# Gut shot a nice one this evening.. UPDATE, found him!!!



## weathermantrey (Oct 10, 2014)

I thought I would solicit some opinions on whether or not you guys think I'll find this deer tomorrow morning.

Here's the situation:

I was hunting a tore up white oak and had already seen a few small bucks earlier in the afternoon. Right before dark I had a big 8 point come walking in checking scrapes underneath the feed tree.  

I shot him just 7 or 8 yards from the base of the tree I was in. I was about 25 feet up.  When I shot I thought if anything I might have been a little low, but it was probably a good heart/lung shot. 

The deer tears out of there and runs about 40 yards slightly uphill and comes to a stop. I start watching him, expecting him to kill over at any second.  After a minute passes he takes 4 or 5  steps back down the hill towards the creek.  At this point I get out my binoculars to see what's going on.

I proceed to watch him stand in the same spot for 15 straight minutes until it gets so dark I can't see.  While he's standing there, he sort of has his head/neck ran out in a semi-sneak type pose.(Like he's really sick).  He also appears to be standing in a way that his legs are spread out farther apart than the should be,(like maybe he's struggling to keep his balance?)

So anyways, I decide to quietly slip down my tree and try to put an additional arrow in him with a flash light,(if he's still standing there). 

So I ease down the tree, without hearing him run, and I slip 10 or so yards closer,(so that he now should be within 30 yards or so) and I turn my light on, and he's gone!

So, I go grab my arrow and slip out of there.  My arrow has basically nothing on it. There's a little bit of whitish slime around the feathers and a few tiny pieces of green stomach matter, but not so much as a speck of blood.  

So what do ya'll think? Will I find him bedded down close by in the morning or do you think he's long gone? I'd love to call a tracking dog but I don't know of one in this area(Upstate SC), and it's public land so I'm not sure if that would be a good option even if I did know someone with a tracking dog.


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## bamaboy (Oct 10, 2014)

I say your chances of finding him are slim, but if your a believer just Pray to God tonight. If it is meant to be then you will find him. Good Luck!!! Keep us posted.


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## Greene728 (Oct 10, 2014)

Based off what your stating on the deer's reaction and the condition of the arrow, I say your chances are slim to none with a nudge toward none. However, I sure wish you the best and hope that I'm wrong.


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## dh88 (Oct 10, 2014)

If that arrow went through his guts he will die.give him plenty of time and take yourtime looking


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## Pneumothorax (Oct 10, 2014)

dh88 said:


> If that arrow went through his guts he will die.give him plenty of time and take yourtime looking



Agreed.

No chance of another shot while he was standing there?


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## Mudfeather (Oct 10, 2014)

dh88 said:


> If that arrow went through his guts he will die.give him plenty of time and take yourtime looking



I have killed two that had been gut shot. They do not always die. They can survive some gut shots. It just depends on what is cut.


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## southGAlefty (Oct 10, 2014)

If you didn't bust him outta there and made him run when you climbed down I think you have a good shot at finding him bedded down within a couple hundred yards. He may still be alive so carry your bow and be ready though. I tend to side with the notion that if he was gut shot you've got a dead deer on your hands, he might be hard to find though. I'd definitely try to get a dog. If a tracking dog isn't available any dog's nose is better than your's and my nose. Good luck man I hope to see pics in the morning.


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## weathermantrey (Oct 10, 2014)

Pneumothorax said:


> Agreed.
> 
> No chance of another shot while he was standing there?



Nah, I didn't have a clear opening.  I wouldn't think there's a chance I killed this deer looking at the arrow, but the way he was acting, (turning and come back down hill after trying to run uphill, legs spread apart while standing still, mouth open, head/neck stretched out in a weird way) made it seem like he would kill over if he tried to run more than 20 or 30 yards?  

I guess we'll find out in the morning...


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## rjcruiser (Oct 10, 2014)

Does the arrow smell?  I had a shot a little kow and back and it had a clear brownish blood like substance on the arrow. Bumped that deer 2 hours after I shot it. Came back 4 hours later combing the thick stuff and found it dead. 

Good luck.


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## HEADHUNTER11 (Oct 10, 2014)

Good luck man!!


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## weathermantrey (Oct 10, 2014)

rjcruiser said:


> Does the arrow smell?  I had a shot a little kow and back and it had a clear brownish blood like substance on the arrow. Bumped that deer 2 hours after I shot it. Came back 4 hours later combing the thick stuff and found it dead.
> 
> Good luck.



Yea, it smells like gut.  I'm thinking it passed through the top of stomach and that's why there's not much of your typical green gut matter coating the arrow.  

I mean the arrow smells like guts, it has that clear/milky stomach fluid type stuff on it, and it did have a few little pieces of green gut matter stuck in the feathers.


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## southGAlefty (Oct 10, 2014)

The last deer I killed with my bow was a doe I shot at 30 yards quartering away. Hit her right where I wanted to but when I got down my arrow looked like what you're describing. My angle wasn't as extreme as yours but what happened was I clipped the front of the stomach on the way in and ended up getting liver and lung as well. She made it about 100 yards before she piled up. The blood trail was full of stomach matter and not a whole lot of blood. Maybe that scenario will play out for you. You did the right thing backing out, I do know that!


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## M80 (Oct 10, 2014)

It almost sounds like you got some liver. I shot one with the bow and it took it about 20 min. to exspire. It was standing there acting like what you described. The only differance was he was wagging his tail a lot.


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## Cole Henry (Oct 10, 2014)

A gut shot deer is a dead deer! Just cant push him! They will usually lay up within a 100 yards and expire eventually.


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## Glenn (Oct 11, 2014)

Sound like from the angle of the shot you would have stomach matter anyway on exit. The guts will block most blood on the exit wound so I would look for blood up high from the entry hole.

Just because you have stomach material on your arrow does not mean you gut shot him. You have to think back and remember where your entry point was and the angle he was stand. 

Go back this morning if possible and get a compass line go and head to the nearest water (creek, Pond) because he may head that way. Better yet use a dog if you have one or call one in.

Good luck and don't give up!


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## CassGA (Oct 11, 2014)

As long as he hasn't been pushed, he will bed down and be dead in the morning. Good luck!


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## rvick (Oct 11, 2014)

CassGA said:


> As long as he hasn't been pushed, he will bed down and be dead in the morning. Good luck!



Probably die in about 6 hours, but i have seen them live 24 hrs. & still be fighting the dog. You won't find a blood trail but a dog can easily smell/trail a gut shot. Look for him bedded about 200 yrds. if the coyotes haven't pushed him.   Mudfeather, I am surprised because I've never seen or heard of one surviving a gut shot.


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## weathermantrey (Oct 11, 2014)

Well I haven't been able to find him yet. It was pouring down rain this morning at daylight which didn't help.  Hopefully I'll at least be able to find him by smell/buzzards in a few days. I can walk to where I shot him from my house, so I will be able to go look a bunch this week.


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## QTM2010 (Oct 11, 2014)

A gut shot deer is a dead deer period.  Just takes time.  They will usually bed within 100 yds and die.  You need to call a dog.  I have tracked lots of gut shot deer with my dog and find them everytime.  I made about as bad a shot as you can make on a deer last year.  Buck was quartering to me pretty hard and I hit him about the last rib and it came out low on his opposite ham. He made out of the food plot and bedded up 40 yards off the field edge.  We saw him bedded from the field with lights.  He got up and hobbled off.  Came in the next morning with my dog and he went 100 more yds and was dead as a hammer.


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## rvick (Oct 12, 2014)

have you checked the United Blood Trackers dog list for your state. a decent tracking dog will find that deer. especially after rain on a gut shot.


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## weathermantrey (Oct 12, 2014)

Well, this afternoon I got home and noticed some buzzards flying around the back of my property.  I went back there and sure enough he was laying in the middle of a grown up powerline.

He went about 1/2 mile from where I shot him.  Also, it turns out I hit him right where I thought I did... behind the shoulder.  The angle of the shot was so steep I think I must have only gotten one lung and that's why he took so long to die.  You can see the entry & exit hole in the photo.  

Still not sure why there was not so much as a speck of blood on my arrow??? Oh well, I'm still sick that I couldn't recover him in time to save the meat, but at least I have some closure.


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## MCNASTY (Oct 12, 2014)

Glad you found him looks like a good buck !!


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## rjcruiser (Oct 12, 2014)

Awesome. Congrats!


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## Curtis-UGA (Oct 12, 2014)

Hard to believe he went that far.


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## Gadestroyer74 (Oct 12, 2014)

No kidding ! Great buck glad you got him


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## tcarter86 (Oct 12, 2014)

Glad you got him.

He would go on my wall


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## gwyatt202 (Oct 12, 2014)

Nice! Congrats man!


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## Larry Young Jr (Oct 13, 2014)

I  proud to see you kept looking for him 
Some people would give up on him. Good job.
I used a dog the other day to find my doe , but I knew she was dead.  The dog found it.  So nice trophy and be proud you found him. You will remember this for every!
Good luck and be safe
Larry


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## alan (Oct 13, 2014)

Glad you found him. Looks like a good shot!


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## Stumper (Oct 13, 2014)

Happy you found your deer, congratulations!


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Oct 13, 2014)

Congrats on finding your bow whitetail with a big neck & body. Way to stay after 'em.


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## rvick (Oct 13, 2014)

Congrats, we just tracked down a 153 10 pt. that weighed 210 in lee co. he was shot yesterday & when my dog found the arrow at 100 yrds. there was 1 speck of blood on the fletching & a couple of hairs on the broadhead. the hunter saw the deer run off with the arrow sticking out both sides. the deer was hit almost exactly like yours & we never found any blood until just before we found him dead in the creek about 350 yrds. away. How can an arrow pass thru the middle of a deer & not have any blood on it? Some of the guys say that they have seen a fixed blade do that.


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## Thunder Head (Oct 13, 2014)

You just never know. I drilled a doe one time and she sprayed blood waist high all over the place. I could even hear their air going out of her as she ran. She ran diagonally across a 40 acre clear cut. It wore me slap out just busting through all the briars.

 Im glad you found him.


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## Ajohnson0587 (Oct 13, 2014)

congrats, and great job for not giving up! great looking but and will look great on your wall, with a good story to go along with it.


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## 100hunter (Oct 13, 2014)

That looks like a good double lung shot, but deer are tough.  Congratulations.


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## msdins (Oct 13, 2014)

Congrats on a great buck, especially for the upstate. I wish I had seen this earlier and I would have come to help you look. I'm just up the road from you in Mauldin. Let me know if you ever need help tracking another one or need someone to hunt with.


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## Tenpin (Oct 14, 2014)

Awesome that you found him! Thank you for following up with us.


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## jay sullivent (Oct 14, 2014)

That looks to me Like a good shot. Makes you wonder how those animals run so far. My wife is a vet. She says its there only defense and strongest instinct to just run like heck


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