A little sick today

[monge]

Opening day here In NY A nice 8 pt came out of the thickets about 160 yards away I was in my stand on the edge of a soy field. Had my 45-70 loaded with 350gr RD About 1700fps I have hit with this gun out to 200 yards and do practice. WhATS MAKING ME SICK IS THE BUCK KICKED LIKE A MULE AFTER SHOT. We had an inch of snow last night and the temp was 19.I went to were I shot him no blood or hair and his tracks were clean followed his tracks for a 1/4 mile no blood or hair! Did the shot deflect off a branch or was it just low I pride myself on one shot kills this is eating me up. Im turning 50 this year and notice my eyes are not what they used to be. I have a hi lux 3-7-32 scout scope or my gun is it time for more optics? Maybe the cold got to me,:veryconfu should have got him Ill go back to the range tomorrow and check my gun again If all is well next time maybe Ill have a good pix for you.

[dk17hmr]

It happens sometimes for whatever reason it happens...I have missed coyotes standing at 40 yards and got them when they looked back at 400 yards.....

[aspangler]

S*** happens. Into each life a little rain must fall. Just do a foot ball. ( Back up ten yards and punt.) A lot of cliches I know but they all apply. Better luck next time. It happens to us all.

[RickinTN]

It has been my experience that when a deer "bucks like a mule" they are gutshot. If he wasn't hit he'd have no reason to buck like anything, he'd just run off. Sorry about the deer.
Rick

[MT Gianni]

Have you shot this load in cold weather? A kick to me means a hit in the middle and it kicks where the irritation is. A fat deer will show no blood with a gut hit for a while. We all miss. You may have grazed the belly if tracks showed nothing.

[runfiverun]

I could see a bad shot.
but I don't see a deer running away with a 360 gr boolit, unless there was a lot of deer length involved.

[JimP.]

i had a blade of grass deflect a 150 gr 30-06 bullet and miss the buck, the buck spun off and jumped the canal, a spike was standing next to him and stood there watching me till i put a bullet thru his shoulder and was DRT. a blade of grass. go figure...JimP.

[starmac]

I can see a deer running off from a bad hit, no matter what he was shot with. What I dont see is zero sign in fresh snow if it was hit, even gut shot, so I would sleep well thinking it was a clean miss.

[Yodogsandman]

A clean miss is better than a wounded deer. Better luck next time!

[Camba]

I had a similar story today but ended just fine. I shot a doe with my 20ga shotgun shooting foster slugs and I made a 50 yard shot. Apparently, the round made such a trajectory that the doe was hit in the back opposite leg. I thought the shot hit her in the shoulder. I track her down for about 500 yards and I had so much blood trail to follow. At the end of the blood trail, the doe jumped up and I made a second shot that took care of it.
Dragging the deer that long wore me out.
Camba

[leeggen]

Maybe you had a bad deer attack like I do when the first deer shows up. I might just as well fire the first shot in the ground, but after that I generally don't miss. I have had deer do the same thing and find that my shot probably just went under the deer.Close enough that they feel the wind off it. I try to find where my bullit hits the ground and figure the angle back to where I was standing.Just a close, almost got him shot, sleep well and go after him another day.
CD

[monge]

Thanks guys Ill go back tomorrow and check again !

[CLAYPOOL]

Go several hundred yards in that same line he was in. They will lay down sooner or later if you give them a chance to. Gut shot....

[waksupi]

When I have had bad hits, I come back in a few hours or the next day, and watch for magpies and ravens. They will have found it for me.

[leeggen]

Around here you wait to look next day you'll find a half eaten car., coyotes will get to it first. Dang things, love to deer hunt but hate tracking without snow, which we don't get much of here in Tn. Glad most only go about 30 yd or none at all drt.
CD

[HABCAN]

It is possible that IF you sighted in during summer's heat, hunting in snowy weather MIGHT put the load's POI lower than expected.

[Lance Boyle]

A mule kick to me does sound like a paunch hit. Often times you don't see blood at first but you should see some hair if you hit it. That big a bullet especially.

You might just double check the load in this currently cold weather. Perhaps as someone else suggested you're getting a velocity drop from the cold.

I know I've shanked shots that weren't the load or the gun's fault. I missed a mangy coyote a few years ago that still gets me ribbing. It reminded me to go back to the range and shoot some more off hand as my skill set was rusty. My range time was all with the pistol and bench time working up loads.

The other day I had a fox swipe a chicken and go about 90 yards away behind a screen of trees and brush. I came out with the .22 and shot it offhand at about 60 yards while it was chomping on my chicken. I felt good about the shot but then again my mind was in another place due to the loss of the good layer and one the day before.

[monge]

Ill check my load in this cold weather never thought it would impact vol. thanks for the tip.I walked and checked for blood and hair for two hours follow the deer tracks in snow no blood or hair . just cant believe the buck would of kicked like that if it wasn't hit. may have deflected off a branch?

[44man]

Deer are coil springs wound tight so a kick might not be a hit at all. A bullet even close or in the ground close, even the snap of a bullet will make them unwind. Compound bows have cost me deer at 10 yards when they jump the string. Looks like a hit but not to be.
With snow, even a gut shot will have sign. You found nothing so the deer is OK, you just plain missed.

[35Whelen]

Take a dog with you to the point you thought the deer was standing when hit....even a house pet untrained will track a deers scent. Good luck. My experience with a mule kicking deer indicated a heart shot, but truth is often stranger than fiction. Lots of variables why there is no blood to trail. Hair is a tough one if it's guts shot, as the hair is white and with snow on the ground its very hard to see.

[Sweetpea]

I've had a number of muleys do quite the mule kick from a double lung shot, also.

There is very little doubt in my mind, that with that load, there WOULD be an exit, and there WOULD be a streak in the snow, gutshot or otherwise.

We all miss sometimes, and this is what it sounds like. Sometimes we do not want to hear it, but it is much better than a lost wounded animal.