[glockholic]

So I was hunting this morning with my muzzleloader on a ridge line with a gulley and another knoll to my left and creek bottom infront of me, after standing there for about 30+ minutes, I heard deer moving my way, sure enough here comes 3 good sized does, I let them walk knowing there would be a buck following not far behind, and sure enough there was, he came up the gulley and up the side of the knoll I was standing on and he wasnt 40 yards from me broadside, beautiful buck, huge rack, definetly would have made another head mount on my wall. So I put the crosshairs on him and pinched the trigger, he took off, he ran up the side of the bank next to me across the gulley to my left and layed down ontop of it, I finished reloading and he was still laying there i put the cross hairs on him again and he jumped up and ran down towards the creek. I walked over to where he was laying down and sure enough there was a small pool of good blood which lead to a trail of good spotting. The blood trail went for about 45 yards and than just stopped, no more blood, I called two of my good friends who came down to help me look and we searched around for about 3 hours, circled around the last blood found, circled the area, zig zagged the area, and just skirterd the whole area in about a 1500 yard radius, no more blood, and no buck.. If there is one thing in this world I HATE, it is losing a wounded animal I just intended to harvest. Buck had a nice huge rack and definetly would have been another head mount, more importantly than that though, what a waste of perfectly good meat, makes me sick to my stomach...

 

[Qball50]

Yeah that's too bad. Was the creek flowing pretty good? He probably got down in the creek and got away and that is why you lost his blood trail. Of course, I wasn't there and do not know what area you were hunting in, so that's just speculation on my part. A friend of mine shot a big buck while standing at the top of a ridge with a .270 several years ago in WV. That thing came running up the side of the mountain toward my buddy snortin and all pissed off. My friend, who was my college roommate, had to scurry up into his tree stand to get away from it.

 

[glockholic]

no, he could have hit the creek, if he did we wont know, we walked both sides of that creek for almost a thousand yards and didnt find nothing, the last blood we found was one little spot on a leaf, we marked it with orange tape on a tree next to it and circled around it for a couple hundred yards and nothing, zig zagged all over hell and half of heaven, the only thing it seems we didnt do was fly a damn chopper over the area and looked through infrareds!

 

[B00GER]

Aliens gotta eat too!

 

[glockholic]

+1 natsmith

 

[scmoose]

how deep is the creek, seen many a deer found in water after a bad hit.

 

[glockholic]

Oh it aint but maybe 12 inches deep at the most in one or two areas

 

[chickenfarmer]

Go back in2 days and look for the buzzards, might still get a skull mount... still sucks tho

 

[FNG]

Possibly Giant TseTse flies.... I've seen them carry away small children....

 

[Crazy Carl]

That sucks. Lost my very first deer (little doe, tho) that way. 10yds, buckshot in the throat. Blood everywhere, pools even. 3 of us searched a 1/4 mile radius & she was flat gone.

 

[77f150 beast]

Go back in2 days and look for the buzzards, might still get a skull mount... still sucks tho

+1 the coyotes will get what they want then the buzzards will be there shortly after!Hate to hear about the loss it sux but it happens to us all ever now and then.

 

[Cowboysfan]

First buck I shot stumbled, fell then ran found a huge patch of hair but no blood anywhere. There was a twig hanging Down that I must have hit enough to screw up the shot. Never saw it again.

 

[Daisy Duster]

Another reason I only hunt with a centerfire, no muzzleloader for me.

 

[glockholic]

Yea definitely not a fan of muzzle loaders but, its the best time to hunt cause bucks are chasing

 

[Silver_Bullet]

I would find someone that had a dog that day for a buck that nice!!!
The dog will find the deer 99% of the time when you can not.

It's only been a day, so you will still have good fur to mount, don't wait for the buzzards (the hyde will be ruined for mounting by then) go find someone with a dog. Hurry you are wasting time LOL

 

[Daisy Duster]

What color was the blood? Light red means lungs, medium red is flesh or muscle and dark red is the dreaded gut shot. A hurt deer will usually run to water if near death but by the deer lying down after the shot and recovering to run again you're probably never find it. My guess is a high lung shot. Next time shoot for the shoulder and break the deer's ability to run but then you get to experience another reason for not liking muzzleloader and that is reloading under the stress of seeing a deer struggling to get away and suffering needlessly until you put the second shot for the kill. If you don't see any buzzards circling in a couple of day you can bet the deer recovered. Better luck next time.

 

[beamernc]

Typically a lung shot will be foamy blood.

It does not matter what you use to shoot a deer, it is shot placement. I have hunted for years with a muzzle loader and have never lost a deer. More than one time I have reloaded and shot a second deer that was with the first. I shot a deer with a 10 ga 2 oz slug at 25 yds, through both lungs and shoulders and it still ran nearly 100 yds. The only deer that I shot with a bow dropped in his tracks. The arrow hit high, right in the spine.

Glockholic, check your scope on your rifle. It could have gotten bumped and knocked "off" resulting in a miss placed shot.

 

[-06]

Started using my 7.62 inline '06 to BP hunt with. Has never snapped and the second shot is merely a bolt pull away--or a safety click if using an auto loader. Just don't tell the "rabbit sheriffs".

 

[Daisy Duster]

06, the phone lines are hot from the cheeseaters ratting you out. I'm with you on the .30 cal M/Ler's but I'm getting too old and it hurts my neck looking over my shoulder.

 

[Crazy Carl]

I love hunting with MLs. Prime hunting time & if I do my part, a 240gr XTP at 2000ish fps puts 'em down quick.

'N for the "no smokepole" crowd, we all know that shot placement is key, regardless of what you're shooting. I've had deer pile up w/in 10-15yds of where they were shot with both my .30-30 & .50cal inline & I've had to track/find deer with both.

Best advice I've gotten is to aim for the far shoulder. They don't run very far when you take out a shoulder, along with the heart & lungs.