Hey guys need your help, shot at anice buck at about 130yrds to 150yards,wind was blowing steady at 10-15 mph, when I shot it s back legs kicked higher than its head then it ran 30-40yrds stopped looked around trying to see where I was did not see me and went another 50-60yards to the forest. when it ran away his tail was not up he just left in a fast trot.I waited a good 15min and went to check for blood or fur where I shot him, found nothing no fur no blood, it was in a muddy field. then I went to the forest to check the place he entered and nothing there too. Did I miss him or did i hit him in the gut? How far would he go if he was hit in the gut? I`ll be there tommorrow to check need some advice.Thx Elmer
Need help!! Shot deer and back legs kicked high?
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My guess would be that you missed him since you did not find any blood or hair. Even if all you did was graze him you should have found hair
I once helped a couple of hunters track a deer that was gut shot. They had asked me if I had seen a doe come by. I had not ,but with a little effort we found the blood trail for them. Afterwards I asked them where the doe was shot. The landowners name they gave me was 2 miles from our property.
In short a poorly shot deer can make it a ways. Normally though if you don't push them , they travel just far enough that they fill safe and bed down. When in doubt give them 1 to 2 hours to bleed out and die.
If I were you . I'd start back where you think you hit the deer then move towards where he entered the woods. Start searching the area. chances are if you didn't push him any, he'll be in the 1st hundred yds. If you went after him to soon check the next 100 yds. most likley He'll be in some heavy cover. Also if you did hit him and he laid down their should be a nice puddle of blood .
good luck
In short a poorly shot deer can make it a ways. Normally though if you don't push them , they travel just far enough that they fill safe and bed down. When in doubt give them 1 to 2 hours to bleed out and die.
If I were you . I'd start back where you think you hit the deer then move towards where he entered the woods. Start searching the area. chances are if you didn't push him any, he'll be in the 1st hundred yds. If you went after him to soon check the next 100 yds. most likley He'll be in some heavy cover. Also if you did hit him and he laid down their should be a nice puddle of blood .
good luck
elmerdeer said:
No tail up & rear legs HIGH kick-up at shot, .......very likely a hit. How many hours did you look for sign of hit before dark? No leaf kick-up when deer enters woods?
If it were me....I would be out there now......several hours after hit with a Coleman & looking for trackin sign...of course thats just me! Have lost deer left overnite to yotes & bear. Sometimes its tuff losin a nite sleep, day of work etc. in a tracking effort but our precious game deserves our very best effort. Sounds like gut shot. By now deer is likely recoverable.
Best of luck.
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elmerdeer said:
I'm with you Loggy. Tonight would be the night.
elmerdeer,
you definitely have a hit! Usually a deer shot in the guts or paunch area will hunch its back up and a deer shot in the frontal area like the heart/lungs will often times kick their hind legs up high before taking off. It also seems since it ran off with its tail down this also indicates a hit. I believe you may have hit the deer up high and the blood will have to fill up in the body cavity before it starts to leave a blood trail. I would go back to the last place you saw the deer and start tracking again looking for any sign,disrupted leaves, tracks, etc. I think the farther you track it the more blood you will start to find and the deer probably didn't go over a couple hundred yards at most if not pushed. I would also go as soon as possible and take a coleman lantern with you after dark as it makes the blood show up like phosphorous and is far better than a flashlight. Good luck in your efforts.
Pocampo
you definitely have a hit! Usually a deer shot in the guts or paunch area will hunch its back up and a deer shot in the frontal area like the heart/lungs will often times kick their hind legs up high before taking off. It also seems since it ran off with its tail down this also indicates a hit. I believe you may have hit the deer up high and the blood will have to fill up in the body cavity before it starts to leave a blood trail. I would go back to the last place you saw the deer and start tracking again looking for any sign,disrupted leaves, tracks, etc. I think the farther you track it the more blood you will start to find and the deer probably didn't go over a couple hundred yards at most if not pushed. I would also go as soon as possible and take a coleman lantern with you after dark as it makes the blood show up like phosphorous and is far better than a flashlight. Good luck in your efforts.
Pocampo
I'm with Pocampo. As an example, last fall my hunting partner shot a buck at about 90 yds with his 264 Win Mag. Deer kicked high and trotted into the woods. We gave him a while and went to where he was when shot. No sign what so ever. We went into bush where he entered and followed for a while and still no sign. Suddenly we saw him standing watching us. He behaved strange and wouldn't run away. We watched him for about 10 minutes and could see nothing on him to indicate a hit. He finally walked away. We gave him a little time and went to where he had been standing. A few drops of blood seen on ground, but not much. Started to follow blood trail, which was very sparse and within 50 yds we found him dead. Had been hit high and when we field dressed him found his liver was a mess.
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Elmer,
As I mentioned on the other board that you posted this question to, I am confident that you had a solid hit.
The first buck I ever shot responded in the identical manner. Mule Kick. I found him dead 50 yds away, shot through both lungs.
As I mentioned on the other board that you posted this question to, I am confident that you had a solid hit.
The first buck I ever shot responded in the identical manner. Mule Kick. I found him dead 50 yds away, shot through both lungs.
Was out today looked for any sign and found nothing did a search about 200 yards square and not one drop of blood, now its pouring rain but tommorrow will be tthere again and see if i bump into him by fluke, but i`m starting to dought if it was a solid hit, but i will check again. Thx for all the help everyone, Elmerjcchartboy said:
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Elmer,
Sorry to hear that.
Let me ask you and the other members a few questions...
We all know deer will mule kick when shot...
Does anyone know of any reason that a deer would mule kick otherwise? Has anyone shot a deer when other deer were in the vacinity and noticed any of the other deer mule kick, despite the fact that they were not the ones being shot?
My point being...unless others have evidence to the contrary, I do not believe the mule kick is a natural reaction for deer unless they are actually hit by a shot.
Obviously, the shot may not be fatal, or the death may not occur for some time, but I believe the mule kick is almost synonymous with the deer actually being shot.
I'll be interested to hear other members views....JC
Sorry to hear that.
Let me ask you and the other members a few questions...
We all know deer will mule kick when shot...
Does anyone know of any reason that a deer would mule kick otherwise? Has anyone shot a deer when other deer were in the vacinity and noticed any of the other deer mule kick, despite the fact that they were not the ones being shot?
My point being...unless others have evidence to the contrary, I do not believe the mule kick is a natural reaction for deer unless they are actually hit by a shot.
Obviously, the shot may not be fatal, or the death may not occur for some time, but I believe the mule kick is almost synonymous with the deer actually being shot.
I'll be interested to hear other members views....JC
jcchartboy said:
All I can offer from over 40 years of hard core deer hunting experience(in the trenches/no guides/ugly/public ground :lol: ).......is that Sh!t happens & many experiences are unexplainable & unverifiable.....even to Dick Tracy. :lol: A mule kick looks nice (text bookwise aka an obvious hit) but maybe deer traveled 500 yds thru all kind of thick stuff & left NO SIGN WHATSOEVER if a high gut shot. Bottomline, you are totally screwed.
If you shot under deer and debris blows up or percussion thereunder.... I can foresee a high kick-up. Hey, they even Duck a quiet arrow so silently whispering over their back! :lol:
Another observation from this season. My hunting partner tried a head shot a couple of weeks ago. The deer jumped and we were sure it was a hit but not in the head. The deer ran off and we checked and no blood or hair. the deer only went about 70 yds to the other side of a band of bush. We caught up to it and was standing and grazing. It wasn't so luck on his second shot. The deer was examine and we found a 45 cal hole in it's ear. Could have hung and earing from it. Obviously no real damage but that slug going through it's ear startled it which caused it to jump. IMO a close miss would startle a deer and cause it to jump
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Raf,
Interesting, did it look like a mule kick, with its hind feet way up, or more of even balanced jump?
Interesting, did it look like a mule kick, with its hind feet way up, or more of even balanced jump?
I think this article by Russ Chaitin comes close to my first guess- A lung shot( its happened to me once before 
) You may have to track a little more but He's probably dead within a couple hundred yards....-Getonit- http://hunting.about.com/od/deerbiggame ... 9.htm?nl=1
) You may have to track a little more but He's probably dead within a couple hundred yards....-Getonit- http://hunting.about.com/od/deerbiggame ... 9.htm?nl=1- Joined
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In Sept I was hunting in Kansas. I shoot lefty and was sitting in a tree stand. The doe came from behind but to my left shoulder. I turned my head to the left and it was only 10 yds away. It saw me and after a minute or so it wheeled around and ran then turned again to the right and crossed to a woods road. I still could not shoot lefthanded so decided to shoot righty which I have done a bit of before. The shot was about 35 yds using open sights. At the shot I do not know if she jumped or not but saw her running back the way she came. Everything felt good so I got down and went to the spot of the shot. No blood or hair just her tracks. I then went down the road that she came up till I came on her running tracks again and still no blood. When I got about 80 yds from my tree stand I found a tiny spot of blood assuring me I did hit her. I tracked her another 20 yds and then began finding a little spot of blood every 10 feet or so. She came to an intersection and I guessed she turned left as she was no longer running. I went about 15 or 20 yds to the left and just happend to look to the right and there she laid deader than a doornail. When I went to field dress her I cut through the muscle tissue and blood sprayed out like I had hit an artery. She had bled nearly all internally being hit in 1 lung and a completely destroyed liver. The hit was high so the blood never actually reached the level of the entrance or exit wound. In all the deer traveled over 120 yds and due to the soft ground I tracked her more than blood trailed her. I used to be very good at tracking and am glad I still have a little skill left. Just don't give up sometimes in the brush get down on the deers level and see what the path of least resistance is and many times it will be right.
