Thought I Had My First Crossbow Deer

[MG]

Saturday morning I went up to Bancroft to hunt my Grandfather's 50 acres. I had seen a couple of deer in a clearing on two separate occasions while patridge hunting, so I setup there about half an hour before sunrise, just stump setting. Never saw a thing and at 8.45AM I decided to head back to camp, but first I decided to peek down into a thicket. After seeing no action there I went back to where I was setup to get my pack and looked up to see two does looking back at me 20 yards away. I put the 20 yard post on the first deer and pulled the trigger. It looked like a real good shot as the deer kind of cringed and dropped a bit, the took off with its tail down, while the other doe went in a completely different direction back into the swamp. I stayed put for about half an hour before going and examining the spot where I shot the deer, although I didnt see any blood or fur I was still confident it was a good shot. I went back to camp and waited about an hour and a half, and then me and 3 others went out to find the deer, which I was confident couldnt have gone more than 100 yards. We followed up to where I last saw the deer and could see it was taking a well used trail and after following that began to find blood about 40-50yards from where it was shot. We followed the blood trail and it twisted and turned through thick brush. I was amazed the deer made it through this stuff the trail was real good and alot of blood, one of my buddies said ' this deer cant be very far'. After following blood for about 50 yards from where we saw the first spot the trail stopped completely. I couldnt believe it. The blood didnt slowly get more and more sparse it just stopped. We scoured the area for hours and found absolutely nothing. I went back out today for a couple of hours and never picked up the trail after that last spot. Very disappointing to say the least and unfortunate for the deer. I cannot see this deer survivng, especially because the bolt is still in it. Why that trail stopped I would love to know. I believe this deer eventually got back to the thick swamp it came out of but again we looked for hours and came up with nothing.

[Ben S.]

Sounds like a gut shot MG. I say that because I had the same thing happen to me about 8 yrs ago.The buck was on the move and I shot without trying to stop him. I knew right away it was a gut shot. Everything from tail down to blood starting a ways from where you shot it. I also remember how there was a good blood trail and then it just stopped dead. Not a drop anywhere. The intestines will block the hole after a while and the blood will just well up inside the cavity. I could be wrong, it just sounds a lot like the one I lost.

[saxman]

I would agree with the gut shot and it sounds like you gave every effort except bringiging in a dog.
At least in nature nothing is wasted.

[peter p]

Did you shoot it broadside or was it facing you?

[ecoaster]

It happens. One good thing that should come of it is the next time you'll probably take an extra second to steady the cross hairs and make sure there are no twigs in the way. Even a tiny twig can deflect a shot. Remeber to watch the hit in your sights and not try to "look up" right away. That will greatly help your arrow to hit the spot you are aiming for. Get back out and give it another try. Good luck!

[flbuckmaster]

either gut shot or dull broadhead. did you sharpen your broadheads before going hunting? they usually are not sharp enough right out of the package.

jay

[knobby]

you said you thought the bolt was still in her

if you didnt get a passthru and you hit a little high then you only have one high hole for blood to come out....and if guts started plugging that up

all the blood stayed inside I bet...