Analyze my shot

[Nomad]

Opened day watching a 14 acre “ bean” field that’s really mud and manure, but they come out most afternoons to pick through it , year after year they die there yet they still come .

So after a doe parade, another doe steps out, I’m watching then I see a nice rack , I’m on the ground in a weedy hedgerow ,I kneel put gun ( 7mm08 ) on my shooting stick ,it’s a single leg one but seems  to do the job . He’s about 150 yards ,I’m waiting finally get broad side shot , boom ! Buck and doe run into field perhaps 70-80 yards , then he wipes around and runs back into thicket while she’s stays out there for several minutes .

In my mind he’s dead . About 30 minutes of light left , I slowly walk over no blood that I can see . I leave and come back at daylight ,  my friend who lives there joins me , 3 hours of looking for blood ,tracks etc . The edge of the thicket is tall grass, and weeds pretty thick and a lot of it blond in color it runs about 30 feet deep , we walk all that no blood . We walk the trails in as between rock plies and logs they can’t just enter anywhere , nothing we walk inside the thicket nothing .

I figured after that 150 run blood would start to pump out ? My thought of him doing a 180 and back into the thicket was he was starting to feel his body shutting down and went to his cover area , why else to do that after sprinting into the field ? I did not notice any sign of him reacting to the shot other then running , but I thought I was right on him .

gun is on I checked the zero after that .

Thanks 

[dbHunterNY]

a pile of things could've happened. hard to say. I have shot into deer with a 30-06 to a 50cal muzzleloader and not had them bleed. sometimes the deer just don't. odd things happen when hitting a deer. which way was your wind? did he cross your scent? when hit i've had deer run straight at and past me before so it's hard to say what they'll do and why. did you move around getting ready for a follow up and he saw you?

[nywaw]

Did you feel you went to the exact spot you shot him?  From those kinds of distances, sometimes we can be off quite a bit and not realize it.  But some of that running and the tracks left in the mud by those two deer as a result could give you some clues to backtrack to the origin of the shot.  Minimally there should be hair, but if you have absolutely nothing anywhere, you must have missed.  Really only two possibilities, you missed the deer or you missed the tracking sign.  Keep an eye for birds over the coming days.  I think I'd probably go back and try to evaluate the tracks both deer made after the shot of wherever they ran to as that will have the most distinct tracks (deep gouge, sliding in mud, etc) and backtrack it to exactly where they were standing when you shot.

[Nomad]

Pretty sure I know just where he stood ( the black ) as I had to shoot to the right of those weeds . I range a few landmarks along the edge as well . This picture black where he stood red where they ran to ,yellow is wind .

I did stand up after the shot as they ran into a depression in the land and you can’t see them at that point ,but they were angled away from me they ran at a 45 

Ignore the deer in this pic , but it was taken from where I shot .

My friend spent an hour looking in the mud for the tracks of a running buck, the mud is plowed up a bit and deer are in it everyday .

Next year I’m hanging ribbons along the edge . 
 

In past years they dropped in the field ,or a few leaps in . 

[Robhuntandfish]

Sounds like a clean miss to me.  Happens to us all at some point in time and you just can't explain it other than peaked or jerked trigger a bit. 150 is still a poke 

[Larry]

You could try this you just missed. Sometimes stuff just happens don't over analyze. You did all you could to find any sign of a hit.

[Nomad]

2 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Sounds like a clean miss to me.  Happens to us all at some point in time and you just can't explain it other than peaked or jerked trigger a bit. 150 is still a poke 

Ya I hope .  The 180 is what confused me never saw that before .

There really supposed to come out at the 70-80 yard mark .

Ill have to think over my shot distances 

[grampy]

150 yards is not far for 7mm-08. Your rifle checked out ok. You've done this before from that spot. It should all add up to a dead buck? Either you missed the buck. Or you missed the sign? Both happen to us all. Might be worth one more look to see if you can find blood or the buck. If nothing is found. Shrug it off and get right back out there!!

[nywaw]

I like the flagging idea, that's super helpful!  Definitely do that at some point, good for a quick reminder on distances and shot locations.  Looking at that pic, it does seem like you'd find the spot you shot at some point walking around that area for 3 hours, so I'd lean towards a clean miss.  It's entirely possible the buck got startled by the shot, ran with the doe and then realized "WTH I'm out in the open" and spun and ran into cover.  I've also seen the death dash to cover, but this might just be an exposure that the buck suddenly realized and didn't want to be there.

[lucky118]

Hit some weeds and your bullet went someplace else. Fast bullets don't do good with any obstructions  in the way. Pretty sure that's what happened with my buck. Walked through the area I shot him in yesterday. More little trees in the way than I remember. Pretty sure I hit a few twigs on the way through that cause my bullet to drop. Win some lose some.

[Bucksnbows]

Consider asking Santa for a tripod instead of the monopod. Not sure what blind/stand you’re using, but I always rely on a steady rest to shoot game whenever possible. 

[Nomad]

1 hour ago, Bucksnbows said:

Consider asking Santa for a tripod instead of the monopod. Not sure what blind/stand you’re using, but I always rely on a steady rest to shoot game whenever possible. 

There I sit on the ground , but for that location where the shots can be far that makes good sense. I drag my jet sled in so it’s easy to toss it in it .

Im look my them up now 

[cervidchasers]

22 minutes ago, Nomad said:

There I sit on the ground , but for that location where the shots can be far that makes good sense. I drag my jet sled in so it’s easy to toss it in it .

Im look my them up now 

i am sorry it happens but for the last 2 yrs have started to rely on caldwell fieldpod. It is rock solid and really helps with shots over 70yards

[Bucksnbows]

10 minutes ago, cervidchasers said:

i am sorry it happens but for the last 2 yrs have started to rely on caldwell fieldpod. It is rock solid and really helps with shots over 70yards

That’s what I would suggest. I use it anytime I’m in a ground blind. Shotgun/rifle/muzzleloader/crossbow all benefit greatly from a steady rest like those provide and the weapon sits on it at the ready and is already pointed down range. 

[mowin]

My buddy swears by a bog pod, but man are they heavy.