Lost buck/assistance?

Shot a buck yest at 8:50a.m. with 270. Waited 30 min and checked out site. Lots of blood, some white long hair. Followed blood trail, lots and in pools, bright red. No foam, no guts or green and no dark blood. Followed 200 yrds where deer went up a hill so I stopped and backed out. Went back out at 1:00 pm with friend, found trail, lots of blood the whole time. Low to ground and about 8 inches wide ( not spraying just low, I did not find it high on any branches ). So at about 3/4 of a mile per GPS buck got up from bed ( it was 3:00pm ). Did not run away fast and I could not shoot as it was so thick I could only see his rack for an instant, no running but he got out of there. Bed at blood at front of bed. We went a short bit further and blood was scant so we backed out. So going out in about 30 min.

I am puzzled as to where I hit him now. I did find some hair later that was white with dark brown tips. He was slow to get out of bed area so I think he could be down but am stunned he went so far. Could it be a partial lung hit? I am concerned that shot hit low due to angle from tree stand and deer was quartered away when I shot ( head down hill at angle from me ).

From where we jumped him ( mind you 6 hours after I hit him ), he had to cross a pipeline. From there more woods but then open fields to the right and to the left a small creek bed and then a steep uphill into a thicket of crabapples. My hunch is he is in that area.

Any thoughts on where I prob hit him since there were pools of blood and steady bright red blood trail? Will check back later...maybe I will have him. Have the whole day to look and tomorrow but want meat to be good so hoping for today.

Thanks in advance!

If he's dead he'll be in the creek bed. Where did you aim? Sounds like you may have missed his vitals and hit his brisket.

Sounds like a low hit. Brisket shot bucks can live, I have experience in that area. But sounds like yours is bleeding enough that you could've nicked an artery. Good luck!! Be ready to shoot again, keep us posted.

How far are you from Aspermont I have a tracking dog.

I agree, probably hit in the brisket

Like others have stated, it sounds like the brisket (white hair and red muscle blood). I'd do exactly what you are doing.....track it until you find it or lose the blood trail...and be ready to shoot him again. The offer for the use of a tracking dog sounds good too...I'd accept it.

Good luck. Hopefully none of the rain effected your trails

Any luck?

Hope you found him.

Good luck.

Sounds like a brisket or leg to me. Get a dog and go back after him. Good luck

Sounds like you clipped him low. Brisket shots will bleed ALOT, and make you think he will go down quick, but the reality is that they often close up after a while. The white hair also tells me the shot was probably low in the chest cavity.

No luck. I walked for almost 5 miles. Made no progress with blood trail from where jumped him yesterday. Not a speck. Nothing on a limb or leaf on my hands and knees. Hit all small creeks in the area, and there are about 80 acres of timbered land with tons of tops ( that is what he was tucked in yesterday ), so I went through a lot of that but it is super thick with briars/thorns, very hard to see.

I started to think brisket last night, although I aimed higher, it was in the woods, could have hit a small limb I guess or I just plain shot lower than I thought or he moved a tad...hard to say.

Thanks for the info and the offer on the dog. I'd take you up on it but I am probably 2000 miles away in PA (and the state would rather a deer get away than let us use dogs up here. Dumb !) I have been to TX to hunt my buddies ranch though. Got a nice 8 pt down there.

Take a short break and I have a couple more places to look. Then if he made it he might get taken sat, rifle still has a wk left so if injured hope someone drops him.

Tks again, will let you know if I find anything else although I am getting less optimistic.

Yea..with all the blood I actually thought he'd be within 100 yards or so. But at about 500 yards and able to move 6 hours later, not good. I've not hit one in the brisket before, sounds very unlikely he will go down and stay down since no vitals.

keep us posted..

Hunt a main water source if you have one still a good chance of getting him

Went back out for 4 more hours. Nothing again. Never got past the last drop of blood from yesterday which made things really hard. Rain came also which didn't help. I cleared/covered a lot of ground today. He could be in amongst some really thick deadfall somewhere but I tend to think he is okay so to speak. It's cold here so if it's all muscle I think he will make it. I'm thinking with over a wk left I may have a better chance seeing from one of my stands than trying to chase a ghost. But it warranted a very thorough search before saying he's gone.

Thanks for all the suggestions and offers, much appreciated!
( If by chance I get very lucky and get him I will surely post a pic. ).

It's like reading a murder mystery on post like this. Keeps my attention to the end, but if no resolution comes, I feel disappointed. Sorry, hope you get another shot at him.

I want to commend you on your effort to recover your deer. Many a people would have quit long ago. Many of us on here have lost wounded deer, I know I have in days past and it sucks big time. At least you know you did everything you could do. Best of luck with the rest of your season.

Bigbucky, thanks. I did walk over 10 miles with a lot of hills in there so about all I could do. It is Sunday and no hunting up here allowed so I may take a more casual stroll today just to look at a couple other sites. I have a trail cam to put up anyways and I won't be disturbing other hunters like the other day. I may also take my basset/dachshund for a "walk", although my feeling is he is okay it won't hurt to look one last time. I did get up in the same stand yest eve. I looked the shot over. Again, could have hit a branch or the angle was bad, perhaps should have shot higher, hard to say. But if anything turns up I will indeed post it!