...at least 1.9 miles....
Buddy of mine called yesterday had just arrowed a whitetail buck wanted some help with follow up. Thought the hit looked good but said buck just kind of walked off...my first thought was that's not good, not at all.
Picked up the trail 2.5 to 3 hrs after the shot. Fortunately we had a light dusting of snow, and the blood trail was not heavy but fairly easy to follow drip by drip.
We did find a spot where the buck had bedded....then a half mile further another. At which point we are very much considering if we shouldn't just back off overnight since it seemed unlikely precip in the forecast but we couldn't be sure and by that time we're 4-5 hrs after the shot anyway and still have consistent blood....press on.
Without too much detail it took some serious tracking at a couple points but we did finally find the buck and recover after what Google Earth later estimated at 1.9 miles.
Shot placement was perfectly just behind shoulder 1/3 up, but the exit was dead center bottom of brisket. The buck had apparently downhill from the tree stand, and it seems with the steep downward angle the shot should have been a few inches higher, but it also seems perhaps the arrow deflected a bit on a near side rib at entry. Fixed blade broadhead.
Necropsy showed single lung cut and heart barely nicked.
Lessons learned/reinforced:
-shoot with sight picture for exit behind far side shoulder and have to take angle into account
- even what appears a good hit can turn into a long trailing job as arrows sometimes do funny things on impact....more waiting time is probably better when in doubt and if weather allows
- consider precipitation in archery hunt planning taking into account blood trailing and how it will impact decisions
All in all fairly certain the longest blood trail I've ever been on and glad it ended with a good recovery.
Buddy of mine called yesterday had just arrowed a whitetail buck wanted some help with follow up. Thought the hit looked good but said buck just kind of walked off...my first thought was that's not good, not at all.
Picked up the trail 2.5 to 3 hrs after the shot. Fortunately we had a light dusting of snow, and the blood trail was not heavy but fairly easy to follow drip by drip.
We did find a spot where the buck had bedded....then a half mile further another. At which point we are very much considering if we shouldn't just back off overnight since it seemed unlikely precip in the forecast but we couldn't be sure and by that time we're 4-5 hrs after the shot anyway and still have consistent blood....press on.
Without too much detail it took some serious tracking at a couple points but we did finally find the buck and recover after what Google Earth later estimated at 1.9 miles.
Shot placement was perfectly just behind shoulder 1/3 up, but the exit was dead center bottom of brisket. The buck had apparently downhill from the tree stand, and it seems with the steep downward angle the shot should have been a few inches higher, but it also seems perhaps the arrow deflected a bit on a near side rib at entry. Fixed blade broadhead.
Necropsy showed single lung cut and heart barely nicked.
Lessons learned/reinforced:
-shoot with sight picture for exit behind far side shoulder and have to take angle into account
- even what appears a good hit can turn into a long trailing job as arrows sometimes do funny things on impact....more waiting time is probably better when in doubt and if weather allows
- consider precipitation in archery hunt planning taking into account blood trailing and how it will impact decisions
All in all fairly certain the longest blood trail I've ever been on and glad it ended with a good recovery.
