Strange happening deer hunting a few weeks ago
- Thread starter Dr.Lee
- Start date
Raythemanroe
Bullet Whisperer
Dr., I have walked a few 3-D archery courses for a few years with a shooter that is as good or better then me when it comes to releasing the arrow. I can't tell you how many times he had hunting SNAFU's, After a so called sure shot he couldn't tell you which way the deer went. If he had seen horns it was like his brain went blank. I can say now days he is a good hunter, but it took a light to come on upstairs I think..I think this happens in different levels for all of us and clears up after a kill or two.. My dad called it buck fever and told me stories of a neighbor he hunted with that thought he was firing at a nice buck, but when folks found him the pile of unfired bullets at his feet told the story.. I'm not saying you had buck fever but after you get a few down you will look back at it differently..
Ray
Ray
A 50 yard follow up don't cut the mustard!! I mostly hunt mule deer and elk but occasionally I get a wild hair to go shoot a few whitetail which will be mostly on hay fields so you can range just how far they make it and it's surprising how far a heart shot deer will travel! I had one doe I put a 165 Matrix through her heart at 200 yards, she ran at a dead run then started jumping then fell over, she made it over 200 yards and she had a 2.5 inch hole out the off side and her heart was gone, not a hole in it but GONE.
I've seen deer react like that because they react to the bullet hitting the ground in front of them, you could easily slip and Accubond through one lung and have it exit the front of the chest without creating enough collateral damage to kill the deer fast.
I really don't like the Accubond for deer, it's just to hard, pushing them 3350 fps in my 270 WSM and on a couple deer I've been able to find the bullet after shooting through them and mule deer and down in the 2600 fps range they are not even open back to the ogive, they are pretty much done doing any good by 2200 fps impact so you have to start way sooner putting them on bone. Put the same bullet on an elk at the same impact speed and you'll have it mushroom back as pretty as can be.
I've seen deer react like that because they react to the bullet hitting the ground in front of them, you could easily slip and Accubond through one lung and have it exit the front of the chest without creating enough collateral damage to kill the deer fast.
I really don't like the Accubond for deer, it's just to hard, pushing them 3350 fps in my 270 WSM and on a couple deer I've been able to find the bullet after shooting through them and mule deer and down in the 2600 fps range they are not even open back to the ogive, they are pretty much done doing any good by 2200 fps impact so you have to start way sooner putting them on bone. Put the same bullet on an elk at the same impact speed and you'll have it mushroom back as pretty as can be.
bigngreen said:
Yes, I tend to agree with your assessments. The bullet did concern me, as well as the placement. I thought it could have penciled right on through. And yes, 50 yards search made me wonder. I would have looked further.
Another factor in this saga; The guide picked me up, we looked, nothing, we go to pick up the 2 other hunters he had on stands elsewhere. We go to pick them up and one had shot a underage/underweight doe, the other hunter had shot a button buck.
So from the guides point of view, between those shots and my 'miss', he had a hell of a night.
Had all this other jazz not happened, I hope that I would have insisted we go back to search more. This was only about a hour after my shot. I will also look at other bullets. Might even load my own.
At least I have the good Nosler brass for my troubles.
Thanks for the feedback,
Dr.Lee
Dr. Lee,
Sorry to hear you lost the deer. I had something similar happen to me several years ago, but with a bow. I hit a deer high, just behind the shoulder, with a perfect quartering away shot, so the exit would be low, in the offside shoulder. It was a perfect hit. I too was in a tree stand. Using a fixed broadhead with a 1 1/4" cut. the blood on arrow was all perfect lung blood. I found just a couple of drops over a 100 yard area, and I followed it perfectly the way it ran until out of sight. I never found it that night. I talked with a fellow bowhunter the next day at work about it. I told him exactly how the deer was standing when I shot. He told me that if the offside leg was as far forward as I said it was, and I was 100% sure. he said the arrow exited the way the deer stood, the skin was stretched forward, then as the deer ran off, the skin slid back past the exit hole, so that the hole in ribcage didn't align with hole in hide (I hope I explained that so it makes sense). then the blood is trapped inside. He said he would bet the deer would die before it bled enough to fill the ribcage enough to pump out the high entry hole. I went back out at lunch and looked again, but farther out, and down along the water. sure enough, I found it. bled so little it wasn't funny, and it had make a couple weird turns and fell over in some briars along the river. I checked and he was 100% correct. the skin had slid back. It's very very possible that if your super tough, deep penetration bullet didn't open much and it did the same thing at exit. It is amazing watching how much ground a deer can cover in 2 seconds before it even starts bleeding out too, especially if the hole is high. It has to fill up that whole cavity usually before blood pours out really well.
Sorry to hear you lost the deer. I had something similar happen to me several years ago, but with a bow. I hit a deer high, just behind the shoulder, with a perfect quartering away shot, so the exit would be low, in the offside shoulder. It was a perfect hit. I too was in a tree stand. Using a fixed broadhead with a 1 1/4" cut. the blood on arrow was all perfect lung blood. I found just a couple of drops over a 100 yard area, and I followed it perfectly the way it ran until out of sight. I never found it that night. I talked with a fellow bowhunter the next day at work about it. I told him exactly how the deer was standing when I shot. He told me that if the offside leg was as far forward as I said it was, and I was 100% sure. he said the arrow exited the way the deer stood, the skin was stretched forward, then as the deer ran off, the skin slid back past the exit hole, so that the hole in ribcage didn't align with hole in hide (I hope I explained that so it makes sense). then the blood is trapped inside. He said he would bet the deer would die before it bled enough to fill the ribcage enough to pump out the high entry hole. I went back out at lunch and looked again, but farther out, and down along the water. sure enough, I found it. bled so little it wasn't funny, and it had make a couple weird turns and fell over in some briars along the river. I checked and he was 100% correct. the skin had slid back. It's very very possible that if your super tough, deep penetration bullet didn't open much and it did the same thing at exit. It is amazing watching how much ground a deer can cover in 2 seconds before it even starts bleeding out too, especially if the hole is high. It has to fill up that whole cavity usually before blood pours out really well.
I would agree about a sorry guide. 50yds isn't very far. hell, by backyard is only 30yds, and the deer always clear it when the rage flies 
The only experience I have had with a hunting guide was in Texas, but he sure as heck was not a Texan. The poor peckerhead didn't even know how to skin anything. So I had to teach him how. Turns out he was a college room mate to the guy who just bought the hunting ranch, and he was hired as ranch manager. They had a nice set-up, a nice place to skin them and pull them right into a big cooler. He admitted that he had never hung one up before, he just hauled it up the road to another guy who knew how. I had gone there on a whim, because it was cheaper to kill an elk than to get a beef that year, so why not. I had never even seen an elk before. I have to admit I wasn't shocked when he didn't know how to do it. His knife was so dull he would've had a hard time cutting warm butter. what an idiot.
The only experience I have had with a hunting guide was in Texas, but he sure as heck was not a Texan. The poor peckerhead didn't even know how to skin anything. So I had to teach him how. Turns out he was a college room mate to the guy who just bought the hunting ranch, and he was hired as ranch manager. They had a nice set-up, a nice place to skin them and pull them right into a big cooler. He admitted that he had never hung one up before, he just hauled it up the road to another guy who knew how. I had gone there on a whim, because it was cheaper to kill an elk than to get a beef that year, so why not. I had never even seen an elk before. I have to admit I wasn't shocked when he didn't know how to do it. His knife was so dull he would've had a hard time cutting warm butter. what an idiot.Dr. Lee, your story is not unusual in the Carolinas. Deer can't read bullet and ammo reviews so they do as they darn please. They will as stated run a marathon with no functioning viscera and they will fall on the spot with what seems to be a minor wound. The doe I shot w a muzzleloader on Saturday was down and flopped twice so I reloaded. It was getting dark and there was a heavy drizzle. Long story short, I walked right past the doe as she had gotten up and run 60 yds toward the blind rather than to the escape trails. Post on Sunday morning-bullet hit mid chest, removed left atrium and mitral valve, and exited thru opposite elbo without hitting bone. Result was no blood trail. Unfortunately most of the Carolina, and Im sure elsewhere will not follow any trail that is not 2' wide and displaying bits of tissue. Business is the reason, they won't take the chance of spooking any other shooter deer in cover/bedding areas. They have high deer densities, and will not disrupt tomorrows hunt. I once got yelled at for following an only 1' wide blood trail 70yds into cover. Im sure you killed your deer, but unfortunately it didn't drop within sight.
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