So I shot this buck last Saturday, and because it perplexed me and everyone with us, I thought I would share.

He was 25 yards right to left, broadside. I stopped him, and made what I thought was a perfect shot. He jumped high and ran hard 40 yards and stopped in view for 30-45 seconds, standing in one spot, I was waiting for him to crash. He then casually walked away into the treeline.

I got down and found zero blood on ground. Zero.

This is pic of arrow, watery blood on fletchings only. White hair on rage broad head and sporadic hairs on arrow.

Where do you suspect the hit was?

(I'll wait for opinions of where the hit was before I post shot placement pic)

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I don't know but I had the exact thing happen to a T a few years ago, all but the zero blood part. I found blood, after about 100 yards. It was a dang nice 8 pointer. I never found him either......

Gut shot or liver

You hit the deer in the front leg.

Through the intestines.

I will say low across the bottom of his chest.

Answer:

My worry was that it was back (guts, because of the lack of blood) and was worried low (because of the white hair).

Turned out to be perfect. We found him about 70 yards away dead the next morning.

No blood anywhere. Including the spot where he laid to die.

It really changed my way of thinking about finding one.

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Part Werewolf?

Na, it was on pcp and was cracked out lol

Best explanation I've heard.

We were amazed to find him right there the next morning.

best rationalization I've been given is something clotted the blood up quick, but still amazing to me

No antler pics?

Half rack buck from a line we've been trying to get out. Nothing to it. Was with his twin

I heart shot an 8pt back in 2003 that pretty much did the same thing, except my arrow was covered in good blood. Not a drop to be found on the ground anywhere. He bled out on the inside. He ran about 100 to 125 yards. I found him within 15 or 20 minutes after we started looking. Luckily he ran into a hardwood flat and it was pretty open.

That shot is actually very low. About as low as you want to hit one. Did you look at vitals and see what you hit? I'd suspect maybe you clipped the bottom of a lung, and probably missed the heart, but clipped an artery leaving from it.

Glad you found him! Persistence pays.

I'm surprised no blood though. There's blood on his hoof, meaning it ran down his leg. There's blood on the side of his body, meaning it was spewing from the hole. Sure you were tracking where he actually ran?

Just trying to help you figure it out. Nothing more.

Yeah, I went to my lighted nock and there was no blood, then followed it to where he stood,... No blood.

The rest is more due to we got about 4" of rain on Saturday night. None the less, I never found any of his blood.

Was it raining or misting when you shot him?

No. Dry as a bone when I looked. Had a buddy come in and help me look for 15 minutes or so.

We decided to back out and talk it over.

It sounds as funny to me as it does to you, that's the only reason I posted it. So that it might help someone in the same situation in the future

Reason I ask is because if it was raining, even just a little, at the time you shot, it would explain the watery blood on arrow and difficulty in finding any more on the ground.

Strange.

I agree it's strange. Reason for post

I agree with Matt on the shot placement. To me where you hit is low for lungs and back for heart. You'll notice the next time you gut a deer, that when you get to the heart, (assuming you didn't hit it) it is surrounded by a sack. it is known as the pericardium and is filled with a clear fluid.

My guess is that you sliced the pericardium, but did not hit a major blood vessel. The blood on the deer/arrow is just blood from the flesh wound, and it's watery because of the pericardial fluid. The deer died because without that pericardium functioning as it should, the heart stops beating.