Deerbuster.com

I have followed up hits of my own and for other bowmen that were too far back a dozen times. It's never fun and it's always worrisome. No one wants to lose a deer, and the paunch hit animal seems to elude us more than most. Some experts would say you shouldn't hit 'em there in the first place and they are correct. But because of a jumped string, wind miscalculation, deflection off a branch or other mishap, the gut shot is a fact of hunting and you owe it to the game to know what to do. More importantly, what NOT TO DO. The most common mistake is tracking too soon.

Years ago, I was in perhaps my second or third season as a bowhunter. At dusk I took a shot at a walking eight pointer, and felt it was a good hit. I left the woods and waited an hour to check the arrow. Rich dark red blood covered the shaft and the trail was high up and copious, smearing vegetation three feet off the ground. Liver hit I concluded, and waited another hour to trail. We (my wife and I) started trailing with a lantern in the darkness, and the luminescent trail diminished to occasional droplets after the first 50 yards. The deer was jumped 100 yards into the trail, and we heard him stumble into the darkness.

What did I do wrong?

It would be a shorter list to count the things I did right!

Now compare that experience to a 1997 hunt....

From a tree stand I saw a good buck at 30 yards, trotting by. As luck would have it, the big eight point buck slowed to a walk to identify the deer on the far side of the ridge, which allowed me to range him with the Bushnell laser range finder that I just happened to have in my hand at the time. Thirty yards. I would have guessed thirty-five. I would have missed. His wide spread and good length tines qualified him as a shooter.

The buck moved by, broadside and stopping often, but not offering a shot. Thirty yards in the hardwoods is a long way. Finally, after drawing twice and letting down, I had an opening at the deer as he quartered away at 38 yards. Hissss, the arrow was on it's way. The hit appeared to be in the hind quarter!

"I hope I got the femoral artery........." I thought to myself. The buck turned and ran towards me, apparently unaware of which way the shot came from, or unaware that he'd been shot. I nocked another arrow from my QDQ (Quick Draw Quiver - Black Widow Bow Company) and pulled the string back just as the buck slowed to a stop only eight yards from my tree. He was facing me but I had to take a shot for fear that he'd run. Before I released I could see the first arrow's broad head sticking out of his side, at the rearward most portion of the chest. It was dripping blood steadily. The next shot hit in the shoulder at the base of the neck and didn't penetrate well. I did well just to avoid shooting him in the left antler! As he ran, a tree yanked the arrow out of his neck. I reached down to my Mathews bow quiver, which was detached from the bow and hung on the gun holder hook of the tree stand. The buck had pulled up to a stop about 25 yards away, down wind of me. Several times that morning there were bucks in the same spot and, thanks to my Scent Lok suit, they never picked up my scent. His chest was blocked by a tree trunk and even though I might be able to hit his neck, I was kind of hoping he'd die right there. At least that's the way it happened last time............... He left anyway, proving my decision wrong.

He seemed to stumble while escaping, then all was quiet. A half hour later I climbed down and left the area. After lunch I met up with my usual hunting partner, Frank. Six hours after the hit we began the trailing job.

We tried to cut the trail where I thought I had last seen the deer but as usual, that didn't work. Short cuts rarely do. We went back to the trail and began a long trail with small, dried droplets on multi-colored leaves. It wasn't easy but the trail, while sparse, was regular with blood every 3 to 8 feet or so. Frank was good at looking ahead for the deer or the next large blob of blood, while I stayed on my hands and knees looking for the next droplet. Only occasionally, would it take more than a minute to find the next droplet. Eventually, about two hours into the trailing job, the deer crossed a brook. We glassed the other side, but didn't see him. So off came my boots and socks and I waded across while Frank went back to the car to make a call. He made me promise to come get him if I found the deer, before even moving it. I agreed and we split up. It took fifteen minutes or so to find the trail on the other side of the brook but when I did it seemed heavier. Maybe the water on his hide liquefied some of the clotting blood and made it drip to the forest floor. The buck had crossed the water obstacle, gone into a tangle, stood for a while watching his back trail (it took me a while to figure that out), then he walked along the brook down wind.

Feeling a sense that the trail was nearing an end, I spotted him lying on his side within ten feet of the waters edge. He was not only dead, but stiff. Judging by the deer, the wound and the trail, I'd guess he was dead within a half hour after the shot.

What was done wrong? Nothing.

Give the paunch hit deer time to die or become moribund. It takes about six hours, not two. Overnight is appropriate for evening hits and late in the afternoon for morning hunts. Rain is a consideration, but you may be more likely to find the deer by a grid search the next day, after the rain than by rushing the job on the same day.

Go slow! If you aren't on your hands and knees, you are missing sign! Don't give up! All gut shot deer die. If you pass a blade through the intestines of an ungulate, sepsis (systemic infection) ensues and the survival rate is zero. Keep looking, start over, grid search, get more help, whatever it takes. The deer you find by not giving up may be the most satisfying of your hunting career.