So I wanted to follow up and make a post with the story of my buck from last Friday. So thanks to another IDO’er I got tipped off on the general area where a nice mature public land buck may be hanging out. I had Friday off anyway and wasn’t heading north until noon, so I thought I’d try and see if I could sneak in on this guy Friday morning. After setting up on the ground, and doing some mock scrapes and grunts at first light he came in soon after. Here’s where it turned interesting. He came to about 20-30 yards to my left, I shoot a Ravin and it’s significantly more accurate off a rest, so I had it on a bipod, I swung to my left and he froze. I got a good bead on him and got a clean pass through mid-body by the front shoulder. A GREAT hit I thought, but he tore off for a few seconds and I didn’t hear him crash or keep busting through. We were in some very thick woods off of a swamp, so I thought that was odd.
I went up to where I shot him, and couldn’t find any blood anywhere. Found my arrow that did in fact pass thru, and had some fat hanging off of it, but again no blood at where I thought I shot him, no blood on the trail he tore off down, and the only blood I found was on the arrow. So now slightly concerned, I backed out and called my brother to come help track/drag him (we were about a mile back, so it was going to be a work out). When my brother gets there, we search the shot area again for first blood, and find nothing. We search the trail I know he ran down, and no blood anywhere. We start grid searching the first blood area trying to find his trail, and nothing.
Now very concerned we start grid searching the area, and about 75 yards from where I shot him, my brother and I found his trail at about the same time 20 yards apart from one another and there was just a highway of blood to where the buck is piled up probably 125-150 yards from where I shot him. Strange that he made it that far with virtually no blood, but it gets weirder. It’s now about an hour and 45 minutes after I shot him, and he is stiff as a board. He was also cool to the touch yet still had warm blood pooled on his leg, and the deer itself could have stood up on it’s own if I propped him up he was so stiff. Cut him open and he was still very warm inside, but not hot. For reference it was mid-40 degrees out when I shot him, and probably mid-60’s by the time I was gutting him out. So I was shocked he was so cool to the touch but so stiff with rigor mortis (or whatever) for the warm weather? The shot ended up being nearly perfect front shoulder, however he was quartering to me more than I thought and it exited out mid body in front of his rear hip. One lung, the liver, and most of his upper organs were tore up. Just thought I’d put it out there for theories on why the quick rigor mortis? And how could such a devastating shot with entry and exit wounds not leave a blood trail for nearly 75 yards?
