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520AZcountryboy

Very important question

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If he's sure the buck was hit but no blood at all...I can almost guarantee you it was shot in the belly. Any where elso you'll find lots of blood everywhere.

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Sad to say that we never found his buck but l have to say this has been the best and toughest hunt I have ever been on. Neither of us tagged out but came close. Just over a month until we head back out to the hills!

 

 

 

 

 

Big or bust and huntharder. You must not be in the right area. Give me a break. It was our first time in this unit.

hope you have better luck next time in the unit.

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Sorry you didn't find it. A long time back I was hunting with a buddy in 23 and we jumped a buck. He shot it just as it crested the hill above us, and we both saw it hunch up. We found absolutely zero blood. Thankfully, we found the buck about 10 yards from some really nasty thick stuff, about 45 yards from where he was hit. He had a drop of blood on his nose and another on beneath his body when he fell. Had he made it just a few more steps, I doubt we would have found him. It was a quartering away shot with Nosler Partitions and it passed through like a lazer. One small hole on each side and no blood trail.

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Have him shoot his rifle at the distance he ranged the deer and took the shot. Just to confirm. I missed an elk at 200 yards. The weekend before the hunt I was shooting steel at 1,000 yards and forgot to turn my turret back down. The elk hunched up and looked hit, but then took off. I went to where he was standing, but no blood. I was super bummed thinking I had just hit a bull that I couldn't recover. Later that day I realized my problem when I shot at 200 yards. Turns out I shot over him. I was relieved, and pissed.

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If he's sure the buck was hit but no blood at all...I can almost guarantee you it was shot in the belly. Any where elso you'll find lots of blood everywhere.

So many other factors go into a lack of bloodtrail. Shot placement is one.

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If he's sure the buck was hit but no blood at all...I can almost guarantee you it was shot in the belly. Any where elso you'll find lots of blood everywhere.

I have to disagree.

I have shot deer that went 2', straight down, without a drop of blood loss. Took out both lungs and top of heart with entrance and exit wounds. I also took an elk through both lungs without a drop of blood spilt.

And this year, I watched a guy spine shot a buck, too far back and high, and watched the deer flop around for 3-4 minutes, then flop over, start downhill using front legs, then get his rear legs working again as he hit the bottom of the canyon. I stayed to help him find it. We went to where the buck was hit and found hair, fresh drag marks going downhill where the buck was heading until he got his back legs under him. Not even the hint of blood anywhere. I am sure that buck survived, and had a serious back ache for a few weeks.

I have helped find a lot more deer and elk that were shot very well, with both an arrow and a bullet, that had tiny droplets of blood to follow, that were almost impossible to see unless you were on your hands and knees.

I have also seen blood trails that looked like they were dumped from a 5 gallon bucket that the animal was not recovered.

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I have seen elk shot high in the body cavity with both a rifle and bow through both lungs and they didn't produce a blood trail. The blood all seemed to fill the body cavity and never reached the entrance or exit hole. I respect your guys decision to only shoot one deer if he knew he hit it. Sucks losing something but we have all had it happen.

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Sorry you didn't find him. I had the exact same thing happen to me this year next door in 36B. I haunts me like no other.

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It is very very helpful to have a good spotter that can tell if it was hit and where the animal went. Stay locked on and guide the shooter to the spot.

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i shot my loper in boiler room during an archery hunt, he ran half a mile at a dead sprint and didn't leave a single drop of blood on the ground till he stopped and fell over, then it all came out..I would think with a gun the odds are much higher of that happening...good luck finding him!

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I have seen this problem a number of times, like has already been stated, many factors play into it. I had a friend hit one low in the lungs a few weeks ago that I doubt he would have ever found it had I not been spotting for him. The deer ran a hundred yards and piled up, but in some of the country here in AZ it might as well be a mile if you don't have any tracks to follow or some spots of blood.

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