Why no blood trail?
 

Hey guys. I got my first archery buck today.
I recovered him by the grace of God, a couple hundred yards away with not a drop of blood to be found, not even on the exit hole.

Double lung shot at 28 yards, hit a little forward.
One blade, of the three blade mechanicals, did not open.

Here are some pics.

I suspect I needed to hit lower, and a bit more to the rear.

It happens. But looks like you smoked him. They don't always leak like a hose on double lung shots.

I remember taking a WT buck with my rifle about 15 years ago, perfect broadside double lung. A big splash of hair and blood where I hit him. He never bled another drop for the next 150-200 yards until he slowed down then started to stagger and fell over. When I gutted him the vitals side of his diaphram was like a chest full of lung jello.

Congrats!!! That's awesome!!

They work until they don't, just like drop away rests and straight walled rifle cartridges. Imagine if it was an elk, that can run 5 times as far with the same wound. That's why a lot of elk outfitters do not allow mechanicals. Try fixed blades. Strikers or Slick trick magnums are good picks.

Correct. The movement of the shoulders likely kept the holes covered with hide and tissue.

This can happen with rifles shots too. I have seen it on a couple deer i have shot one on snow and one on grass.

The one on snow no blood in 200 yards on a running deer. I was ****ed. I walked over the hill with my dad to double check and it looked like fire water bombers of blood. I was 16 or so at the time. 2 lung shots.

The one on the grass. My grandfather and dad saw a good shot i made on a running WT. they said he was hit good. He ran 300 ish yards Lung shot again. I was about 20

My elk this year. Running again. The shots sounded good with the plop. One in the heart one in the lungs one in the liver. No blood again. On grass. 350 yards over the hill. I saw thr trees fall like something wiped them out as it rolled them over. Had i not seen the trees rolled down i may not have looked as hard as i did as the landscape perspective changes when u get there. I am 40 now and know to pay attention to the details.

This is a really good thread to remind us to check carefully and look long and hard for our animals.

The horizontal placement is Perfect!

Just three inches lower and you would also take out the top of the heart.

I bet that chest cavity was a swimming pool of blood.

Congrats!

Looks like a great body on him. Also an awesome shot. Way to keep the search on till you found him.


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Your shot looks good for the height, with a bow it's good to remember to aim a good 3 inches or so back from the shoulder as a shoulder shot will often result in a wounded deer. Congrats on the buck

This is what happened to me last year on my first archery buck. Perfect double lung. Little or no blood trail. Chest cavity full of blood. It happens. You just have to up your detective game when looking for the animal. Mine went 80 to 100 yards from where I shot him but didn't take a straight path there.

Congrats on your first archery buck!

did you check the top of the arteries coming off the heart? If I was to guess I would say you caught a very healthy supply of blood flow and a big reason he did not bleed well.

the amount of blood and trauma on belly and all the way to back hams is a little different too.

Thank you guys for all the great feed back, tips and positivity.

Here is a link to a video of the kill. The camera was at s bit of a bad angle so you don't get to see the arrow hit the animal but the sound is pretty cool if the impact.
The noise you hear when he stops is with my mouth.

https://instagram.com/p/Bahbs9lFXcw/

I think the blood trail leads straight to your fridge!
Nice video. He's struttin around like he owns the place. But he's just a Superbleeder

This explains a lot, I didn't check them before I cut out the heart but it would explain why there was no blood in his mouth.

Glad I am not the only one :D

Awesome Video! Congrats!

I had a lungshot one emit such a fine spray it was incredibly difficult to see on the snow, tracked him to where he dropped. Did about a 90 yard half circle, fairly fresh snow w/o a lot of other tracks around the area, really had to look hard to see that spray. If there hadn't have been snow there, it would have got real interesting.

Ditto!

I've had many shots where there was little to no blood trail, even in the snow. One deer I found curled up underneath a spruce - I was amazed at how a big deer could make himself into such a small package.

Thanks for posting the video!

Don't second guess that shot for a second! Couldn't have placed it much better. To be honest i'm very surprised he didn't bleed...what kind of broad head did you shoot him with? Complete pass through?

Congrats on your first archery buck!

Congrats on your first! It becomes addicting!

I gave the grim reapers a try this year after hearing all of the reviews on here and I will probably keep a couple in my quiver from now on. I still like the idea of fixed blades but I am impressed with their performance. I shot a mule buck a little high and back, buck fever got the best of me but I got both lungs and a little bit of the liver. After his first three steps I knew I had a dead buck, I seen him start to fall as he crested the hill. But same thing I couldn't find much blood for the first 80 yards. I think it just took a few seconds for his chest cavity to fill before it started to trail heavy. I think the blood trails are there but are just really hard to find without snow!

https://imgur.com/a/2P316