Lost a deer

[MikeGunz]

I feel absolutely terrible about it. Shot it about 50 yds with 12 gauge rifled slug low in the shoulder. Found meat and followed the blood trail for a couple hundred yards until it disapeared into a wet thicket area. I looked for her all day with out finding her. Not going to sleep well knowing how much suffering I caused it. Definitely a lesson learned though. Hopefully it some how makes it.

[12GaugeShuggoth]

Sorry to hear about this, it sucks. Sad as it is, sometimes it happens despite our best efforts. If you think it was a good enough shot, try again tomorrow after she's had time to bed down overnight. Pick it back up from square one and re-trail. Sometimes they hang on through the day moving around and finally let go when they bed down and get still.

A LOT of times deer go down to water to die, she could very well be hidden down in some reeds or thick underbrush hidden from view.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

To bad you lost her. But it happens to most hunters at one time or another. Curious Sir: You said there was meat found. Did you happen to notice or find any fur? and its color? Hunting without snow is a tough hunt when trying to track a get-a-way. Mise well try again tomorrow. That's all you can do under these circumstances.

[MikeGunz]

No fur just a couple pieces of flesh where I took the shot. There was a pond several hundred yards down hill in the direction it went. We searched all around it. Will be back out to look for it tomorrow.

[Pahoo]

I looked for her all day with out finding her.

You need to go back and keep looking til you find her. You really owe it to the process and yourself. Eventually she is going to be found and preferably, not by someone else. .....

On one occasion, one of our group, lost a deer like this. It took us three days of looking before the land-owner found it. Not only did we feel bad agout it, but the land-owner did was none too happy. He did appreciate that we did not give up looking. Granted, she did not go to waste but it was worth our time. ....

Be Safe !!!

[slammedsi]

I know how you feel. I shot a 140 inch 6 point opening morning with my bow. It was far back near the guts. I knew it was a bad shot the second I hit the trigger on the release. We looked for a solid day with no deer. Called the game warden to help look with a group of trained dogs. Still never found it. Makes me sick. Have had this buck around for 4 years. He was close to 6 years old when I **** him. Beautiful deer, wish I had the pleasure of giving him a proper mount.

[12GaugeShuggoth]

MikeGunz, did you ever have any luck finding that deer?

[Miata Mike]

A LOT of times deer go down to water to die, she could very well be hidden down in some reeds or thick underbrush hidden from view.

I have even heard of a deer shot back too far getting in the pond and died. They saw a little bit of him floating and some how managed to retrieve him. I am told a deer will "feel the burn" and head for the water to cool it off.

9 years ago my buddy shot an 18 pointer that died in the trout stream. Didn't get found for several weeks. Chest cavity was well preserved by the cold water and showed a very good looking hit.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Yup I'm kind of curious too if you found her? If not, don't worry about her. She's probably down in North Carolina by now playing catch-me-if-you-can with some old arthritic 28 pointer from Michigan. Just chalk it up as a un-fortunate deer hunting experience Sir. Over 50 yrs of my hunting. Those are the events I remember the easiest MikeGunz. Even though there was only one occasion. Yaw sure! You betcha__

[arch308]

It happens. Even with a good hit.
The will to live in wild game never ceases to amaze me. I've seen a deer run 60+ yrds with no heart left and one leg almost blown off.

[MikeGunz]

No luck finding her, had a group out looking for her Sat. and Sunday to no avail. Due to the area it was impossible to search everywhere she could have gone. Hopefully her wound wasnt to bad and shell make it. Im a new hunter and only been hunting since spring turkey. This was definitely a learning experience, and something I pray not to repeat. Going to spend a lot more time sighting in and practicing with my shotgun before next season. Maybe invest in an optic. I have learned to pass up on shots and not just try to get a shot off. Just spending time in the woods is enjoyable to me.

[jimbob86]

It happens. I've lost more than one.

[bamaranger]

You put a slug "low in the shoulder" you have a very dead deer. Bet ya anything you broke a foreleg, right about the body line.

[MikeGunz]

I think your right, probably hit the doe high in the leg, would explain the pieces of meat and how it spun around with a front leg in the air a couple times.

[DennisCA]

MikeGunz - yea it sucks (I've done it too)
It looks like you've searched as much you can.
Nobody likes to do it but it happens to the best of us.
Hang in there!

[barstoolguru]

we hunt heavy thick brush and what works when trailing a injured deer is hang toilet paper (bio-degradable and easy to see ) on the trail as you walk and it will show a direction the deer is running and never trail it too fast and it will lay down if it thinks it’s not being followed


Always have a spray bottle of peroxide handy and it will foam up on blood

[nocturnal]

It happens to us all, this past Friday I was hunting and shot a scrawny 8 pointer following a massive 6 pointer and a doe the 6 pointer was chasing.

Where I hunt it has to be 4 points or better on one side, such a shame...anyways...

I took a what should have been an easy 50-60 yard shot and found bone, muscle tissue, and lot of white fur.
Long story short, after 200 yards of criss-crossing and circling blood trails we found no deer and the blood trail faded out.

Deer can survive with three legs and injuries that would surely stop any of us mere mortal humans haha. They sure are tough so dont hold it over yourself too much. So long as infection doesnt kill it you can be fairly confident the deer will be around next year (granted I dont know what kind of meat, blood, and color fur you saw...) however deer are, as mentioned, incredible at surviving.

It sucks but keep going! Dont beat yourself up over it
I am an ethical hunter but I wouldnt track a deer for days unless I was sure it was a mortal wound, The buck I supposedly leg-shot did not have enough blood lost or any other circumstance that would lead me to believe that there was a dead deer.


Keep on hunting!

[johnwilliamson062]

A few years back I read a release from ODNR stating 'We have never found evidence of a coyote killing a healthy adult deer.' When I investigated what they had found it seems they found considerable evidence the coyotes were finishing off and eating wounded deer. It won't go to waste and it probably won't really take much time if the deer was weakened. You simply don't see three legged deer in nature for a reason.

[barstoolguru]

You simply don't see three legged deer in nature for a reason.

They are not that common but my brother in law had the same 3 legged deer at his house in Michigan for three years in a row. When the hunting started they would hide on his property because he didn't allow hunting and feed them. He showed us pic’s, it was missing a front leg

[viciouskitty]

I recently had a similar occurrence, I took my girlfriend out to hunt for the afternoon when out comes a very nice buck at 110 yards. She shoots and after tracking the buck for a few hundred yards the trail went cold and i lost the blood. Me and my friend looked all night and my dad joined me the next day, we eventually found it because i heard birds screeching it had made it over the fence to the next property. A phone call to the neighbors let me go get him, he turned out to be a nice 9 pointer i haven't measured him yet but he is probably a 140 or so and his cape was still good so my girlfriend can get it mounted. But I felt pretty bad though and we did lose the meat.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I must disagree with the "look until you find her" theory. I could make an argument for "look until the meat would be spoiled" but even that's a stretch.

There's no sense in looking for a dead deer 2 or 3 days. It could be 4 counties away by that time. If you hunt areas anything like I do, it could be on posted property (the kind where you have ZERO chance of access) in as little 50, 100 maybe 300 or 400 yards in any given direction.

No sense in losing sleep over it either, unless you did it on purpose. It's going to happen sooner or later. This isn't like shooting a person. If inflicting pain is immoral, shooting them is immoral. It's the intent that counts. If you did your best and did a reasonable search, and I do mean reasonable, not 5 minutes and not 5 days, then sleep well. You did your best.

Yes, it sucks, but you didn't hurt Walt Disney's Bambi. You hurt a real deer. It's not afraid of death, of what waits on the other side. It's family is not worrying about if it will be OK, or where it might have gone if it's dead. They're not crying over the loss or sharing fond memories.

Live and learn but sometimes there's not much to be learned. Aim a little higher, maybe? But you don't want to hit too high either.

I had a similar situation a couple years ago. 40 yards, standing, broadside, I was sitting in a chair, elbows on my knees. I've made freehand shots and twice that distance with the same gun. All we found was a piece of meat/bone and 3 specks of blood.

It happens. It's hunting. Life goes on.

[Wyoredman]

+1 Brian.

I wonder how many people return day after day to the spot on the highway where they hit a deer with their car?

For some reason hunters have this thing in their psyche that requires much self loathing and guilt if one gets away.

[Amsdorf]

I had an eight point buck in my sights the other day. It was only about 75 feet from me. Motionless. I could have taken the shot.

Unfortunately, it was my back yard in Ballwin, Missouri where we have an "urban deer" problem.

Shooting him would have brought the criticism of the neighbors and the local police department may have had a few opinions.

I had to watch as he simply strolled across my back yard, very slowly.

[Zhe Wiz]

Well, someone has to say it: You shouldn't have gone into the woods undergunned.

I've lost them too, it sucks, leaves a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. I wounded one last year with a 12ga as well, looked that night, looked the next morning. Never found her. I didn't hunt for a week afterwards I was so upset with myself.

This year I'm bringing a more appropriate gun. Shot at 2 with my 243 so far and got them both. See, it's all about the gun you use.

Zhe Wiz

[barstoolguru]

I knew an old guy and he told me he always hunted with salted bullets and I asked him why? He said so the meat don't start rotting before he gets there (it took him a long time to get out of the stand)