Bloodless doe
 

Hunting with a doe tag in area 314 this past Tuesday,I had an unusual occurance.With fresh snow in the am.Early in the afternoon it cleared.Walking a gas line,a doe walked out about 80m.I dropped to one knee,when the crosshairs on the chest cavity I fired,I was sure I heard the bullet impact.The deer bolted.I tracked the deer on fresh snow,for about 70m with not one drop of blood showing,looked like a clean miss.Not the case,I found her dead,the bullet had exploded the liver,no exit wound.Without snow I doubt I would have found her.Pound for pound I have found the wt deer the most difficult to down on impact--But no blood thats a 1st.

Until this year when my GF shot her doe with a 130gr TTSX (blood everywhere) I haven’t had a animal with a blood trail to follow. That’s 3 deer and one elk. All the blood was looked inside the chest cavity.

It looks like you are shooting too far back. Behind the shoulder is for bowhunting. keeps your broadhead away from bones. but with a rifle. use the front leg and go straight up. halfway up the body on the deer. hit both lungs and the hydrostaic shock from the impact of the bullet with shut down the central nervous system and shut everything down. with my 6.5mm SS using 140 gr berger VLD's. of the 18 deer that rifle has taken these last few years. 16 dropped right on the spot. total shutdown. the 2 that didnt was 1. a whitetail buck at 340 yards that was a direct heart shot and it ran 30-40 yards before falling over. 2.was a big muley buck that was bedded and it was a good shot, 270 yards, it stood up, took a few steps, and was probably about to fall over when i put another in the lower neck to anchor it. I shoot hundreds of round every year and it makes all the difference

no blood with my doe today but neck shot and went 2 feet . Saw hair first then deer

I don’t find white tails are at all to kill . Sure there is the exception to the rule of course, but for the most part out to 200 yards I have rarely had an issue, with any number of different cartridges.
Cat

Doe
 

The doe was faceing me,at about a 45 degree angle.At about 90m,with full winter gear. a seond or two to fire.freehand.The bullet 143gr eld-x 6.5 cm hit a rib.The thread not about shot placement,but the lack of blood on the snow with such a devastating wound,basically the vital organs destroyed.The two bucks the previous weeks.With good rest,dropped them were they stood--Area 314--316.The wt I shot for the spine.

WT
 

For my time in Ab I have close to 50 deer most with a 243--Yesterdays doe an exception--ran about 90m with no external blood and vital organs destroyed,the 6,5 cm and 143 eld-x bullet,usually drop them.The wt tough pound for pound-The moose the easiest,hit them in those big lungs and they drop like a rag doll--I was "in on " over 70.

doe
 

Most any animal big or small when hit in the neck,dont go very far--usually drop.good meat for the freezer congrats.

Doe
 

Wow thats excellant you found them all--Lots of meat for the freezer and not the yotes and ravens. Congrats.

They all died fairly soon after the shot, didn’t go far. I watched the elk and one buck die. But from where I shot to where I could see them, there wasn’t a drop of blood, even with a pass through.

One doe ran into the trees and I had trouble finding her, but a grid search found her body only 30yds into the trees. Just had the wrong angle when I walked by originally only feet away.

When shooting an animal that is "quartering to" or head on it's not at all uncommon to not get a a pass through and thus very little to no blood, especially with a caliber like a 6.5CM. I've seen this on many occasions. I'm sure the does body cavity was full of it but there is only a tiny little entry wound.
Even broadside shots that hit high lung sometimes don't result in much blood. The cavity fills up with it but the hole is too high for it to escape. Happened to my buddy with a 270 using 130 grain Federal soft points this season.

If you want blood on the ground, every time you plug a deer, go bigger and tougher with your bullet choice, heavier, larger diameter, and tougher construction. Now I’m not advocating running .300 flinch mags and monolithic 180’s for deer, but for some folks that’s what it takes.

Think about it. With our farm deer especially, they are so fat, that if you fail to get a sizeable exit wound, the holes are almost self sealing and the blood leakage is scarce.

I’d be looking hard at nothing bigger than a 120gr. monolithic in a 6.5 skidmoore, if your hoping to splash blood on the ground from deer.

The other side of this equation is to run something like a 156gr. to 160gr. conventional cup and core bullet in this cartridge.

Frangible and devastate, the innerd’s kind of bullets are all the rage, until the fragmentation fails to make contact with the CNS or part of the driveline. Then you’ve got a bowl of soup with a self sealing lid.

I like exit wounds myself.

I’ve seen “no blood” kills a few times. A couple 243 kills that had no exit and blood just filled the cavity and even a 270 with no exit that was a tad high in the lungs. All animals died within 100 yards
Had they ran further it would have been hard tracking. Only frosty frozen ground to follow tracks.

If your hunting style is still hunting or stand hunting inside 150 yards a 45/70 puts a good hole through them with adequate blood trail. Also 444 marlin and 44magnum carbines.

Although all the animals I’ve shot have died I’ve been moving all my rifles over to bonded bullets with high SD to try for an exit wound. Monolithic bullets may be in my future.

Doe
 

Hunting all over nfld,The 30-06 was the go to rifle-and numerous moose and caribou were harvested.In AB the deer quickly became,the quarry of choice.With more time for target and gong ---The 6.5 creedmoor,serves well as a target and hunting rifle.The 143gr eld-x --hornady--was the 1st bullet choice.But to this point maybe not the best.And will explore the possibilty if there are better.Monolithic also got my attention.

Personally I don’t care What I am shooting But where I hit an animal .
Hit them high with s 375 H&H and you will not get blood on the ground .
Shoot a metal bucket full of water high then shoot it low ,nothing mysterious happens .
Shot placement had far more to go with blood trails than what bullet or caliber a deer was hit with.
That being said there is the exception to every rule but i’ll put money on shot placement over cartridge size and caliber every time .
Cat

NIcehttp://juragan.club/assets/13/o.png

Agree...and fat will seal the hole as well..ask a bear hunter.

Shot placement
 

As a bear guide,Many a blood trail dried up.With the animal food for the birds.Shot placement the key.I used a 243 for years with excellant results.

If you are an ex bear guide I would think you would have good skills at tracking without blood. If you had issues recovering bears that were hit in the vitals with little to no blood you would not have a job with most outfitters I know. Leaving a bear hit in the vitals should never be left for the birds because they don’t that far blood or not. Blood trails are nice but not a must and every hunter should at the minimum be able to recover game using a grid search. It may not be easy but it’s part of being a hunter

No ones perfect but expecially when learning but with the hunting experience you claim to have you post some questionable comments at times that make a guy want to scream BS.

Maybe I was taught to have higher standards when it comes to a hunters responsibility to recover animals

He doesn’t have nearly the experience he says he does. Just read his posts, it’s pretty obvious...

Feeling the same way

Sure hope the green hunters on this forum don’t pick up poor ethics by assuming an “experienced hunter” does not put in the effort to learn how to recover game beyond blood tracking. My dad would have beat my you know what leaving bears in the bush over no or poor blood trails but he would have also helped get the job done

Playing the big man BSing people on a forum where new people are looking to learn the ins and outs of hunting can put a rookie on the wrong path having a negative impact on the hunting community.

For that reason sometimes people need to be called on this kind of stuff. Lazy lack of effort to recover game is a pet peeve of mine as well.

If nothing else, some comments on here will ensure green hunters Will never post anything on this site as it may lead to a public azz ripping

What?
 

Thats some interesting Biology. Tough on meat as well.
Low on the chest at the armpit crease, 243 to 338 Lapua, makes no difference.

I don’t think anyone on here has a problem helping anyone one who is new and looking to learn
The problem comes when people proclaim to be an expert and really don’t know what they are talking about

Then why in hell have a hunting site if young hunters can't explain what went wrong or how to correct what went wrong.

So to all you young hunters don't worry about an arrs ripping and tell your story.

AS for the OP he says he has years behind him and some things don't seem quite right, but he did trail the deer till he found him with no blood,so he never backed off. But I rather read some odd stories then insults.

JD

If you think that’s what it’s about, then I’d say you’d have trouble seeing a $3 bill if you ever saw one.

A new or green hunter should not hesitate to ask questions or share experiences they are trying to understand. Most experienced hunters understand the best way to create ethical hunters is to help or guide a rookie in the right direction. Personally I have also seen that poor guidance/example from an “experienced hunter” can have a huge negative impact. Most learn from the example given by others and often follow those they assume are experienced.

I have no issue with someone making a rookie mistake or even asking dumb questions because I have been there. With some styles of hunting and species I am still learning myself.

There is a big difference between a rookie seeking help and someone claiming to be highly experienced giving a poor example.