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Whitetail blood on Roy's rifle
- Thread starter jethro224
- Start date
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Thanks GW, I'll try and get them buck pics for ya. :grin:
Lonehunter, you might be onto somethin'.
Who told that doe it was Runaround Sue shootin' at 'er? :cursing:
Texcl, Roundball, and Paul, you guys are absolutely right. Her chest was full of what looked like gallons of blood. I've hit deer high thru the lungs before and they do tend to go a ways before they fill up and start to leak. I also believe the clump of bloody hair I found was most likely helping to hold the blood in.
Paul, I hafta say Thanks to you. I am sure that some of the tracking advice I have picked up from your posts helped me to find this deer. :hatsoff:
Luie, I got her Thursday morning.
I only saw 3 deer Thursday counting this one. Nothing in the evening. Friday I only saw one doe right at sunset, RIGHT behind me, coulda whacked her with the barrel! Saturday I saw 15 deer before 8:30 am, all in range but I was huntin' horns. Sunday I just froze my butt off all day with the squirrels and didn't see a deer all day.
Roy, Thanks for the opportunity to use this fine rifle.
Thanks everybody. :hatsoff:
Good luck to all of you on your own hunts. :hatsoff:
Lonehunter, you might be onto somethin'.
Who told that doe it was Runaround Sue shootin' at 'er? :cursing:
Texcl, Roundball, and Paul, you guys are absolutely right. Her chest was full of what looked like gallons of blood. I've hit deer high thru the lungs before and they do tend to go a ways before they fill up and start to leak. I also believe the clump of bloody hair I found was most likely helping to hold the blood in.
Paul, I hafta say Thanks to you. I am sure that some of the tracking advice I have picked up from your posts helped me to find this deer. :hatsoff:
Luie, I got her Thursday morning.
I only saw 3 deer Thursday counting this one. Nothing in the evening. Friday I only saw one doe right at sunset, RIGHT behind me, coulda whacked her with the barrel! Saturday I saw 15 deer before 8:30 am, all in range but I was huntin' horns. Sunday I just froze my butt off all day with the squirrels and didn't see a deer all day.
Roy, Thanks for the opportunity to use this fine rifle.
Thanks everybody. :hatsoff:
Good luck to all of you on your own hunts. :hatsoff:
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I hope I end up with bigger pic's than that when I update the webpage. :blah:
- Joined
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:haha: Send em via my email, I don't trust Roy. :rotf:
Skychief
69 Cal.
Atta Boy Jethro!
Ya did us all proud with this one!
Skychief :thumbsup:
Ya did us all proud with this one!
Skychief :thumbsup:
hoochiepapa
75 Cal.
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Way to go, Jethro! That's what hunting is all about!
paulvallandigham
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Jim: Say it isn't so! :shocked2:
I am not suppose to know anything about anything, according to my critics here, because I am a lawyer, and I can't possibly have learned anything, or done anything growing up and living my life that is remotely relevant to hunting, and shooting! :bow: :grin:
Really, you know I am thrilled that you took that deer, and found her. Just finding all that fur that you did along her trail impressed the heck out of me. I have found deer fur at the site where a slug, or ball passed through a deer, that then wandered off to die someplace else, but I have never found other fur "drops" along the path. The closest I have seen fur where it might not have been, was when a friend shot at a running buck with his percussion rifle, and cut off part of the buck's tail. I came across the fur from that tail- long guard hairs mixed in-- on the trail when checking those deer tracks the next day. That deer lived many more years, and was called " Stumpy"( No offense, Stumpkiller) by the local archers who saw him, but never got close enough for a shot. When he was finally killed during " Shotgun season" by a guy shooting slugs, Stumpy had no visible teeth above the gum, his rack was huge, but with lots of "uglies" on it. I doubt he would have lived another year, as he weighed less than I had expected him to weigh, based on when I also saw him several years before his death.
Good job. I am glad that anything I have written here was a help. :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
I am not suppose to know anything about anything, according to my critics here, because I am a lawyer, and I can't possibly have learned anything, or done anything growing up and living my life that is remotely relevant to hunting, and shooting! :bow: :grin:
Really, you know I am thrilled that you took that deer, and found her. Just finding all that fur that you did along her trail impressed the heck out of me. I have found deer fur at the site where a slug, or ball passed through a deer, that then wandered off to die someplace else, but I have never found other fur "drops" along the path. The closest I have seen fur where it might not have been, was when a friend shot at a running buck with his percussion rifle, and cut off part of the buck's tail. I came across the fur from that tail- long guard hairs mixed in-- on the trail when checking those deer tracks the next day. That deer lived many more years, and was called " Stumpy"( No offense, Stumpkiller) by the local archers who saw him, but never got close enough for a shot. When he was finally killed during " Shotgun season" by a guy shooting slugs, Stumpy had no visible teeth above the gum, his rack was huge, but with lots of "uglies" on it. I doubt he would have lived another year, as he weighed less than I had expected him to weigh, based on when I also saw him several years before his death.
Good job. I am glad that anything I have written here was a help. :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
About 5 years ago my cousin shot at a doe with his shotgun. He blasted the front leg off but we didn't know it at the time. This is the cousin who has probably twice as many deer as he has tagged. When he wouunded this doe I was doing most of the tracking since I was small enough to crawl around in all this brush. I kept finding lots of pieces of bone and small drops of blood. The button buck I shot with my muzzleloader this year didn't bleed until about 10 yards down the trail I could see the deer had taken. First I just found hair but the further I went down the trail I found small drops of blood then there were more and the drops kept getting bigger. I don't know if this is a roundball thing or not but I thought this was different than the deer I have tracked with a bow or shotgun slug.
paulvallandigham
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The thick fur on deer how a lot of blood before it begins to drop to the ground. Its not uncommon with both MLing, Archery, and even slug gun hunting, when you have a high hit, to not find blood on the trail for many yards. That is why I am such a NAG about people learning to read TRACKS, and consider blood evidence as the icing on the cake.
Until animals learn to fly without wings, you will have tracks. Getting down low- as you did even as a kid- is one of the secrets to seeing them. Once you know what they look like in the ground cover present, you can see them from a more erect position, provided you use the sun's angle to your advantage. ALWAYS PUT THE ROUND YOU ARE EXAMINING BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR SOURCE OF LIGHT FOR BEST VISUAL CONDITIONS. LOOK FOR THE SHADOWS CAST BY THE WALLS OF THE ANIMAL TRACK IN THE GROUND COVER. IN DECIDUOUS FORESTS, THE DRY LEAVE WILL BE PRESSED INTO THE SOFTER GROUND UNDERNEATH, AND THE EDGES OF SOME OF THE LEAVES WILL STAND UP ALONG THE WALLS, GIVING EROSE SHADOWS THAT LOOK LIKE THE POINTS ON THE CROWN OF A TIARA.
Until animals learn to fly without wings, you will have tracks. Getting down low- as you did even as a kid- is one of the secrets to seeing them. Once you know what they look like in the ground cover present, you can see them from a more erect position, provided you use the sun's angle to your advantage. ALWAYS PUT THE ROUND YOU ARE EXAMINING BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR SOURCE OF LIGHT FOR BEST VISUAL CONDITIONS. LOOK FOR THE SHADOWS CAST BY THE WALLS OF THE ANIMAL TRACK IN THE GROUND COVER. IN DECIDUOUS FORESTS, THE DRY LEAVE WILL BE PRESSED INTO THE SOFTER GROUND UNDERNEATH, AND THE EDGES OF SOME OF THE LEAVES WILL STAND UP ALONG THE WALLS, GIVING EROSE SHADOWS THAT LOOK LIKE THE POINTS ON THE CROWN OF A TIARA.
buttonbuck
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Way to stick with it, I am glad you trusted your instincts to get on the trail. The whole business of tracking is so facinating Paul has made us all more hungry to learn it.
Capt. Fred
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Nice going! That's a real interesting tale too. I had something very similar happen this year also. A hit that was only slightly high, no blood for 50 yards, some tiny specs here and there after that, then a ton of blood and a dead deer. But, the deer had gone probably 150 yds from where it was standing when I hit it. It really had me scratching my head for a while.
CaptainKirk
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Nice work, Jethro!
You experience mirrors mine on the first deer I ever took. Plenty of hair; no blood. Probably didn't find blood for 30-40 yards of careful tracking through heavy brush. One the blood started, it was only about 60 yards to the deer; double-lunger and like yours, the body cavity was full of blood.
Never assume you've missed unless you know you botched the shot. Sometimes it takes a while for the blood to flow. The hair was your first, good sign. Kudos to you for following up on your gut instinct!
You experience mirrors mine on the first deer I ever took. Plenty of hair; no blood. Probably didn't find blood for 30-40 yards of careful tracking through heavy brush. One the blood started, it was only about 60 yards to the deer; double-lunger and like yours, the body cavity was full of blood.
Never assume you've missed unless you know you botched the shot. Sometimes it takes a while for the blood to flow. The hair was your first, good sign. Kudos to you for following up on your gut instinct!
paulvallandigham said:
I almost always find clumps of hair where the deer stood at the shot. Generally more with bowhunting.
There have been a few other times when I could not find any blood but found hair along with other sign while tracking. Usually they will be just single hairs after the initial clumps.
One time in particular, back when I still used shotguns and slugs, I hit a doe low across the brisket. I tracked her mostly by hairs with the occasional small bit of fat to where she bedded in the cattails. A follow-up shot was required.
While tracking this last doe there were several times your advice came to mind and helped me to find the next clue. :thumbsup: :hatsoff:
luie b said:
That sounds pretty typical of a front leg hit in my experience. Unfortunately deer can run just as fast on 3 legs as 4 and it's rare you can catch up to one with a front leg shot off.
Your button buck trail sounds pretty typical too. It's pretty rare to find blood right at the hit. A deer can jump quite a ways and might take a few good jumps before the blood starts to hit the ground. I usually start finding blood in 10-30 yards down the trail and most often it gets better farther along with the deer found inside 100 yards.
There are quite a lot of variables tho. I've had 'em drop on the spot, run 100 yards and fall over and never bleed a drop, sometimes the blood drips, sometimes it pours, sometimes it sprays out in a mist... :idunno:
Whatever kind of trail they leave, I believe in doing everything possible to find every animal I shoot.
ny griz said:
The load was 100 grains of 2F Goex, Walmart pillow ticking patch lubed with Stumpy's "Moose Snot", and a .600 round ball.
This is the only load I have shot with the rifle and the only one I will get the chance to try, she will be traveling on to the next guy soon.
I took the rifle to the range before deer season and spent the day shooting paper at 25 yard increments out to 125 yards. She groups well at all ranges and hits dead-on at 100 yards with that load. 3.5" high at 50 and 7" low at 125. :thumbsup:
