I lost my first bow deer yesterday evening.  I rattled in a buck, about 23 yards broadside.  I was about 15’ up.  I had plenty of time to take the shot, didn’t feel rushed or nervous.  There was a horizontal limb between me and him, covering his lower chest/belly area.  That was the only obstacle, but I felt I would clear it fine, it wasn’t covering his vitals.

So I draw and shoot, hear a loud crack, and he takes off.  I felt really good about the shot.  It was about 7:20 and in heavy canopy, so light was getting slightly dim.  I give him 30-45 minutes before I go to where I shot him,  I find the arrow, broken with blood on the end at the break.  Looks to be about 4 inches broken off, including broadhead.

Begin tracking, find first blood about 30 yards away.  Bright red, the size of a plate.  From there on, blood was a few drops on the ground and where he brushed up against leaves or a tree.  Not scarce, but you has to look for it.  Tracked him probably 150 yards, he came out to a firebreak, ran the firebreak to a road, turned on the road, then to another firebreak.  At this point blood is just a fingernail sized drop every 15 yards or so.

Any suggestions/ideas?  I quit tracking at midnight last night.

Sounds like a bone shot. I had the same exact thing happen with an elk. A loud crack, and a diminishing blood trail. I never found him

Try and pick up the trail again I guess. My luck has been such that coyotes and birds get to them after a day or so

Eta: if they died. Shoulder bone shots usually make it

Agreed you hit bone; he probably survived

Also: at 23 yards I would expect that arrow to bury DEEP, if not completely pass through. And a metric ton of blood.

What bone can stop that?  Shoulder I assume?

What’s interesting is I typically shoot my target deer from his right side (same as buck I lost).  On a bad shot,  I NEVER hit shoulder and never low, always stomach or high on a bad shot.

Thinking on this last night, I found it interesting that I may have made a shoulder shot.

I’m not sure on draw weight, but I shoot a carbon maxima blue 350 arrow and rage chisel tip 3 blade broadheads.  And I’m certain I didn’t shoot him with a practice tip

Buck fever does crazy things.  Ive lost a deer before after finding tons of blood initially. Hours of searching and following a diminishing blood trail before *poof* nothing.

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I'm gonna bet you poked him there

I use the same spine arrow and the same rages. I shot a cow elk a couple years ago at 20 yards and the arrow almost totally passed through. The damage was...exceptional