Question? Have you ever saw a buck mule kick and take off when missed with a rifle? Shooting a Marlin 35 Rem with 200gr round nose ammo. No hair, no blood, no deer so far. What do you think?

Always been a dead deer for Me. Don't just get hung up on hair n blood, use your inner Injun and look for Signs of struggle like freshly broken brush n such! Good luck 🙂

No. Probably hit. Maybe blood will show up down the trail a bit. Hope you find him.

Yes…….its typically from a shot that grazes them low or across the back of the legs……They’re reacting to the sensation of the bullet

How far was the shot?

I have. About 15 years ago I got so fired up I rested my barrel directly on the window affecting the harmonics. I missed so bad it was a clean miss and hit a rock behind the buck, exploding the rock. Buck mule kicked and ran off like a maniac. Another club member shot him about 2 weeks later and he didn’t have a scratch on him

Could have also hit him right in the point of the shoulder and the bullet didn’t pass through……The reason I was asking about the distance is if that bullet slowed down enough it may not have penetrated through the shoulder……Seen that with a 30-30 at 150 yards but the hunter was shooting silver tips

75 yards max!

Mule kick usually meant good for me

This last buck - 60 yards - 270 - no blood or hair - only ran about 45 yards. Was sure i missed him. There may not always be hair or blood

There should hav been - always hav been in past - cheaper bullet prob why i had very small hole and very low blood on perfect shot

On the track - take time - i had to circle out further and further on 2 recently recovered from shot spot location - was hard to find blood on recent bow kill but finally did. He did not run exactly where i thought he did

Good luck

I shot a 200# buck in ML season in the shoulder with a 250 grain sabot, at 88 yards. The projectile entered his right shoulder, deflected up and exited above the vitals on the opposite shoulder blade. I had just a little bit of hair, absolutely zero blood, and he showed back up on camera 12 days later with a slight limp. It’s possible you hit him, and actually very likely.

I also recovered a deer for a friend that ran 147 yards after being double lunged with a 6.5 Grendel, and did not bleed a single drop. Wasn’t even blood in the bed where he died. Blood is not always present on lethal hits. Also doesn’t mean you missed if you don’t find any. I’d keep looking.

You likely either hit him right in the point of the shoulder or you just grazed him......If he's not within 150-200 yards then its probably the graze.....Anything behind the shoulder that causes a mule kick is most likely gonna be puttin out blood.....Was he standing broadside??....Was he toting a leg when he ran off?

Possible low hit

Had one do that to me last year. Big 10 point. Got a picture of him on camera about two weeks later hit him low in the leg. I did have a little white hair though

Yes I’ve had it happen and so has a friend

Only deer I recall mule kicking was one that I missed.

I've got results that went both ways. Just gotta look really well, or call the dog!

I have I shot under one and he did that. We looked forever and found nothing I swore I hit the deer but when we were walking back to where I shot him we jumped him laying in the bushes hiding from us. He was 50 yards from where he was when I took the shot. He ran off waving at me and stopped about 100 yards off then bounded off into the thick stuff.

Usually mule kick means you hit it. Could be a graze. I would grid search in the daylight a bit then if that doesn’t work keep a eye out for buzzards later.

When in doubt, call for a dog. Had one mule kick and take off. Was 70 yards or so before any blood was found. If it had not been on a logging road, I never would have seen the blood and dismissed it. We get our dog if we don't find blood or hair and are sure we hit our mark.