It's a long story and I'm tired, but here goes ...

Went out last night and found a great spot, of course I forgot my saw so I was slowly going up a big pine tree, kicking off branches until I got about 10-12 feet up.

At 6:30pm a 4 point came in from my right rear and looked like he was going to walk right in front of me for a perfect shot.  He then changed course and came right under me to sniff the bungee cord at the base of my tree for a moment (I swear he looked straight-up at me too.)

I figure he's going to blow and blast-off, but he just starts walking away from me to my front left.

When he's about 7 yard out, I draw, aim between his shoulder blades and release.

The arrow is just to the right of the spine, angling forward and buries up to the fletch.  He lets out a "HHUUFF!" and runs hard back under me and I hear him making a big loop (too thick to see) and then all is quiet.

It'll be dark in a few minutes so I back out and go home for a cup of coffee.  I decide not to go back until morning as there's pretty good blood on the ground, and I don't want to jump him if it's a one lung hit.

Here's the blood at the hit ...
 

Not the best ever, but it repeats every few feet so I guess I'm safe.

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This morning AM.  I get out to the site and my blood is gone!  Just gone.  There's a heavy dew everywhere and all that bright blood from last night can't be seen anywhere.  I can't believe it.  I find a little bit of sign for 10 yards or so then nothing.  I start cutting back and forth across the direction I think he went to see if I can hit the trail and nothing.  I think I was about to have a stroke.

This is what we're tracking through ...
 

 

The ground cover is about 2 feet deep and you literally can't see the top of your muck boots ...
 

I run bearings out from my tree for an hour and decide to go home and get the dog.  My best pal.  He'll find my deer in a couple of minutes.

Back with my Drahthaar.  He starts out on the blood and then decides to take the day off as he starts dragging me everywhere and peeing on everything.  I'm about to have stroke number 2 as I load the pup back into the truck and try and remember why I feed him all that food every day.  I take him home.

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Grab a coffee and back out to the site.  I decide to take a different trail to my tree and here's what I find ... I'm very happy.


 

This is exactly how I find him and you can make out the shaft coming out between his front legs.

The shaft is just hanging on by the fletching.
 

There's an exit you can stick 4 fingers into right between his front legs.  If you can figure-out how this exit doesn't leave a blood trail I'll send you a new nickel...

 

Something had actually gotten to him first and started on his rear end (I'm guessing bobcat).  I lost a little bit of meat on the hams, but I field quartered him and packed him out.

He made it about 100-125 yards I suppose in just a few seconds.  I was shooting a Robertson Falcon recurve 55@28 and a Eclipse 145 on the front (arrow weight 680gr).

I need a nap.

Great combo and good shoot.Congrats.

You would think the blood trail would have been excellent. Nice deer congrats  

Nice story and nice ending and a nice young buck. You had to work for this one for sure, but you got him.

I think my retreiver and your dog are kinfolk. Chowhound for sure

sam

--------> Good Stuff!! CONGRATS!

Nice shot and find. Here where I bowhunt in Texas, if I shoot a deer at dusk, after 30 minutes, I go look for it. Heavy dew will wipe out a blood trail. Also, we have plenty of coyotes in Texas. If you arrow a deer at dusk and wait till morning to recover it, if you find the deer, it won't be fit to take back with you because a pack of coyotes will have had their way with the dead animal during the night.

Nice deer! Man them is some open NC woods!

Glad you found him!! those woods do look like they would be tricky to track in, even in good conditions

Glad you got him. Congrats!  

way to go magoo!!

Way to keep at it.  Congratulations.

Congrats Magoo.  Was the meat okay?  I hunt the Blue Ridge and have always been leary of leaving one over night until the temps start dropping below freezing.  Always heard the internal organs on an ungutted deer hold alot of heat.  Have no explanation on that exit wound, would have expected a blood trail like sloshing a bucket of paint!  How far had the deer gone?

Thx folks.

Olddogrib -  The meat looked good.  Here's a couple of quotes I ran across by Warren Womack (he's killed a lot of deer).

"I think over night spoilage  is way over rated. I do everything I can to find an evening shot deer but I've shot a good many deer in October that I didn't recover until the next morning. Some were early October when the temp's were in the high 80's. I never found one that was bad. The meat can be bloody but a few days in an ice chest with lot's of melting ice usually draws the blood out."

"Field-quartering, without gutting, is certainly the way to go when making a late or next day recovery.

The best way, I've found, to made sure the meat hasn't spoiled is to cut out a chunk of meat from the inside of a hindquarter, near the ball joint. That groin area is the first to go bad. On sniff of that chunk of meat and you will instantly know, without a doubt, if it's bad."

Nice deer and nice shot placement.  Right through the heart I guess.

God Bless,
Nathan

Excellent shot and a great whitetail!
Congrats.

I don't think there was a problem with no blood trail. You said there was good blood and you decided to go home for the night. I think the dew is what killed the blood trail. You would have had a great blood trail that night right after you put that arrow where you did and how it exited where it did.

Congrats on a fine Buck and way to keep with it!  

Congrats! As for the blood disappearing I've found if the weather is warm the ants will often eat all the blood if they have time.  Sometimes I actually look for ants rather then blood if there's been a considerable time between shot and tracking and I can't seem to find blood.

sounds like my biscuit eating lab. All he does is taint an area up when you think he wants to hunt.

Love it when it comes together like that.  Huge sigh of relief.

Congrats, you had me worried there.