My son and I were hunting a nice buck this afternoon.
He showed up at 200yds.
Son using stable tripod shot my 6.5PRC with Hammer hunter bullets.
I watched as he shot and Knocked the buck down.
The buck was standing broadside to us.
Assuming he was TKO I went to give son high five.
The buck then struggled to get up but then ran 105 yds.
Crossed fence then stood under tree for 10-15 secs.
He was obstructed so a follow up shot wasnt possible
We let 50 mins pass before going to look for it.

Not one drop of blood in the area around the fence he crossed.
Or One drop anywhere that we could find.

My son said he shot him a hair high on the front shoulder.

Any ideas what may have happended?
Do you think buck is dead or still alive?

Thanks
DC

If hit high prob just shocked his spine and caused him to collapse. I’d wait till morning and try to have a tracking dog ready to go if you can find someone with one. He could survive for days or weeks or could already be dead if he doesn’t survive which is also a possibility.

Agree on the shot could have hit a horn or high spine and what they call barked him,odds are you will see him again

Good chance the shot was just above the spine and hit one of Dorsal Bones there.

Often resulting in the animal being knocked unconscious for a bit....only to recover (enough) to get up on its feet again.



Little to no blood....but if you look carefully at the site of impact, hair and some meat/flesh could be present.

High shot stunned him

Any updates this morning?

I bet at some time in the future you will see him again.

Try to get permission to enter the property next door and look one more time..

Missed the vitals. May or may not die.

Same thing happened to me years ago. Shot a big 10 point, and he dropped straight down. I drank my coffee, patted myself on the back, and climbed down from the blind. That was just in time to see the buck stand up and head outta town. Pretty sure I hit him high and knocked him down and out temporarily. Sounds like what you guys did.

If by chance your son did hit high and did not damage the nerves in the back , then he could live as I had a buck come to my blind with a wound on the back bone yet the deer lived another 4 years. Easy to spot as the wound was visible throughout his life. However, the wound on my buck was an arrow wound, a bullet wound may have more infection and damage. THAT IS PART OF DEER HUNTING... sorry it happened.
Better luck next time.

Agree with all the above. Not uncommon on a high shot.
A purposeful “high shoulder shot” is likely the very best kill shot. But it should be reserved for those that can put it right where they want. If you hit just a little high this is what happens. I aim in the “middle” of the shoulder halfway between the bottom and top of vitals. The most room for error and deadly just the same(with quality ammo.)

If you deer hunt long enough, you'll eventually have one drop like a sack of potatoes, then
run away like you just hit it with a defibrillator.
I've shot em before and they still went a few steps or several yards with a body cavity
full of red goo that used to be vital organs. All you can do is to do an honest tracking
follow up.
Everybody can do whatever they want to, but I always shoot heart-lungs to wreck the pumphouse
and have a double drain for blood and let air inside where it's not supposed to be. They will
absolutely die with no blood to make the brain do brain things. A nice nightmare on elm
street blood trail is a bonus if they do get their feet working for a few seconds

Good Luck

That 2.5 year old buck had a 3/4 inch hole in his hide and a cavity above hus backbone over the shoulder large as my fist with bone and bullet fragments in the gristle surrounding it. Killed him on wwhat is now my place in Mississippi in 1987 and he weighed 175lbs live weight. A neighbor had shot a small 8pt the year before with a 243 that dropped stayed down but got up and ran off about 150 yards from where I got him. Figure same buck.

Followed up this today.
No buzzards flying in area.

Hunted same spot this afternoon.... all the other same 4 bucks showed up as yesterday afternoon.
Not Him Though

Looked again in area he stood for awhile after running. Not a drop of blood anywhere.

I appreciate everyones imput and advice.. Greatful for THF