Do you think I hit this deer?

Question

Yesterday afternoon I was meat hunting. Two legal deer walked up about 100 yds away. I picked one and shot at it. I was a little shaky I had to aim a long time. I was certain I could do it.

Both deer turned and ran away. One raising it's tail the other the one I shot at ran with it's tail held low. Does that sound like it was hit? I went to the area where it was standing and could not find any blood. I searched the entire area until dark without finding anything. No blood no deer nothing.

How long will it keep if I killed it. It got down to about 30 here last night. It is sunny today the high will be in the upper 50's.

I was using a 30-30. 100 yds is not to much for this gun.

I have shot paint cans full of water at 300 yds with this gun and it has blown them to pieces. (I never shoot at deer past 100 yds)

It was not buck fever. I had to aim a long time to see if it had horns, we have a three point rule for bucks in my state. I was shaky because I held my gun for so long. I tried to steady my self even taking the gun down for awhile.

Also I could only watch them for a few about 5 seconds after I shot before they were gone. Those few seconds they were running through brush.

I took the dogs out this morning and still nothing. I hope I missed altogether. I am concerned I once shot off a deers leg because of a bad scope that would not stay sighted in.(I did not know about that problem until that deer) I did not want to go through that again.

Answer 1

I do think it is possible. It does not sound like a fatal shot. At least not immediately anyway.

Answer 2

On your hands and knees follow the trail where you know they traveled after the shot. sometimes you do not get blood immediately. I have seen deer run 50 yds or so before you can pick up a blood trail. If no blood, next step is to follow any trails the deer may have taken, usually path of least resistance then they jump into the thickest stuff they can. walk slow and look hard, get down low if you have to. if to much time has gone by and you know the meat has gone bad look for buzzards. that's the best advise I can give. What they do with there tail usually has nothing to do with if they were hit or not. Usually if you felt like it was a good shot it probably was If you did kill it and do find it it will be pretty obvious weather you should eat it or not.

Answer 3

Did the deer run off with tail tucked down and slightly under and did it react with a high kick or may it have arched its back!
Also the load you us comes into play on if you will find blood with certain shots - grazing,neck,tissue or paunch shot!
I always tell my students if no blood or sign is found with in 50 yards and after a good wait before following up on a wounded animal time is the key.If you dont see the animal go down and the shot may have been poor you should have pin pointed the area of the hit and searched some there for sign then packed it in for an hour or 2 allowing the animal to settle down.Then at that time gone back afield to track the animal pr evenleft it over night as not to disturb the deer or the area.

Answer 4

Like many of the posters, I feel you likely missed the deer probably due to you being a bit shaky. Doesn't take much at that distance. You also said you were shooting paint cans at 300 yards. Hopefully you have since re-sighted to the 100 yard range you expect to be shooting at or you most likely were missing the deer for sure.

I would take your dogs out to help you search again today if possible and work in a ever increasing "V" sector out to about 300 yards looking for dragging hoofs if you are not finding blood trail. If you find no drags, assuming you can find the tracks to follow, or blood or hair it is a pretty good bet you missed completely, luckily.

If instead you find the deer your should be OK with the temperature as long as you did not gut shoot int. After today though you would be getting to the point where the temperature held in by the fur and hide would begin rotting meat.

Good luck, hope you missed this time and double check those sights before going back out too.

Answer 5

What kind of gun were you using? How long did you get to watch them run away? Most deer will raise their tail when running away. More often then not if the tail is down on an uninjured deer it is a buck. But I have yet to see a deer I shot run with its tail up. Another thing to watch for is if its ears were laid back and kinda flopping that usually means they are hit. No offense but if you were that shaky you should have calmed yourself before pulling the trigger or not have pulled it at all. Good luck my fellow hunter!!!
If you find it today you should be fine, and if its overcast and stays below 50 it should be fine even longer as long as its not gut shot.

Answer 6

Assuming it was an open sighted 30-30: Unless you are an exceptional shot, you probably missed it. A 30-30 bullet will do enough damage, even on a grazing shot to draw blood. You should keep searching, however. If the deer's not down but only wounded, you need to try a bit more.

Answer 7

If you find it today you should be ok, but if it is any later then some of the meat might not be good. I knew someone who found a buck that had been shot and he tagged it and took it in to get processed. The processor said that the deer likely had been dead a couple of days and some of the meat had spoiled but he was able to salvage some of it.
Good luck finding the deer.

Answer 8

Sounds like you missed the major target areas. You may have grazed him on leg / neck / etc. but if there was no trace of blood, he (she) is probably still very much alive. Whitetail deer are pretty doggone tough yet if you hit one square, you'll know it.

I suggest you use the mid day to dial in your rifle to ensure that your scope and gun are dead on from (say) 100 yards. Best not to get out into the wild with a wild-aiming gun, don't you think?

Write back in question land when you need a good venison recipe.

Answer 9

Sounds like you missed it or maybe grazed it. You need to figure out a way to get a steady shot, if you need to they sell Bi pods you can use or find a tree limb to get a steady rest. Then just control your breathing and you should kill the next one. Good luck.

Answer 10

Sounds like you missed... the meat would probably be good except that if you were shaky then who knows where you hit it and if you hit the wrong part of it then you could have screwed it up completely by spreading colon contents if you know what I mean... e-coli and meat don't make for good eats.