At 6:20 this evening I arrowed what I think is a very nice Va buck! I'll give a little story then beg for prayers, and hope some of you have some words of encouragement!

I had a couple button bucks around me for over 2 hours this afternoon, so I had been pretty pinned down and unable to make any calls. Finally about 6:15 I decided to heck with the BB that is 10 yards away, I'm calling! I made a few turns on my can call and within 3 minutes I heard a deer coming. I look around and see him coming on a string from about 40 yards. The buck is approaching from behind my tree and closing fast. I get ready for him to come out on the other side, behind and to my left.

He gets to within 2 yards of my tree and stops. He finally come out, I let him walk until he's slightly quartering away at about 3-4 yards then shoot him. Arrow placement looks right on the money considering the steep angle, and I have at least 1/2 of the arrow inside him. The buck of course bolts aways immediately.

My friend was in a tree stand about 70 yards away, up on a small white oak ridge. The buck ran right past him! I felt I heard him crash---maybe another 100 yards away, but my buddy didn't think he heard it crash (must warn you-he is a very inexperienced hunter though). I gave it until dark then slipped up the ridge to my buddy. There was no apparent blood where it past his stand, so I don't think I have an exit hole--this deer looked to have a huge body for the area I hunt.

After collecting my thoughts, I decided to give it until the morning...since I may have just got one lung with the steep angle.

It will be a pretty sleepless night!  We are going to start tracking right after daylight....
Stay tuned!!

 

Best of Luck to you Allen !!!

good luck man, sounds like a good hit, hope ya get him!!!

Good luck and stay focused. I'll throw one up for ya!

When in doubt...back out.

I had a Basset hound who could trail wounded deer, and that dog recovered several deer that would have otherwise been lost.

He also taught me a great deal about wounded deer.
An important lesson he taught me was that it did not matter if it was a bullet or an arrow,
severely (mortally) wounded deer will not travel far from the point they were hit IF they are not pushed. They put distance between themselves and the percieved danger, and I believe they watch their backtrail for a time, and then locate a suitable place to lay down.

What you describe is a solid chest cavity hit(certain death), and you handled the situation perfectly.

I am confident that your deer is within two hundred yards of the hit location, and with a general idea of the direction it took you are sure to find him.

BEST OF LUCK.

best of luck :0)

Thanks alot guys! Hey BB, I have a young Jack Russel pup that I am training to track wounded deer. If I don't find the deer pretty quick in the morning, I may bring in the pup (on a leash) and see if he can help.

I really feel like he couldn't have gone very far at all.

Get some rest.  Breath.  Best wishes on tomorrow's recovery.

Good luck Allen, get some sleep. You will find him in the morning, I have faith.    

                   Brent

Good luck Allen.  It sounds like he's down for the count.  Just take your time when you get back there in the a.m.  Give me a call when you find him.  I want to hear all the details!

Telling you to get some sleep would be a waste of time....however I will tell you that your hit sounds real good and you definitely did the right thing in backing out. He ran a bit and then stopped to figure out what happened ...then probably laid own and since you didn't push him...stayed down. Good Luck in the morning.

Did your buddy see it do a 90 degree turn or anything?  I believe you will find it.  This just may be the perfect training tool for the pup.

Bill Tell, my buddy said it ran past him a short bit then sounded like it turned---not sure how much. It's pretty thick stuff where he ran.

Bill W, I'll give you a call. May need help draggin'.....lol

Sounds like you did the right thing.  I had the same thing happen with the buck in my avatar.  No exit hole.  The buck only went 150 yards or so, but it still took us over 8 hours to find him.  You'll get him.  Way to keep cool on the moment of truth.

Best of luck finding your deer A.S.  It will all work out in the end.

Allen, hope you find the buck in the morning, know about restless nights but you handled things the best you could. Best of luck this morning and take your time in the search.

You guys are all great for the suport. I'm just waiting for daylight now. I'll update as soon as possible!!!

Good luck,I hope you get him..ED

A.S. By all means, take your Jack Russel.(if legal)

Everyone knows how smart they are, and if you take him he may figure out what it is you are doing, and what he is supposed to do.

Again best of luck.

Well.....
It's daylight.
We're waiting