First deer with a bow.

[whitetailfreak55]

I agree Hoosier. Last year I shot a Buck a little far back and never found him he was a really nice Buck. Never found the arrow and only two drops of blood. I looked for a week and never found him. I was very sick about him I almost gave up hunting because of it. The key is respect for the animal You are hunting and don't ever give up until you know for sure you can't find him. Good luck

Tyler

[Scbasshunter]

The arrow was laying right where the deer was standing when I hit him. I didn't have to go look for it. We looked last night and then this morning with more people helping. In a perfect world I would have several days to look for a deer, vut that isn't reality. As for regretting it, I absolutely do not. I've never lived my life regretting things that are over and done with. Because it already happened and nobody can change it. If you want to promote hunting, great! But this is not the way to do it. The proper way to do it would be to encourage the person to keep trying and practicing and learning. I have never in my life heard somebody say you shouldn't be hunting if you don't feel bad about a deer not being found. Yeah, it sucks, but I realize that, like it or not, it is a part of hunting. I didn't join Realtree forums to be a part of these types of conversations. I want to be able to get on here and learn, teach, laugh and enjoy hearing hunting experiences from others. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but maybe some should learn to better express them. I respect your opinion, but I seriously hope it isn't a representation of bow hunters. Bow hunting is something I really want to get serious about. I hope I don't have to deal with anybody else along the way with such harsh opinions. Please dont think that your way of doing things is the only way to do things. Again, I respect your opinion, but not the way you expressed it.

[whitetailfreak55]

I am in no way saying that you should give up on hunting or anything along those lines. I know it was your first time out and I'm glad that you took up bow hunting and are enjoying it. I'm sorry if it came out sounding that way. And yes I was lucky to look for a week but that was after work every day. Good luck on upcoming hunts.

Tyler

[bowhunter97]

Yea good luck on future hunts. It all comes with experience. In hunting you learn your limitations. I'd just say go out and shoot some more make sure nothing could have moved your sight or anything to make that happen. Then dont give up keep after em. The nerves probably just got the best of you.

[slb6075]

First deer with a bow.

If you truly have no regrets for a bad shot. I do hope you quit bow hunting.

[dbHunterNY]

well i assume you do feel bad about wounding it, but you are right about not feeling bad about yourself. mistakes happen so now you need to fix things so there's little chance of it happening again. the reaction you got when it all happened is a big part of why we all hunt. when the deer comes in try to not think about shooting the deer so much as what you need to do to make a good shot. it'll help keep the nerves under control until your arrow hits where it's supposed to. also a good idea is to aim a third down instead of halfway. a deer can often drop at the shot. they aren't intentionally ducking the arrow, but loading their legs to spring and run away quicker. if they duck you hit the lungs still but if they don't drop then you'll hit lower (the heart). it's possible that the deer dropped and you hit high just under the spine but over the vital organs. it's hard to say, but if you did there's a possibility the deer could still live. you wouldn't find much blood either. sometimes you can smell the arrow and it'll smell a little different and worse. which can mean you shot far back in the guts (the deer is dead somewhere). i guess one more thing.... when you shoot try to follow through with the shot and keep the pin and eyes on target until the arrow gets there. many times you'll see the flight of the arrow and where it reaches the target/game. if the distance is closer or your bow is faster you might not see the arrow but you'll see where the arrow disturbs the hair on the deer.

hope that helps... best of luck next time.

[hoosierhunter]

SC

These types of threads are no indicative of how things operate on the forums. This is a one off experience that has been heated. I think we can both agree to disagree on this topic and move forward from it.

[wtnhunt]

Every year there are posts here where someone hits an animal bad and they are not sure exactly where they hit, some even with pretty experienced hunters. It happens. Some very experienced hunters will even post about losing deer. Don't let the posts from some here turn you away from bowhunting or from this forum. Learn from it and move on.

[rhine16]

First deer with a bow.

Sc,

I'm no bowhunting guru, but I've spent 14 seasons bowhunting... 10 as a teen and pre teen, so I've made my share of bad shots.

I'm not trying to criticize at all, but I've seen all of your posts asking question after question about different products, bait, wind, stand selection, broad heads, etc, and I've only commented on one of yours. That one was the other morning when you asked for last minute advice. I simply said " go make your own mistakes and learn from them". You've now made a mistake and hopefully you learned a great deal from it. That's the only way I know to learn how to bowhunt and make the shot when it counts, it isn't by reading on forums or articles, and it certainly isn't by watching the outdoor channel(maybe winke, drury bros, will primos, brad Farris, David Blanton, bill Jordan will help though).

The only other advice about what you did that night is to not let a deer lay overnight when the meat will spoil. I don't know what the temps were in sc that night but I seriously doubt that the meat would've been good enough the next morning. I'm going to have to shoot a monster before I'll even think about letting him lay in hot temps and then it's still going to be tough on me. Just don't forget to respect the animal.

Good luck to you on the rest of the season.

[Flintlock1776]

It is hunting and not shopping so stuff like that can happen. Some good advice in some of the threads above but if you exhausted the search stuff just happens. Next time bring some flagging tape and tie it to branches or whatever as you find the blood spots. Get some peroxide in a bottle and/or those blood trailing flashlights and work the zone real slow. With this heat, if you don't smell the stink by now it may have been a non-fatal hit.

[abrown]

Sounds like you did everything possible to recover it, that's all that can be asked. As far as feeling bad, I made a less than perfect shot on buck and doe the same evening, the doe didn't act hit, so I re-ranged the spot she was at, shot 10 yrds too shot, and with aluminums it makes a big difference, 30 vs. 40. When I shot the buck, same spot, he acted hit, but didn't find him until two weeks later, and you can bet I was sick to my stomach, I did however cash a tag in on him to keep his head gear, the least I could do. I do get sick and upset if I make a less than perfect shot, more than if I get into a fight with my wife! LOL So, not getting upset, I don't understand, the shot I do. As far as the earlier posts go, people need the fear of God put back in them, Doesn't it say somewhere, "The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom!"?

[Rhino]

I'm just going to offer some constructive advise. Enough has been said about the other. From the little bit of sign you had on your arrow there's a good chance that deer's alive. From what I read you don't have a clue where your arrow hit and it's unclear to me what the deer did after that.

OK...we all get excited or we wouldn't be bowhunting. That's part of what makes it special. A lot of beginners loose control when they get excited...yea some of us grizzled old veterans too. The most common thing I've witnessed beginners do is what we call "sneak a peak". What the heck is that? Simple, you're real excited and quick to try to move the bow out of the way to see the deer and/or the arrow hit it. The usual result is either seeing a poor shot or totally loosing sight of where the arrow went. Why? You're so focused on wanting to see the deer with the bow out of your way, you're moving the bow before the arrow cleared or right when you hit your release, thus throwing it off. I'm not saying you did this...I wasn't there...that's for you to figure out.

Now...how do you prevent this from happening? Simple...when you release your arrow keep your sight pin on the spot you're trying to hit the best that you can and attempt to pick up the arrow in flight or hitting the spot while looking through your sight. Then you're free to lower or move your bow out of the way. All this is easy to do on the range but put hair on the target and it's totally different.

John gave you some good advise after the arrow hits. Watch the reaction of the deer. Often a shot through the boiler house results in the deer doing the bucking bronco kick. Gut shots usually result in the deer hunching up. Make a mental note of the deer's path as he's leaving, especially a landmark you last saw him pass. After he's out of sight listen till you hear nothing for any trace of where he's gone. Then look at all the deer's exit path again, especially the last landmark. It will all look different at ground level so get that burnt into your brain. Then relax for a while and give the deer a chance to expire & every now & then look at the deer's exit path again. How long do you wait...well depends on where you hit him. Heart/double lung...30 minutes. Liver...at least 3 hours. Gut...8 hours or overnight. Unknown...be honest with yourself and make your best decision on where you believe you hit him based on the deer's reaction. If it's hot and you're concerned the meat will spoil, well you'll have to make the call on how long to wait on a poor hit and still recover the deer before the meat spoils.

In closing...deer react strange to being hit by an arrow at times. I've heart shot deer that didn't even realize they had been hit by an arrow. Some went a few steps & looked back...some others 20 yards & look back. Yep watched blood pour out of them like a hole in a red paint can & the deer dropped right there. Way more often than not though they are going to react. It's up to you to take in all the details & put together the recovery plan.

[arrow32]

Great post rhino