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Thread: Have you hit an animal that left no blood trail

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    Have you hit an animal that left no blood trail

    Opening day of our rifle season I had a great buck in my scope at 50y. He was walking thru the timber but I got him stopped in my shooting lane. Feel really confident about my point of aim. Pull the trigger, he flinches and I watch him trot off for 100y before he disappears.

    Shooting the NOE 180g w a cup point out of my 35w. With 40g of Varget and cast w 50/50 WD, it was averaging upper 1800fps.

    There was a light snow on the ground, so blood would have shown up well. And since I saw where he went I was able to follow his tracks for over 150y. No blood. Looked around but never found anything. Chalked it up as a miss.

    But I do feel really good about the sight picture. And I remembered my first cast bullet deer barely reacted and trotted off. Never found any blood then either but he was just 30y into the woods and easy to see.

    Wondering if the no blood trail can happen w cast? It’s happened to some degree w a high shot from my bow. But never w a jacketed bullet. To me anyway.

    A few years ago our opening day was super cold like this year and my first shot was a miss. The same deer gave me another opportunity a few minutes later and the second shot found its mark. I saw someone else from my state posted then about a miss due to the cold temps and his lube. I switched to a softer lube ever since. But still that could have been a factor. Coulda hit a branch. Who knows I guess.
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  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Not on snow. I've helped track deer that turned out to be hit poor that only dripped every 25 yards until they laid down. We had some pointed bullets that didn't expand that left a pin hole through the deer. We lost a couple deer, but they both left obvious blood, may or may not have been good shots. I found one, and it was shot at an angle, but only through one lung. There was still obvious blood on the snow, and the deer went about 150 yards before he bedded down. Even a spitzer cast bullet is better than these particular bullets were.

    It's always nice to know it was a clean miss.
    Last edited by megasupermagnum; 11-28-2018 at 02:54 AM.

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master


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    Good morning
    Yes corn crunchers get smacked with all sorts of projectiles (I use arrows) that may not exit thus not giving the best leaking point. Bullets can hit opposite side bones / ribs and get deflected or stopped staying inside. The hide is very elastic / stretchy and can stop a near expended projectile.

    Entrance holes get clogged up easily. Bean eaters not hit through both lungs and or the heart can motivate long distances. I know of a buck hit this year through both lungs and heart with a 2" exit hole held open by a busted rib tip that left a huge red trail. At 80 yards along the way through brush / river bottoms it leaned against a large half fallen tree for long enough to "paint" the tree red. Then moved another 15 yards through thick brush where he finally laid down 95 yards plus past impact spot.

    If there is no blood trail you need a dog to follow beyond the visible signs. If no dog is available then do all you can. Call in fellow hunters. I have helped numerous times down on hands and knees following the slightest red droplets, smudge in the dirt, fresh broke stick, crunched grass blades... that may appear once every few yards. That is when several sets of eyes help immensely. And no, we have not always been successful.

    So in the end you are the one who was there. You are the one who saw what you saw and heard. We are the ones who have to decide on the spot "Is there anything else I can do to be certain" ?
    "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
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  4. #4
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    Only deer I’ve shot that left no blood trail were with 243 Winchester’s. No more 243’s for me.
    Life is so much better with dogs!

  5. #5
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    One thing not me mentioned yet is hair. If you know where he was standing there WILL be hair cut from a hit. If you've dressed a few deer, you should be able to determine not only IF you have hit, but WHERE you've hit him.

    I shot one (at one) year before last, that I would have never believed I had missed. I watched him run about 75 yards, jump a fence, circle back by me through a pasture about 100 yards away, then disappear over a rise. The whole time I'm thinking, "he's about ready to go down, he should be going down about now??, why's he not going down??, ****, he didn't go down! I was shooting a hand gun and I bet he wasn't 15 yards from me at the shot, I can hit a squirrel at that range with that gun and load! No blood, then i started looking for hair, not one hair on the ground whe he spun around, so at least i was able to accept it was a miss.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    If you hit a deer high enough in the lung area, even though it's a complete pass through, they will bleed internally, leaving very little or no blood trail.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    i have had this happen, especially with smaller diameter cast boolits, 7.62x39 to be exact, one went about 125 yards and never dripped a drop that i could see. I was able to see his running tracks and find him but I was worried, hit in the chest cavity a bit high but not a drop of blood to seen and only a little around his nose when i got up to him. I lost another one with same bullet and load, 165gr LBT LFN Design going around 1900fps, hit a small 6 point buck at around 40 yards and off he went with out a sign of being hit, found a little patch of hair and no blood, searched the rest of that day and continued the following morning and never found a sign of him. I still occasionally take a 30 caliber cast hunting but tend to grab something bigger most of the time, there is a world of difference between a 30 and a 35. I am surprised that your 35 caliber didn't leave some sign, especially with a cup point, it may have been a branch like you mentioned, has happened to me with a 35 Whelen and a 190gr ranch dog boolit, about a 1" branch of buckthorn was enough to cause a completed miss.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
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    Yes, a high hit with a smaller caliber or hard bullet with little expansion will leave little or no bloood, especially for the first 100 or so yards. That said, if you got lungs, the deer shouldn’t get to far on their death dash.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    My father shot a small buck one year and came back into camp and said he was positive he'd hit it in the lungs and it ran off leaving no blood. He said he looked for a while and found nothing. I went back out with him and I started walking in increasingly larger circles and finally found the buck laying dead on the ground. It's belly was facing away from where it had gotten shot so it wasn't visible until I got passed it and say it's white belly on the leaves. He'd hit it through both lungs with a 12ga slug and it didn't leave a single drop of blood that we could find. Inside it was full of blood. I've shot well over a hundred whitetails and that was a first for me. It can happen.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    I'm with Thundarstick, sounds like you know where the deer was when you fired, if you connected there would be hair.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I had something similar happen to me this year
    fired at a buck then it disappeared thought it was drt
    went to look and nothing no blood hair nada
    bothered me for a couple of days and I went back to
    look and follow the likely direction and it was a total miss
    yes it can happen no blood and no hair
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Yes, November 10th this year. I shot a good sized 10 pointer chasing a doe with a NAP sling blade broad head. The deer was walking at about 30 yards broadside when I let my arrow fly. The deer walked out out of the shot and I hit it in the liver. I heard the broad head make a big slapping noise when I hit the deer so I knew I hit it. The deer ran about 50 yards down the hill made a circle and ran back up the hill and stopped behind a downed tree a 100 yards away. I couldn't see where it stopped. I figured it was going to lay down there and die. A few minutes later the deer made and mad dash making huge leaps across the top of the hill another 100 yards and stopped. I thought it disappeared. A few more minutes passed and I could barely see its tail twitching back and forth frantically through the thick brush and tree limbs Which was another indication it was hit. After that I couldn't see it. I shot it at 4pm and got out out of my tree stand at 4:25 to look for my Arrow. I couldn't find it but found it a few days later when I went back out doe hunting. When I found the arrow it was solid red like I painted it sticking in the ground. No blood or hair on the ground anywhere around the arrow....but that night I couldn't find the arrow and no blood where I shot or going down or up the hill. I walked up to why it stopped behind the downed tree. I started making circled and found one place where it stood for so many minutes and found one spot of blood the size of both my fists put together. There was no blood trail from there on out when it ran across the top of the hill. I walked where it was twitching its tail hoping I would find the deer. I've shot several in the past with arrows that have stopped, and started twitching its tail frantically and lay down right there and die. Well, no deer or blood where i last saw it tail twitching. At this time I called my neighbors since it now crossed onto their property to get permission to look for my deer. Good to go and hung up and started following the main deer trail that looks like a cow path and figured my deer walked it. It was only about 2 to 3 seconds of time after I got off the phone till I saw my deer. It went a good 250 yards with one spot if blood where it stood for minutes. The deer expired between a couple logs and its rack got caught on the way down so it's head was still propped up. I figured it was still alive and let another arrow fly. I cracked it in the front shoulder. The deer never flinched at the impact. I have shot deer farther back in the liver and they maybe go 60 yards with a good blood trail. I learned two things from this. I should have made a BAAAA to stop the deer before taking the shot and not to ever use NAP sling blade broad heads anymore. The blades are signed to fold in and go around bone which is exactly what they did. When I cleaned it the blades folded in when going in and out of the rib cage making an arrow diameter hole in and out of the deer. I've shot hundreds of deer with bow and arrow and crossbows and can tell you this is the only deer I've ever found that didn't bleed. I got lucky and knew the lay of the land and know where the deer travel. The biggest key is watching where ever you last saw the deer and mark that spot in your head. Look for a certain tree or piece of brush to help remember the spot and make sure you aren't moving to alert the animal to spook it even further. The odds are it didn't know what happened and will not travel far and lay down. If I would have bumped that deer I would have never found it. In all honesty I should have waited a few hours before trailing like I always do giving it time to die but I didn't expect to find my buck.


    What was really weird is 99.9% when I hit a deer bow or gun it will buckle or hump up a little when hit. This deer looked like a picture if health the whole time. It really through me for a loop when it bounded across the hill top after standing for several minutes. When I gutted it there was a good 5" slash and inch deep across its liver from the broad head blade.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 11-28-2018 at 11:20 AM.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master pertnear's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by labradigger1 View Post
    Only deer I’ve shot that left no blood trail were with 243 Winchester’s. No more 243’s for me.
    LOL...a statement like that is sure to rile a few folks! But I too swore off the .243 years ago. That is probably THE most popular caliber for Hill Country deer hunting in Texas. Low recoil & super accurate! Most hunters say their deer dropped like lightening hit it or it took a few steps & dropped.

    I'm the curious type, so over the years, when someone in our group gets a deer, I always back track & check out where it was standing & what kind of blood trail did it leave. The 6mm calibers do kill like lightening, but leaving a blood trail is not their long-suit. The good thing is that the hunters usually watch their deer stagger off & drop & go right to it!

    I have never shot a deer with a cast bullet, but I know a very meticulous fellow hunter that does. He casts his own dead-soft bullets & paper patches them. He hunts with a .30-30 lever gun (not sure of model) with a "peep" ghost-ring. His groups at 100 yds are amazing! His ammo & rifle look like precise instruments! He gets his deer(s) every year & claims that those bullet mushroom like crazy & leave a substantial wound channel.

    FWIW...
    Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Lol I've heard this from some marginal shot 243 users as well. My favorite caliber coyote rifle. Close counts! It will literally blow them in half if you hit a bone with 70 gr ballistic tips loaded at 3650 fps. I own a Remington 600, 700 heavy barrel with a hs prescion stock and just bought a couple of ar10 uppers in 243. Never tried it on deer. I believe besides shot placement picking the right bullet IS KEY. I load up 90 gr swift Sciroccos for a friend and he says his deer go 60 yards on average every year. If a deer doesn't drop consistently within a few feet after being hit I call that bullet a failure. It's too hard and not expanding. Sure it kills the animal eventually but I'm not into trailing at all costs. His nephew I loaded 100 gr hornady soft points for. He dropped his first deer last year in its tracks. I'm not a fan of Nosler ballistic tips for hunting but have read 95gr BT are the go to bullet in 243 for dropping deer in their tracks. I'm sure it blows up like a varmint bullet inside. I think the key is a soft bullet that transfers all or most its energy In its prey...the opposite mindset of the cast boolit shooters here. A hard 6mm diameter bullet that doesn't expand in or out is a smaller hole than shooting an arrow with a field point through a deer...and you wonder why a deer acts like it wasn't hit and runs. IMO .243 and smaller calibers to make work effectively needs a fragile bullet for energy transfer running at extreme speeds. I'm sure there is THAT guy who shot A deer once or twice with a slow hard cast boolit and dropped a deer with a head,neck, or shoulder shot, but that's not what this caliber was designed for. I have witnessed both hard and soft bullets on deer. I'll take the soft expander every time and watch my deer drop on the spot with a correct shot placement in the heart and lungs besides not ruining and meat with a shoulder shot. Im not getting any lead poisoning trying to brag that I ate right to the hole like a lot of the posters here claim.lol...I'll go buy a nintey nine cent burger at MC Donald's before I get lead poisoning and cut out a 1/4 lb pound of lead stained or IFFY meat. I have some 90 gr BT loaded up waiting to try. Some calibers were designed to run fast expanding bullets to work their magic and without a doubt the 243 is one of them. IMO I'd never run a slow boolit with cast in this caliber unless I was small game or varmint hunting which would defeat the purpose of what the 243 is designed for. At the end of the day a bad shot is a bad shot. A 44 or 45 cal hole with a marginal shot at least lets you waste your time with a frustrating blood trail for miles on end and never find you game. If I'm casting boolits for deer size game I'll stick with .358 and larger size calibers so if my bullet fails to expand I have a good size hole in and out. Can't wait for antler less only next week to try out my devastators.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 11-28-2018 at 12:09 PM.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master RU shooter's Avatar
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    None of them leave a blood trail I can see ! I'm color blind and can't see the bright red the rest of you can I can only hope they drop within sight or ear shot or there's snow . I recall one time I had to get dad to help track one , within seconds he found blood and it was everywhere so he said . He ask can't you see all this ? Nope
    If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    That sucks! You ever try a gimmic blood trailer type flashlight to see if it helps? I had one the first year it came out and sold it...never worked for me.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
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    i had almost the same situation you describe above this year. hit a great buck, thought a bit back, proly liver. he ran behind the blind, and I made a second shot, but thought that missed. found the first arrow covered in bright red blood, not the typical darker liver blood. backed out for a few hours, and got back on a long bright red blood trail. never any typical liver blood. turns out my second shot hit forward on the shoulder and bleed meat blood.

    that's what we followed, and tried my buddies brand new blood light. pretty much worthless for distinguishing blood with the purple light.

    BTW. this bow shot was the evening before I made the rifle shot on the buck in the OP. after the less then perfect bow shot, that's why I was being super careful lining up the shot. few c-rap shots from the season of my life
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  18. #18
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    High hits and fat deer have given me the least blood trails. They generally also go a little further.

    My son is also red/green "color deficient". Against snow he can see blood, but not so much on leaves/grass ect unless it is much lighter in color. He shot one this year high double lung that did a mad dash across a small marshy area before dropping. It was a fatty deer and a high hit so there was little blood as it bled out internally. The bullet took out a section of rib on the way out leaving a decent hole in the chest wall so you'd think it would be blowing foamy blood everywhere, but no. He did ok following the blood in the snow, but had more trouble where there was no snow. When it went through some standing water there was only the occasional piece of grass/cattail with blood on it which he could only see if I pointed it out.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master


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    I won't claim to have that much experience, but if there was no hair, meat, or blood at the spot he shot it, and not even a drip for 150 yards on snow, I'm going to stick with it being a miss. Even a paper cut would leave a clear blood trail on snow.

  20. #20
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    I've shot a few with a 7mm RemMag as they were facing me. I hit them in the chest and they dropped like rocks, but the bullets never exited. Those that I hit in the neck with anything I used would spin around but not go anywhere either.
    The strangest shot I ever took was with an SKS I had. The deer walked up to me and again there wasn't anywhere to shoot but straight forward. When I fired I noticed a line going down the back of the deer. I hit it in the neck, and it was DRT, but that line puzzled me. I got out of the stand and inspected the animal. The bullet had gone through the neck and actually shaved a line down the back without cutting the skin until it went through the ham and out very near the anus.....
    Tom
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