Lost a whitetail East of Hunters, Washington

[Kvw4x4]

Good Morning,

Yesterday morning i took a 300 yard shot at a whitetail, i found traces of blood
(just pure red droplets, not a huge amount) right where i shot him at, he ran directly downhill into thicker brush.
We spent 4 hours gridding the area and came up with nothing, any advice? anybody good at tracking around that area?


I had to be back home last night which is 6 hours away.



Thanks, Kevin

[Hairhunter]

Try and find a tracking dog,its legal now.

[boneaddict]

Watch and listen for the birds.   Magpies or Jays or ravens.  Sounds like you are not in the area anymore though.   

What kind of shot(running, position of deer), deers reaction besides running downhill when hit?

[baldopepper]

Did the deer show any signs of being hit at the shot (humped a bit, kicked his his hind legs or any sign that he'd been hit)? Usually a solid hit will show a pretty good amount of blood at the spot he was hit (not always) but finding only a few drops after a shot and the deer showing no other signs of being hit is a indicator of a non fatal shot. Good to follow up the blood trail as long as you can find blood, but sounds like a non fatal hit to me.

[buckfvr]

Check your zero before you take another shot at an animal.

[jrebel]

It’s been raining all morning ….. any blood is long gone.  Magpies and ravens is your only hope.  If you’re in Blaine , what was your thought about someone helping….I’m north of hunters now and could help, though. Longshot….. but have no idea how this would work?

[Bone collector 13]

When will you be back? What’s the point of the post I guess? Are you done for the season? You said you went home immediately after. Are you plans to return? By now he’s probably spoiled. In the future if you’re on a time crunch you probably shouldn’t shoot a risky shot at the buzzer.

[high_hunter]

Next time reach out to locals sooner and if you can't get ahold of anyone try the TRAKR app.  You can legally track for 72 hours after so sounds like there are 2 days left.  Would be happy to help if it was on the Westside.

If heading back over let me know and maybe we can work something out.  I turkey hunt over there and know a few locals.  If you wanna PM me some more details I can check with them or at least look for bones in the spring.

Without you around and if rains have hit this is likely a lost cause IMO.  Hopefully nonfatal or someone else gets a chance at him.

[Kvw4x4]

Watch and listen for the birds.   Magpies or Jays or ravens.  Sounds like you are not in the area anymore though.   

What kind of shot(running, position of deer), deers reaction besides running downhill when hit?

The buck was facing slightly uphill, perfect broad side shot,  watching through the scope from what I could see. He spun 180 very quickly and raced down hill. 

The property is private and borders state land. The owner and a couple of his guys were gonna go look and keep an eye out for birds. 

[Kvw4x4]

Check your zero before you take another shot at an animal.

I will be shooting a very similar shot tomorrow to see how it places on a target. 

My gun is zeroed at 200

[Kvw4x4]

When will you be back? What’s the point of the post I guess? Are you done for the season? You said you went home immediately after. Are you plans to return? By now he’s probably spoiled. In the future if you’re on a time crunch you probably shouldn’t shoot a risky shot at the buzzer.

There is a lot of decisions I regret,
The point was really to see if anyone had advice on a whitetails reaction to being hit. Minimal blood,  will they get in the brush and stay there?

If the buck would have tipped over and died nobody would have question the decision to take a shot on my last morning, 

I have to be home for work for a week but by then it’s to late.

[jason stevens]

These things happen to all of us. Maybe you just grazed him who knows. Don't beat yourself up to bad. You still got til the 31st on the Westside. Get back after it.

[hunter399]

These things happen to all of us. Maybe you just grazed him who knows. Don't beat yourself up to bad. You still got til the 31st on the Westside. Get back after it.

Thinking the same.
Don't beat yourself up.
All part of hunting.

[huntnfmly]

If you hunt enough it’s going to happen don’t be to tough on yourself
My daughter couldn’t find her biggest buck after the shot on a guided hunt hrs and hrs and many miles went into finding it was a kick in the gut for sure and still hurts

[fishngamereaper]

Blood doesn't equal dead.

I smashed my finger couple weeks ago with a hammer bled like a stuck pig. If you where tracking me you'd swore I was holed up somewhere dead..

I've tracked bleeding animals for miles before that don't show any signs of being injured...they are tough suckers.