Has this ever happened to anyone?

[pwrstrkd]

I shot a deer the other night with an arrow and had a pretty good idea of where it ran. It was getting dark and the blood wasnt the best. Anyways... I actually walked past the deer as i was looking at the blood trail and it seems the blood went on in the opposite direction of where it ran/expired. So the deer must have circled back and expired allowing me to actually pass it without realizing. This never happened to me and was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.

 

[Cowboy_mo]

It hasn't happened to me but

Several long time successful deer hunters have often told me that an injured deer will often double back or loop back.

So, I don't know for sure but you aren't the first person who has suggested this behavior.

 

[tahunua001]

my first buck did that, he ran and we almost lost him when the sun went down and just when we decided to to give up the search and start again in the morning we caught him in our 4 wheelers headlight about 10 feet from where I shot him. I was glad becasue the next morning there was 2 inches of snow on the ground...finding him would have been a PITA

 

[Scorch]

From my obsevations, deer generally loop back towards their trail when they are going to bed down, possibly to spot any predators following their scent trail. Wounded deer do the same if they are not spooked, they feel tired and just want to rest, so they circle back.