Shot a small buck, haven't found him, how long will the meat be good???

[Woodchuck]

Firstly, good job putting in the effort to find the animal. A lot of hunters wouldn't give it that much work. Secondly, unfortunate as it may seem it does happen. These are tough, elusive animals and you can walk right by one without seeing them. Third, I lost an animal the first year bow hunting and it has been hard to get over the fear of loosing another. Punch your tag, you shot a deer. Enjoy the rest of the season for Grouse, practice more throughout the year. I have taken 2 deer a year with a bow since I lost my first and my kills have all been single shots.

[JLS]

My bad, thought he was referring to my posts.

[huntnnw]

so all the people who say punch your tag...have u run a deer over? did u punch your tag? cause the end result is a dead deer no matter how it happened and it happened by YOU! oh and what happened if you already filled your tag and run one over?? holy s^%& your a poacher!!! people on here are something else!!! practice what u preach!

[CedarPants]

so all the people who say punch your tag...have u run a deer over? did u punch your tag? cause the end result is a dead deer no matter how it happened and it happened by YOU! oh and what happened if you already filled your tag and run one over?? holy s^%& your a poacher!!! people on here are something else!!! practice what u preach!

Vehicle season is open year-round, no tag required 

Yet anyway

[copasj]

Looking back on it and talking to my wife who helped me look the day after the shot, I now think what I thought was a liver (or other organ) chunk was really coagulated blood.  It was not solid but appeared to be.  When poked with a stick, it came apart and had liquid blood inside.  I didn't know it at the time, but looking back on it now, dont think it was anything other than blood.  I think that was the same deer.

Sounds more like a clot than organ to me.  Kinda of a jell-o like substance.  Didn't you also say it didn't start to show up until you got near the end of the blood trail?

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[crschralping]

Hope you keep at it and dont punch that tag. Look forward to seeing the one you do get!

[BULLBLASTER]

Hope you keep at it and dont punch that tag. Look forward to seeing the one you do get!

I won't punch a tag until I have a dead animal in my possession!

[N7XW]

I only noticed the "chunk/blood clot" at the very end of the blood trail, and there was only one of them, approx 1/2"x3/4".  All other blood was splattered, typically 2"x3" spots every 10-20 feet with extremely small drops inbetween.

[Stick em]

Hope you keep at it and dont punch that tag. Look forward to seeing the one you do get!

I won't punch a tag until I have a dead animal in my possession!

So how many animals do you kill before you put one in your possession? If you don't practice standard legal ethics your still poaching. If you can't get one right, don't kill off the ones that can be taken legally and ethically. I just talked to a guy that wounded a nice buck so bad that it will never breed and then he went out the next day, stuck and lost another nice buck that will surely die.

[Blacktail Sniper]

Maybe it is time that this tread be done with.

The guy had some bad luck, it happens.  I am quite sure he didn't get up and say "I think I will go wound and lose a deer today, so I can ask for help/advice on recovering it, in hopes that I can be made to feel even worse about it!"

Sounds like he went way above and beyond in effort to recover the animal, which may or may not have been fatally wounded.   Them critters are tough and can surprise you. 

[h20hunter]

 

What he said.

Close it down.

We can have a new thread to debate the "tag out or hunt" topic.

[Kc_Kracker]

The guy had some bad luck, it happens.  I am quite sure he didn't get up and say "I think I will go wound and lose a deer today, so I can ask for help/advice on recovering it, in hopes that I can be made to feel even worse about it!"

Sounds like he went way above and beyond in effort to recover the animal, which may or may not have been fatally wounded.   Them critters are tough and can surprise you.

kudos to the OP for asking for help, maybe next time look for that better kill, and i see the OP learning from this, we have all had to learn something 

[N7XW]

Yep, didn't intend to start a debate over it.
Thanks for all the help though.  I do appreciate it.

[johnnyaustin44]

So you loose a deer and punch your tag. couldn't you get in trouble for wasting game?

[shedcrazy]