Blood trail Question

[Abe89]

For those experienced;
1st season hunting with bow, trad gear. 3rd season hunting, have taken several animals, this is first blood trail.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171029/b9cafff4e0e1bf886fdb505e00fface6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171029/2f7393db63ed2f0931954670448f58ac.jpgMade a 10 yard shot, last minutes of legal light, deer took off was hard to tell in the light how the hit was. My inclination is too far back and low. Gave 45 min then started in, first blood spats bright red no bubbles, no bigger than my thumb. Found my arrow half covered in bright blood no bubbles. Found a few yards of blood drops no bigger than a pin head. Then that was it. I spent another hour 1.5 hours doing a scan and on hands a knees. Going back in morning to use daylight. What does the blood trail tell you?


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[calgarychef]

Might be your deer is out of blood and a few yards from there. Or....it's several hundred yards away because the hole closed up. The magpies will tell you, probably the coyotes will thank you.

[Hugenuge]

Best thing to do when you feel the shot is marginal is back out right away. I always look the blood trail and mark where it is. If its lots of blood and stays consistently like that ill follow it. If i have to start really looking hard for it and again feel the shot was marginal i back out right away as the deer could be bedded right near by and you don't want to start pushing it.

Hine sight is 20/20 but the 1.5 hrs you spend looking for blood is not usually a good idea. Just back out next time and give the animal the night then head back first light. You will find your animal tomorrow!!

[3blade]

I go against the grain on this. After having two deer completely eaten by coyotes and two more ripped open minutes after the shot, I track as soon as I can. My view is I have nothing to lose, as I won't get anything in the morning anyway. Have not had it go wrong. Now if it was a moose or elk, or gut shot, things are different. Just by staying in the area, you decrease the chances of coyotes coming in, or you might see where they are going and get there in time.

Probably 1/3 of deer I've killed have not left a good blood trail on the ground. Tracks, scuffs in the dirt and leaves, blood spray on grass, trees and branches, every bit of sign is better when fresh. Re: the arrow, it's most likely in the lungs. That doesn't look like liver or gut. So either the deer is dead, or alive and won't die from blood loss.

Usually (almost always) deer will run straight away for a few seconds and then turn back towards where it came from. When it gets into cover it will stop and listen, then bed down if it doesn't hear anything. Big, bright spot lights and a very, very slow search in the direction it ran, especially while the memory is fresh. Hopefully you marked last sight and last blood. Carry an axe, big knife or arrow to end it if necessary. Arrows work well for this.

Definitely sucks when this happens. Hope you recover your deer in good condition.

[Abe89]

Thanks very much for the responses. Very helpful. It’s going to be a long night till morning!


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[boah]

The deer is dead. Liver shot going down. Initial blood trail for a bit. Body cavity is filling with blood. But won’t come out until it’s up to the hole again. Probably lying within 50 yards of last drop, unless you uknowingly jumped him.

[Hugenuge]

[QUOTE=3blade;3654196]I go against the grain on this. After having two deer completely eaten by coyotes and two more ripped open minutes after the shot, I track as soon as I can. My view is I have nothing to lose, as I won't get anything in the morning anyway.

I can agree with this depending on the area. When i hunt in my old hunting grounds up north we would track deer all night because we made the mistake of leaving the deer and going in the morning. When we would find the deer by sounds of crows the deer would be completely gone everytime, eaten by predators. This is an area with lots of them tho.

However where i hunt now ( farm land) i have left two deer out to die and not a hair touched on them. So it can be area specific as well to what u decide to do.

[3blade]

Update? Storm coming, hope there's a dead deer picture in this threads future.

[JBE]

A friend arrowed a bull moose a few weeks back. Within 1/2 hour of the shot we found him along with 2 coyotes who were just about to sit down to breakfast. Sure didn't take them long to find him.

[Abe89]

Update; went in this morning at daylight, last pinhead of blood I found and flagged last night was it. Spent a good long bit of the morning scanning, then did a careful search of the coulee with binos. No deer. No groups of coyotes or magpies. There are a lot of both in there. Disappointed and frustrated but such is life in the hunting world. Called her quits around noon.
It is grazed over pasture land so cows have it all tracked up, hard to follow where my deer might have gone when the trail is trampled with sign.
Would have been great to have posted first archery kill, let alone with trad gear. Theres time and tags yet!
Cant thank you all enough for the advice.


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[livinthedream]

Shot seems like it could have been high in the saddle area. Deer will survive.