NEW- Wounded Deer Help (Pic)

[grizzly_]

I shot a deer this afternoon on the last day of my Colorado 4th season deer tag. He hunched up when he was hit, so I felt it was a solid hit, and started running/walking to the left, I shot again and broke his back leg at the hip. I didn't see it because of the recoil but my wife said it was pretty much just flopping there. The deer then crossed from public land onto an Indian Reservation where I couldn't go. I was hunting very near the border so this was a distance of about 40 yards (he was supposed to run away from the border when he was hit but didn't follow directions very well).

After 30 minutes of phone calls I reached a tribal police officer that gave me permission to cross into their land to retrieve the deer. It was getting dark but I found significant blood about 50 yards later in the form of about six large blotches. These were about 100 yards from where he was shot. It was now dark which meant a follow-up shot was illegal so I decided to back out and let him bleed out overnight.

Thoughts? Did I make the right call by backing out? What are the odds of finding the buck? Where do you think he was hit by the pics and description?

Thanks for the insight. It is going to be a sleepless night for me but luckily the officer is escorting me onto their land in the morning to look for the buck, so I have hope.

 

[MTGomer]

Odds are high he's dead and you'll find him in the morning.

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

He's dead go back in the morning, start from last blood and go slow you'll find him

 

[brymoore]

I'd would had followed the trail, but I'm impatient.

 

[handymom]

good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[devon deer]

If he 'hunched' up as described it sounds like it was hit a little way back, i feel certain you will find him, when hit like that they will just stiffen and lie up, but the best thing to do is as you have done, it goes against the grain to just leave an animal to suffer, but better that than immediately follow up for it to get up again and never be found.

Just a question, if after shooting light can you use a knife to finish off the deer?

We can use dogs in the UK if we lose a deer, and in fact have some experts to do this for us, and they don't charge us a penny.

Cheers

Richard

 

[sbhooper]

If he hunched up, it was a gut hit. A muley most likely is not going far with that hit, though, since you did not push him.

 

[Southern Elk]

He's dead. I bet you find him this morning. Keep us updated.

 

[Eyeguy]

Dead.

 

[Walkathon]

Like the other guys have said. Hunching up is usually a gut hit in my experience. Any other hole in him after the gut shot will help to keep him from going very far, hopefully the hip shot is creating internal and external bleeding as well. I think he is dead as well.

 

[LuketheDog]

Well? Update?

 

[Eyeguy]

That 2nd and 3rd photo shows blood that (in my opinion) is the "right" color. I think you hit an artery when you made that second shot. I hit one way back with a bow one time...the deer spooked when i shot. Arrow hit the femoral and the deer went less distance then if I would have scored a double lung.

 

[Elkhunter24]

any updates?

 

[grizzly_]

Sorry for the slow reply. We got the deer to the truck at about 3:30pm and still had a 500 mile drive home to be at work Tuesday morning so I didn't have time to post earlier; but we just pulled into town.

Luckily the deer didn't go far. We found him about 50 yards from where we had left the blood trail so I think it was good we backed out instead of pushing him in the dark.

The first shot had actually hit him a little in front of the shoulder and high. It was below the spine and above lungs in "no man's land". Obviously the shot hit some major arteries though, so I'm grateful for that. It was a downpour all day today so the blood trail was lost but he had laid down just up the hill in some oaks.

After taping him, he ends up at 202 5/8 with a 189 6/8 mainframe. Not bad for a unit that only takes a few points for non-residents.

I couldn't be happier and wanted to say thanks to everybody for the well-wishes and positive thoughts. It helped me actually sleep a few hours last night.

 

[Dave N]

Great deer! Glad you found him.

 

[Southern Elk]

Congrats! He's a stud!

 

[dcopas78]

That is a beauty! Congrats on finding him.

 

[devon deer]

That is a beast!
Well done.
Cheers
Richard

 

[mtmander]

congrats , nice deer

 

[bowhuntmontana]

So glad you found him. Beautiful buck!