yards. I shot a buck through both lungs high who didn't bleed a drop and ran 50yards, I shot a doe through the heart and she slung at least a gallon of blood all over and died 25ft from the shot. You either hit elsewhere, or tracked too early and chased them out of the area.

 

[40-82]

If he's hit in the lung, you'll probably find him within a hundred to a hundred and fifty yards. Sometimes the blood trail doesn't start within the first thirty to forty yards or when it does, it plays out. Sometimes even with a correctly hit animal with a good bullet, you'll never find a blood trail.
You'll also read things like a wounded animal always goes downhill, toward water, takes the easiest path etc. Remember you're dealing with an animal in shock, and they just go. If they find thick brush, they're often not so easy to find. Expect sudden changes in direction for no apparent reason.
And for some reason I can't explain, often a lung hit animal will take a sudden hook backwards. If you do find a played out blood trail, look for this. Calling your shots is not always as easy as you might imagine. When you're looking, look around as much as you study the ground. If you see the animal ahead, and his head is up, don't assume he's finished, shoot again. Sometimes they'll run a little ways and hide. Once they're bumped, they're likely to run until they die.
In rough country, it may take an hour or more to locate an animal who died within fifty yards. For this reason, I don't like to hunt too near dark. Finding him the next morning after the meat has soured doesn't mean anything. I have no objection to a person being proud of the antlers, if they want to care about a thing like that, but the purpose of the hunt is food.

 

[Hookeye]

My antlers, however small they may be........come with meat.
Hunting to end of legal light doesn't bother me at all.
Coleman lantern and a blood trail.........I find kinda fun.

 

[Hookeye]

The problem with evening hunts is.........that last half hour, man does it get cold. And it's even colder when lantern tracking LOL.
I just accept it as part of deer hunting.
Having said that, most of my deer are shot mid day.
And I prefer to morning hunt (warms up)

 

[G'dale Mike]

How long did you look for the first deer before shooting the second? For me, the hunt would be over once I shot the first deer until I found it and would have stopped looking only after dark or conditions prevailed. I would be worried that shooting another deer possibly could compound my problems if i didnt make a clean kill. But I am very simple and do not multi-task well. It’s finish “a” before moving on to “b”

 

[Hookeye]

Ever notice how much easier it is to find blood after you calm down?
A good excuse to wait before tracking.
Park it, eat a sammich........then go lookin'.
The bowhunting thing about waiting 30 mins might be of some benefit to gun hunters.

 

[Hookeye]

Low power scopes mounted properly, can sometimes let you see the hit.
Sometimes just a reaction, sometimes location as well.

 

[FL-NC]

Low power scopes mounted properly, can sometimes let you see the hit.
Sometimes just a reaction, sometimes location as well.

I hunt in some fairly small clearings down here- my scope is always turned to the lowest power setting.

 

[john fisher]

How far are your shots?

How big was the deer?

What did the blood look like?

Did you shoot behind she shoulder or elsewhere?

Javelinas are way smaller than a deer so it doesn't matter what killed them and what happened with the deer.

How are you sure you hit them in the heart? I have yet to actually see where a bullet hit a deer through my scope.

Not trying to be a jerk here because it sound like your new to this. How long did you wait until you decided to look for blood? It sounds like to me you are very new, shot the deer and then decided to look for blood and jumped them. I suggest finding someone experienced to guide you in tracking deer or deer hunting in general. Once you shoot and if the deer doesn't drop where it stands you should wait at least 30-40min before looking for first blood or searching for the deer. Sometimes I will climb down after 10min and check for first blood and then wait to track. I shot a doe through both lungs who bled badly and ran 100yards. I shot a buck through both lungs high who didn't bleed a drop and ran 50yards, I shot a doe through the heart and she slung at least a gallon of blood all over and died 25ft from the shot. You either hit elsewhere, or tracked too early and chased them out of the area.

It was my first deer hunt. Additional I live in an area where it's so thick you can't see very far. It ran into an area where it's full of mesquite trees and you probably can't see more than 5 yards in front of you. Me and a group looked 50 yards away from where it was shot and nothing.
I live out here in South Texas and trust me, if you have never been out here then you have no idea what it's like trying to get around with a bunch of thorns cutting you up. Even with a group of four people looking everywhere we never found it.

 

[PapaG]

The old traditional advice to hold in the middle of the chest is wrong, wrong wrong. If bowhunting, they will crouch at the sound of the string and you'll hit high. If too close, like mine was, you'll hit high. You should aim for the heart which is a few inches above the bottom of the chest. If you're low (unlikely) no problem, a clean miss. If you're a couple inches high, no problem, a heart/lung hit. Placement is everything. I'll take a heart shot with my bow or 45 Colt over a high lung or miss with a 458 WimMag.

 

[Patocazador]

Even with a group of four people looking everywhere we never found it.

Too many searchers is as bad as not enough. They muddle up the track, obliterate blood spots and generally just cause confusion.
When someone asks me if I want some help to "look for my deer", I say, "No thank you."

Learn to look for hair, meat, as well as blood at the spot where the deer was standing. Follow tracks when there is no blood and look for used trails that he could have taken. Search each trail carefully and you will probably find blood after awhile if you made a good shot.
As Hookeye said, calm down, wait a bit. Also, look for blood from both directions, coming and going.

 

[Flintknapper]

It was my first deer hunt. Additional I live in an area where it's so thick you can't see very far. It ran into an area where it's full of mesquite trees and you probably can't see more than 5 yards in front of you. Me and a group looked 50 yards away from where it was shot and nothing.
I live out here in South Texas and trust me, if you have never been out here then you have no idea what it's like trying to get around with a bunch of thorns cutting you up. Even with a group of four people looking everywhere we never found it.

Yes, I am very familiar with South Texas and the varying terrain. More than once I have literally crawled on my hands and knees though some of it. I am not exaggerating to say there were times when I was leaving more blood trail than the animal I was looking for. 50 yards is no where near far enough to determine if a better blood trail would have developed or not.

I understand the difficulty of searching in terrain like that. You simply can NOT walk a straight path in most of it. My suggestion for shot placement in parts of South Texas that have impenetrable areas of brush is to shoot through BOTH shoulders or take a 'high shoulder shot' to break the animal down.

If you are hunting over relatively open areas around a feeder, on a Sendero or a Pear Flat, then yes, the traditional shot (very tight behind the shoulder, right in the crease) works well and does not destroy meat. But some situations call for anchoring the animal before can they run hundreds on yards into stuff so thick that hogs can barely get through it.

Many animals are left/lost this way every year in South Texas to become Coyote fodder.