Getting Over Wounded Deer and Deer Activity

[bflem55]

On Sunday morning I shot a 14 point quartering away at 20 yards I thought I hit him pretty good. I didn't get a passthrough thought with the arrow. We tracked the deer with very minimal blood for 5 hours with no luck. Now I would just like to know is my hunting spot ruined? Have I scared all the deer off from coming there? I really would like to go out tonight and Friday all day, but it seems like I cant stop thinking about that shot and if my time is going to be worthless with no deer activity. I hunt in a Creek bottom surrounded by CRP and corn fields so I don't have more than about 30 acres of prime land to hunt its kind of my only spot. I have only hunted it 2 times this year though .

[Idreamofdroptines]

I am relatively new but I say you won't know unless you are out there....Sorry to hear about not finding a buck...That sucks!

[whodey1966]

Nope, during the rut, deer are so unpredictable! You never know when a deer will show, another thing that will help is if you get a rain there before you hunt it again, that will help wash away any scent you left behind. I say get back out there!

[mrbb]

NO not really, long time hunter here have had like deal happen in the past, looked for. 3 +Days, running the woods hard with a group of guys,5-6has a day.
then went back in to same stand I wounded the deer and killed a nice buck.
a good are will always cause deer to go to/thru it.
BUT some deer will tolerate less human action than others.
you never know, but I would NOT leave a good area, cause I walked thru, the area some.
most places deer see and smell humans all the time
maybe give it a few days off, then hun it,

[zachc]

14 pointer! Do you know if you bumped him when you were tracking him? If not I would be back out there tracking, get some buddies and do a grid search. You say your hunting a Creek bottom, is there water in the creek or any part of it. If so make sure you check in the water as good as possible, they say run for water when they are hit and he may be laying dead in the creek. Also is the corn still standing? If you feel you got a good hit on him, you could see how much a tracking dog would run you, another option I've heard of guys using is try to find someone with a small helicopter. For the cost of fuel and a few extra dollars they might be willing to help you out. It sounds kind of extreme but if he's a big enough deer I think it would be well worth it. Anyways back to the question at hand, no I don't think that you have ruined that spot. I'm guessing you didn't track through there with an army covered in trash scent. I agree with whodey this time of year deer travel so much you never know. I would get back out there, you can bet that if a big 14 pointer feels comfortable enough to run that area there's more big deer that do to. Just my 2 cents...

[BUCKHUNTER30-06]

bflem55, I answered your other post about hitting the 12pt. and losing it. My grandson hit a 4pt his 1st buck with a crossbow Mon. night found a little blood and then the arrow. only about 2 drops of blood after that. 4 of us went out Tue. morn. did a grid search nothing. I then walked on top of a ravine with a creek down below and, about 300yds laying in the small creek was his 4pt. buck. years ago my son lost a buck same way and I had him stay at the last blood and I went to a creek that ran through there. I walked up the creek and then back down the creek. I found his buck almost laying in the creek. a deer when wounded gets a fever and needs to drink a lot so I would check the creek bottom you talk about.

[trperk]

Yeah, and by now there should be some crow activity on the buck if he's dead. At least you could get the rack.

[mrbb]

don't forget there are guys about with deer tracking dogs too, that might recover a dead deer, I know on a BIG buck, I hit a few yrs back in Ohio, I hired one guy, , didn't find it, but it was money well spent trying
as it was a BIG buck, and I looked for days for it
doesn't take much to miss a dead deer either if its thick and lots of cover or hilly and small drop off
I once looked for a week for a deer, had a bunch of guys
and we actually walked past it dead about 10 times and never seen it, till a month later when a buddy found it, , it dove into a small dip in the ground head first and was below ground level, unless you stepped on it, you would have never seen it

so, never hurts to look more
a good area will always pull deer back
and a great buck is worth the effort! or risk to spoook the area IMO!

[Big_Holla]

I'd do everything possible to try to find the one you hit first instead of worrying if your spot would be ruined. A quartering away shot depending on where it went in, penetration and all should be a dead deer. Like mrbb said, check out a tracking dog first and you still have grid searching if all else fails. No offense but 5 hours tracking is nothing when it comes to finding a deer you shot.

[Big_Holla]

Of course I just re-read your post and saw it was Sunday when you shot him. I'd have been looking Monday and Tuesday if it were a quartering away shot that I felt good about.

[bflem55]

Yea we looked and looked on Monday I had farmers looking on the adjacent properties as well. I am thinking that the shot was a little higher than I thought and this deer is still alive.

[trperk]

It's hard to judge where you're arrow landed but I've had quartering away shots where the my broadhead ran up between the scapula and backbone. I saw the buck a month later with a nice scar!