What happened?

[Butters]

I am still sick over what happened yesterday morning. I took a 90 yard shot off of the shooting rail of my stand yesterday morning. I am using a .270 Win with 130g Boat Tail Soft Point bullets. Scope was set on 6X and I cleanly squeezed the trigger with the reticle right behind the shoulder.
The buck went down in his tracks, kicked for a few seconds and then stopped. I thought it was a perfect clean kill. As soon as he stopped kicking, I laid the rifle back on the rail. At that time, he stood up and made two leaps back into the thicket. A doe that was with him ran off along with a couple of others that were already there, so I couldn't tell who was still running.
I sat in the stand for about 20 mins waiting for the deer to calm down while I waited for dad to bring the Rhino. We walked over to where I shot him, found where he wallowed the ground, but no blood could be found! Long day made short, three of us looked for about 3 hours and found no evidence that I even wouned that deer. I deeply regret not shooting again while he was laying down, but I didn't want to tear him up too bad, and I badly assumed he was dead.
My question is where did I hit that deer to put him down and leave no blood?

[natebosox]

he could have bleed inside his body cavity. ive heard of it happening from time to time.

[str8 shot]

high...dad did the same thing last year but his had a little blood...he shot it and it flipped over on its back then stood up and walked off, we trail him till we ran out of blood...the next weekend he was shot chasing some does:D

[quackrstackr]

You hit him high and didn't get any spine. It shocks them for a couple of minutes then they jump up and run off.

I killed one a few years ago that had been shot above the spine earlier in the season and had started to heal up.

[Butters]

I assumed I hit him high. We only found a couple of hairs, not even enough to prove they came from him. I am not saying it couldnt happen, but I have never had a .270 not exit on a broadside shot. I guess it was in such a thin area, that the bullet must not have even expanded. I just dont want him to get septic and die. We found an old 12 point skull in some brush while we were searching for this one.

[quackrstackr]

What makes you think that it didn't exit? The only deer that I have ever lost with a gun happened exactly as you described. I hit a limb, hit him high and he jumped up and ran off as I was climbing out of the tree. Never left the first drop of blood.

If you shoot one through the backstraps they won't leave any blood.

[top_sgt]

i did that several years ago using a 30-30. the buck rolled over to his back, kicked a few times and went limp....so i thought. as i started to move he jumped up and ran abouth 30 yards, turned around from behind a oak tree looking back for me. the next shot was around the ear area.... needless to say i didn't have to track him after the second shot.


it does happen though!!!!!!!! frustrating!!!!

[maxcam]

Hmmmmm exactly what type of bullets were you using?

[150PandY]

I shot one once with a 270 WSM and hit the deer dead in the shoulder the deer dropped in its tracks and kicked for a few seconds. It didnt get back up but when I went to recover it It took me about 5 minutes to find the entrance hole. I hit him right in the shoulder blade and the bullet expanded right there killing him instantly but there was no blood not even a drop. I use the winchester bullets that have a silver casing and black bullet with silver tip. They will lay the smackdown on them. I lilled 4 coyotes with it this year and dropped all in there tracks.

[kison]

I'm no gun expert, but when bowhunting if you were to hit a deer a little high, I've seen them travel quite a bit without a drop of blood, especially if you're shooting from the ground. It takes a while for the lung cavity to fill with blood. I can't offer any explanation as to why he jumped back up and left though.

[rabbit16v]

The one I shot w/ my bow entered high and left absolutely no blood. Luckily I must have hit a main artery or clipped the spine cause she only went about 30-40 yards before she rolled back down the hill.

[wprebeck]

I did something similar last week. I handgun hunt, and use a .44 Magnum loaded w/275gr CoreLokt ammo.

Shot a doe from ~60 yards or so...she looked at me after the shot, and dropped to the ground. So, I'm thinking I got her, and pretty happy, as it'll be my first kill this year (bad year for me). Nope, she managed to get running on her front legs. I wait a couple of minutes, and walk down to collect her.

She's not anywhere to be found. No blood, no hair, no nothing. Searched 2/3rds of the property I hunt (60 acre place), and couldn't find her. The landowned said he did a buck the same way last year, and apparently he made it under the fence to a neighboring landowner. I don't have permission to be over there, so couldn't go search it....but no blood...that was the kicker for me. Almost had me thinking I missed, and she's just clumsy.

[Mount-N-Man]

My son did the same thing a few years ago on a big doe, you hit him between the lungs and the spine. My neighbor shot the doe my son had shot a few days later and that is where he had shot her. We only found a few drops of blood where she had fallen and nothing else.