last Sunday morning I shot a buck that was quartering to me at about 80 yards. it dropped instantly and I thought it was the DRT. after about a minute I can see the gall berry bushes moving and I could see the deers rack somewhat and he was trying to get up. after another minute passes by he was able to struggle up but fell right back down before I could pull the trigger. Another 20 second goes by and he gets up and runs off so fast I could not get another shot on him because it was too thick in the area.We found a lot of long dark hair and it was finally scattered across 5 foot by 5 foot area. We only found one drop of blood.Three of us spread out and circled the area for several hundred yards and never found any more sign of the deer or the deer itself. My buddies think I hit the deer very high and just paralysed it for a second. I think I hit it straight on the chest. What do y'all think?

I'm with yer buddies....

always..and I mean always just call one of the darn deer tracking dog guys from here!!!!!! It never ceases to amaze me that when people dont find a deer right away that they dont!

Idaho mike from here recovered 100..I repeat.... 100 darn deer people could not find.

Why blood trail or give up when a simple pm or phone call will let you know FOR SURE if your deer is dead???????

If you cant find your deer call a deer tracking dog handler.......PERIOD!

If you dont recover a deer that you shot when so many guys from here will come out to help you with their dogs...noone is to blame other then yourself....

Sounds like a high hit. That's what causes a reaction like that. A dead hit right in the chest and he won't get back up. You would also likely have lot of blood where he was flopping if it had been a hit dead in the chest. Likely a high hit that shocked his spinal chord for a few moments.

If you'd have hit him straight in the chest with a "deer rifle" you wouldn't be posting this thread.

I helped a guy this week look for one, almost same scenario, Me and molly looked for about a hour or so, she never found him. I told him I felt like it was high no mans land shot, and the deer was down form shock... But met a new friend out of it, so not a waste of time on my part..

Hit him high. You'll probably not see that deer again. High shoulder hits result in this outcome often. Most of those are not recovered.

Just found one this afternoon with my black mouth cur. Deer was shot real low in the gut. Track was 1.25 miles by GPS and we were able to finish the job. Happy hunter and dog handler. Call for tracking services in south and southwest Alabama, southwest Florida.

Tracnfind@gmail.com
Roger Barnhill III
251-424-0337

Just found one this afternoon with my black mouth cur. Deer was shot real low in the gut. Track was 1.25 miles by GPS and we were able to finish the job. Happy hunter and dog handler. Call for tracking services in south and southwest Alabama, southwest Florida.

Tracnfind@gmail.com
Roger Barnhill III
251-424-0337

you will never know unless you put a trailer on it

last buck i had get up like that i had to blow him all to bits and still set on a stump 20 minutes and wait for him to die .

i missed judged the distance and pull a high under the spine shot . i don't see how he ran his back bone was out of line .

Just curious, are the dog tracking guys doing it for free OR charging??

Im sure the guys that has to go a long ways has to charge something. I use to tell them just a donation, if I had to drive a little piece, but if it was local, within 10 miles, I wouldn't take a dime from them, unless I didn't like em, then Ill charge the piss out of em..

The first time I met Mackdaddy off here was finding a deer. You can meet some cool people out of the deal.

This^^^^^^.

I have only shot two bucks in the chest and they both ran a little ways, dropped, got up and then ran between 100 & 150 yds before dying. Thats similar to what this deer did and is why i was thinking like i was. By the way, my deer rifle is a 270 and I shoot 150gr.

Thanks for the input from everyone so far

I had a guy earlier this year that was no more than 10 minutes away from me offer to come track my deer for $200. Unfortunately this was before Idaho mike came around. I talked to a couple more guys but they were not immediately available.

This is why so many are lost. And that is why God made these breed of dogs. Hunters need to use them and not give up. Hunters really don't know 100% where the bullet struck the deer, I know I don't till I see the deer.

If I shoot a deer, I'll gladly pay $100 or so to find it. If that's not the case, you don't need to be out there.

X2