Just shot a monster buck, I need HELP!!!!

[CodyG]

Well I shot the biggest buck I've ever seen yesterday and I need y'all's help. I was hunting a big field (big for Virginia) and I shot an estimated 160" deer at about 500 yards. A solid 12 with some kickers it looked like.The shot was a long was but I felt good about it.
I shot it with a 30-06 150 grain Sierra gameking bullet. The first shot the deer dropped like he was dead. He just lay there kicking but about 30 seconds later he got back up got himself back together like nothing ever happened. I shot again when he stopped broadside and knocked him down, a mirror image of the first shot. About two minutes later he got back up but was rather hurt this shot. He was obviously hurt pretty bad, but he was still in the field. I got into a hurry and a little excited took a third shot that I missed, he ran into the woods.
 I found blood, good red blood, not light colored but not dark either, with bubbles in it. The only problem was it wasn't a lot of blood. I tracked for about 60 yards and lost blood and left. I came back that night and found about 15 yards more blood but lost it again. I think I hit him in the high lungs and the bullet didnt exit leaving little blood trail. I'm going back today to grid search and attempt to find this buck, where could I have hit this deer to knock him down, twice, and not kill him? I really want to find this buck I'm not sure what to do. I'm open to all suggestions.

Thanks,
Cody

[Pat B]

Can you use a tracking dog in your area?

[CodyG]

I can, I just don't have one or know of anyone that does. I'm limited to just man power.

[criveraville]

I hope you find him.

Cipriano

[Pat B]

Try to follow his tracks from the last blood. Look for overturned leaves, broken twigs, etc whatever is out of place from where he ran.
 Did you say the blood had bubbles? If so, he is probably a gonner(dead).  Wounded deer head for water. Also look in thickets.
 Did you find hair where he was shot? What color? Belly hair, back hair, from his side? Did you find blood or hair from both shots?

[osage outlaw]

Do a search for a hunting forum in your state.  If dog tracking is legal, you should be able to find someone advertising for it.  Keep an eye out for buzzards circling.  If you don't find it by dark, listen for coyote activity.  Good luck.  Keep us posted.

BTW, I can't even imagine shooting at a deer that far.  My property is all hills and thick woods.  75 yards is a stretch around here.

[Cameroo]

I hope you find it.  I know if I left a deer overnight where I hunt, there would be nothing left of it.  I'm guessing it didn't make it far into the bush.

[mcginnis6010]

i wouldve told ya the same as Pat i hope ya find it. btw what part of virginia are ya from?

[tattoo dave]

500 yards with a 30-06 Seems like a bit of a stretch, about 300 yards too much of a stretch, but good luck. I hope ya find him! Look for the crows, vultures, birds of that nature. They'll always find him before you will.  

Tattoo Dave

[DGF]

From the reaction it may be high shoulder. A bit high for lung but a bit low for spine. The shock of the hits at that distance may have been enough to temporarly mess up the nerves, but not enough to break the spine. I've had that shot with a bow and the blood color can look like lung (light & bright) but without the spray, frothy bubbles, lung chunks, etc.

If that's the case hopefully you caught some lung or severed an artery along the spine and it's just bleeding internally from a blockage of some sort. If anyone in your area has tracking hounds it's worth a shot. They can do amazing things with what appears to be minimal sign to the human eye.

Good Luck.
-Dan

[bowtarist]

Like Pat said, but leave a marker, like a can or a rag or hat between your last spottings of blood, so you can look back once in awhile.  and be stubborn like SD.  Dogs are great if you can find one too.  Good luck, dpg

[Ranger B]

500 yards? I have to be honest and not just the nice guy.  500 yards is a poor choice.  Not trying to offend you but you probably wounded a really nice deer.  I sincerely hope you either find him or that you only hit some muscle.

[Eric Krewson]

I helped a young fellow try to find a deer he tried a 200 yard neck shot on a couple nights ago. I didn't know him but he asked for my help on some land adjacent to the land I hunt.

He was so sure he killed the deer as it was lying in a corn field he got on his cell phone to call his buddies. The deer got up and walked into an impenetrable pine thicket.

The kid didn't have much of a light  and didn't know squat about tracking a deer.

Very little blood but I was able to track it about 50 yards into the thicket before the blood stopped.

I had to leave after an hour of tracking to get my wife's IV feeding ready for her nightly infusion.

I doubt if the kid found the deer even though he had an army of folk coming to help him.

A 200 yard neck shot is perhaps a little worse of a choice for bullet placement than attempting a 500 yard shot on anything, but not much.

[osage outlaw]

I started carrying a roll of toilet paper while tracking.  On sparse trails I drop a square at every spot of blood.  On better trails I drop one every now and then.  It helps to look back and see the exact path it took.  The TP goes away with the next rain.

[JW_Halverson]

Sounds like you are learning a lesson the hard way.  I can understand the desire to get that once in a lifetime buck, heck, I got one...with a handmade bow! 

Always in the back of my mind is the thought that this day in the field is a day of entertainment (even though I have lived almost exclusively on venison for some years)....but for the animal, it's a matter of life and death.  When I started looking at the situation with that in mind I had a dificult time taking harder shots knowing I may be condemning an animal to a slow and painful death.  I also do not want to give PETA anymore ammunition. 

Hope you find him.