# Shoulder Shot (11-4-06) Need Advice



## mbeil (Nov 5, 2006)

Ive read all your responses to shoulder shots in the past. I have a twist to most of the other stories that I have read. I took a 35 yard shot on a really nice 10pt. Hit em right above or on the shoulder. I saw the arrow penetrate and stick out the other side approximately 6 inches. (30" aluminum eastons-muzzy 100gr) He ran about 50 yards, back where he came from and stopped. I couldnt see hime any more so I thought he was done. I waited about 30 minutes and began to track. I found massive amounts of blood (solid blood 2-3 sq foot areas(not just drops) every 20 yards for the first 100 yards) , in and out of trails. I found the arrow next to a tree, almost bent in half. He then jumped a creek. This is when the blood slowed down. He still had good blood and good size drops(dime sized), but nothing like the first 100 yds. This consistent blood lasted for 300-400yds until the trail went dry. We searched for almost 8 hours and did a grid search of the woods. Nothing. The last blood spotting was on a field edge. The field was an open prarie grass field, so we figured he doubled back(We did a grid search on the entire woods). We searched the entire field by grid search as well. No deer no blood. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DEER??? By the way, the woods that we searched is approx 30 acres. We counted over 15 scrapes and 7 rubs while tracking. How long should I wait to hunt this area again? The rut is starting in here (NW Ohio now). The buck was trailing 2 doe when I took the Shot. I look foward to all your advice and comments... I hate to leave a good deer to waste, especially a nice buck.


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## rossco (Jan 18, 2006)

should have left your deer until the next morning if you didnt make a good shot, unless you heard or saw them go down, or atleast wait longer than a half hour.......as for when you should hunt it again, it all depends on how much other land you have to hunt, if you have other decent spots, give it a rest for a while, but if you dont have anywhere else to go, i would say keep hunting it, the deer are coming into the rut and the bucks are getting stupid


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## eidolic (Nov 1, 2006)

this reminds me of a story i dont like to think about either. I once hit a an awsome 10pt square in the neck. wasnt even a full passthrough, so it had to of just bounced off the spine. before that is a long story, so i wont even try to tell you how it happened. it darted across the field. i watched it speed walk away. got down immediatly to find where it entered across the field. found just awsome blood. marked it. got my dad. then went out after it. we had 3 hrs of light, and thunder storms forecasted for after sunset. after 30 yards of tracking, my dad, with 38 years of bowhunting expirience, patted my on the back and said that we'll find it. the trail was that good. next part is long, but in summary here's how it goes. 2hrs 45m and 3 1/2 miles later, we could hear the highway ahead. the blood was still found in pie plate size and was circling like it wanted to bed. or not cross the road. i walked up 30 yards from the road houses to either side of me not very far. it was light enough to see. nothing. hardly any brush for it to hide either (a cow pasture). we hoped for best and returned in morning. my dad said it was either dead or well alive and we wouldnt see it. so with no bow, i walked to the exact spot where i left off. then i just about shot myself when the damn thing gets up 40 yrds away. runs towards me to avoid road and a house and stops broadside at 30. then speed walks away. never saw it again.  my point is that to always carry a bow. always search every foot of the woods rather than what i did. remeber that a cup of blood can look like A LOT on the ground. you did good. but ya if you got dry weather, give it time. but be agressive when you have to. and by the way, dont be discouraged. ur deer is most likely alive and well. its not wasted. deer have a will to live, you'd be amazed at what they can do. in ur case, with high shoulder shot. it sounds like it might not be vitaly hit, got its blood to clot nicely. and went off to hide. I hope u can get anything out of all that crap ^


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## HUNTING JUNKY (Feb 24, 2006)

I agree with rossco... When in doubt back out and let that deer go all night... but i feel for you i hate wounding deer especially big bucks!!!


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

Well this case kind of applies to me too. Last night i shot a nice 10pt right before dark and noticed it was a high shot but perfect left and right. so i watched him till it got dark and immediately decided to wait til morning. So this morning i went out and found the arrow right away and it had good blood so i had high hopes, after tracking the deer for over 500yrds, the dang thing got up in front of me and took off back towards where i shot it. We continued searching but to no avail. I went back out tonight hunting and sure enough he shows himself around 5;00 as if nothing happened. Just shows how tough these things are.


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## mbeil (Nov 5, 2006)

how do you define "good blood". im not kidding in the least when i said 2-3 sq ft areas of nothing but blood. 5 areas like this, every 20 yards or so for the first 100 yds...damn 3-4 inched to the left would have dropped him...


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## Starky (Mar 15, 2006)

Obviously you didn't hit the heart and probably only one lung. You could have backed out and looked for him the next day but you probably would have had the same results. Unless you see the deer go down it's best to wait at least an hour and even more if yo can stand it. I used a string tracker on a doe this year and it worked great. Pin-point accuracy out to 20 yards.


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