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Question about a shot

Nrharris

PMA Member
Pretty sure I already know the answer, but I took a shot at a buck I had been watching all year and rushed it a little bit because he was staring me down. Too much smoke after the shot to see what happened. All I could find was a big pile of hair where he stood. Looks like gray/brown hair. Not white hair. Is there any chance the hit would be fatal? Going to go look in the morning regardless.
 
Tough saying. I’d wait until the morning to go look for anything else. If he’s dead he’s dead. I shot a doe with a 450 bushmaster at 45 yards. Could see hair explode out of her in the scope. Went up there and nothing but pile of brown hair, same deal. No blood what so ever. When the walker got to me, he explained there was a big doe piled up down the hill. 30-40 yds from the spot of the shot, blood was pouring out. She was quartering to me. I slip into the goodies and on the exit hole, the guts and intestines had been pulled out the other side plugging the exit hole. Very odd deal, but you never know. Especially with brown hair like that.
 
Tough saying. I’d wait until the morning to go look for anything else. If he’s dead he’s dead. I shot a doe with a 450 bushmaster at 45 yards. Could see hair explode out of her in the scope. Went up there and nothing but pile of brown hair, same deal. No blood what so ever. When the walker got to me, he explained there was a big doe piled up down the hill. 30-40 yds from the spot of the shot, blood was pouring out. She was quartering to me. I slip into the goodies and on the exit hole, the guts and intestines had been pulled out the other side plugging the exit hole. Very odd deal, but you never know. Especially with brown hair like that.

Depending on a range of factors, muzzy's can often leave very little, or no, blood...particularly at the site of hit. My sense is that you are probably good, I too would advise waiting until tomorrow AM.
 
I at least have a little hope then. At least the woods he ran into is only about 20 acres so I should be able to search it pretty well
 
Good luck on your search.. The color of hair you found is the color I would want to find. I would think white hair would be a bad sign and would not want to see that. I think belly/gut shot with that.
 
So my son shot a deer last night with ML(25o gr barnes). 50 yard shot quartering too. Same as shot described above. Perfect shot entrance side but exited back through guts. 4 man search last night after giving it over an hour. Only few drops of blood for only 50 yards or so then lost it. Gave up on blood trail and just searched for deer or blood but nothing. Found a little hair just like above as well. Pretty much summed it up as a rushed shot and grazed him low. Went back today in daylight and found a few more drops of blood so started circling and found him less than hundred yards away. Was within 20 to 30 yards of him last night. 2 things I learned. One listen to your kid when he says he knew he made a good shot and was right behind the shoulder dead center (because he was). Two don't give up looking too easily on a hit deer.
 
I have had several muzzy shots where the exit hole was plugged by fat, etc, OR there was no exit. (I only shoot 90 grains.) Then, different bullets produce more or less blood at the entry point. Most likely, he will be found dead within 100 yards of the place that he was shot. Good luck.
 
My initial thought was that I blew the shot because I didnt find blood. Assumed I must have grazed him, but now I have more faith. If he is the deer I think he is, it would be the biggest buck I have shot ever. Not huge compared to the bucks some of you guys get, but big for me.
 
I shot my first buck with a muzzleloader this year. The shot was close (50 yds) and I felt good about the shot. I thought that I saw a front leg dragging as the smoke cleared. I got down before dark to check for sign. I couldn’t find any hair or blood! I circled the direction that he headed and found him 60-70 yds away from the shot. He made a small circle from the shot, to where I last saw him and then where we found him. The bullet did not pass through. I think this is pretty common with muzzleloaders although some bullets maybe better than others. I’d like to see a better performing bullet the next time. I like pass throughs and blood trails. I’ve also shot a fair amount of deer with 20ga barnes expander slugs. Later in the season with winter hair, even with a pass through and snow there may not be much for blood. Take it slow. I’m guessing he’s dead within 100 yards also. Good luck!
 
Update: you guys were right. Found him about 70 yards from the shot. The shot was perfect, just didnt bleed much. Bad part was it was not the deer I thought it was and should not have shot him. So now I get to kick myself over judging the deer instead of over the shot. Thanks everybody for the replies.
 
Update: you guys were right. Found him about 70 yards from the shot. The shot was perfect, just didnt bleed much. Bad part was it was not the deer I thought it was and should not have shot him. So now I get to kick myself over judging the deer instead of over the shot. Thanks everybody for the replies.

Good news! Glad to hear that you found him. Just curious...did you have an exit wound? Also...where's the pics man? :)
 
Entry was right behind the shoulder and exit was through the opposite shoulder. I was mad at myself enough about ground shrinkage that I didn't take any pictures. Oh well, live and learn.
 
Thats good news. What kind of bullet if you don't mind me asking? I am switching this gun over to the 300 grain barnes with the open cavity like I use in my other gun. I've had really good luck with those. I'm sure some won't agree with me but I don't care about shooting 300 yards or even 200 for that matter so the bigger the better.

Good job finding him.
 
250 grain barnes tmz. I have had great blood trails in the past, but not this time. I also shot 2 does last year that left very little blood. Kinda wondering if I got a bad batch of bullets or something. The only difference between these and previous years is I switched to blackhorn powder, but I wouldn't think that would matter.
 
I've made similar shots. Zero blood. My brother has had the same experience. I've really avoided my muzzy this year because of this. I have the Barnes expanders now and may give them a go, but am just not that excited for the "no blood" experience.
Glad you got him by the way. Don't beat yourself up over antlers.
 
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