***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about this


dartonman

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It has been brought to my attention by a few great forum members that remember last season, that sometimes the following happens...and I cant agree more. We sometimes have individuals brag up the "shot they made"...but the deal is not sealed, and the deer is lost to yotes...or never found, or they just plain give up...so, here is my thoughts on the matter. I feel we all will have a bad shot, or a botched set up, where nothing works....we will be here on the forums to discuss each and every one of these, I hope. However, if you get a thrill of making just contact with an arrow, vs a deer, and never ever expect to recover your animal, and you have become juvenile, and ignorant in your respects for the archer, and the prey...than dont post it here. This is not for the ones who want to wound and tell with no remorse...this is an educational, and family oriented website....and we want to help ALL we can....for the love of the sport.......God Bless, be safe, and may all your arrows fly true. AL

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about this

Al, It's this forum where I expressed what I felt like last year after losing my first deer in my lifetime of hunting.

In talking about it here I learned some things that will never be forgotten. I had the chance to relive that event yesterday in person when I hunted that exact spot.

I know for a fact that I made mistakes.

I also know I looked for that deer for 3-1/2hrs that night and 13 hrs the next day without finding any more sign then at the point where I shot it.

I know this is the BowHunting room but it applies to ALL DEER shot with ANY WEAPON.

One of the most valuable things I learned from the experience is that a deers shoulder blade can even deflect a bullet, when the angle is steeply downward, and it's possible to lose that deer.

I was 20ft up in a climber and the deer was 18ft from the base of the tree I was in. I scoured an area 1/2 mile in every direction from the shot site and did not find that deer or any other sign from it.

I will never take that shot choice/angle again even with a rifle let alone a bow.

I dont get upset about much anymore...but when I hear people say something like: "I looked for over an hour for it..."

They have no idea what looking for an animal is like IMHO...thats a Token amount of time to spend and its probably just done so they can say they did look at all.

In the time you are looking for an animal you shot if you look for a longer time your chances go up of finding it. If you do not find it while your looking for a long time you are re-living the moment you shot over and over again which will teach you a lesson for your lifetime on what can happen with "That Shot Choice"...it's invaluable to have that burned into your mind simply so the chances of it happening again are less in the future.

Sorry for the long rant...but all that metal pressure came back in full force yesterday hunting where I shot that deer a year ago..like it had just happened. It's supposed to be like that...it's burnt in deep.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about this

Well said GW........I relive my error in judgement years ago, I spent days out looking for the deer of a lifetime, and all I had to do is wait a fraction of a second more, and I'd had the heart shot with the bow....I pushed the envelope, and shot him in the shoulder, poor angle, poor decision, and alot of lessons learned still today....great post GW................al

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I agree, I shot a buck this year already, it was a good shot, a good angle and I hit back lung and liver. We waited an hour, got down and found blood trail, 100 yards up, he jumped, so we left him, but with 90+degree days, he was ruined, still I gagged/dressed him to see where the shot got him for a learning experience.

Take the time before, during and after the shot to make the recovery quick!

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

My cousin shot a nice 8 pt. about 4 yrs. ago... hit a little high and back but we had a crew of 5 guys that whole day (it was shot in the morning) and lost blood but still looked into the night. The next morning there was about 8 of us looking, about 1 p.m. while walking about the whole property, my dad came to a creek bed at the bottom of a deep hollow and there he was. Although it was a mistaken shot, we won't just let a deer go without spending the time to look upon respect for that animal. That's what hunting is about! Respecting the animal itself, i think alot of ppl lose sight of that.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I learned this early. The very first deer that i shot, i hit low. I hit behind the should but it was were the white of the belly meets the brown. Me and my brother followed the blood trail for an hr and half that night. After noticing that it had bedded down 2-3 times we decided to wait untill the morning. Marked the last spot with the gps and went home. That whole night i was sick to my stomach. At day break next morning we were back out there. We took the blood trail real slow and ended up walking up on the deer (within 5 feet) and it still being alive. I made a lethal shot to finish her off. We ended up tracking her for 3/4 of a mile. From then on it showed me how much effort there must be in recovering a deer that is not hit well.

Mike

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Guest GO_BLUE

Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Well, being new to this forum I think everyone has valid points to make.I think we can all learn from our errors and experience will help out the young hunters from making mistakes. But, I think Dartonman was expressing the fact that it almost sounds as if people are bragging about wounding the animal. Which if that is the case, that is very poor sportsmanship and truely unethical.

I think alot of it is the excitement of being in the position make the kill,and meeting people in this forum you really want to let your friends here know exactly what happened. Honest people give all the signifant details sometimes making them appear to be bragging up a bad situation. I hope we are truely out there for a purpose, and I hope no one is just out there carelessly giving the hunting community "another" black eye.

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Guest GO_BLUE

Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

By the way, I am out there for a purpose. I sat in my stand last night for just over 2 hrs. after work. Didn't see any Whitetails, but man just being in the woods, hearing everthing, taking in all the colors, nothing really calms or relaxes you more. God bless and GO BLUE

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I dont think we have very many coming on here to "brag" about a poor shot choice. I think they are looking for help in finding the animal. I agree, the animal should be respected enough to make a killing shot to begin with, weather it was injured before the shot and put down out of concern for it, or just a misplaced shot. Deflection do occur, and follow up should not be exhausted until you have checked ALL possible areas. Then go back and listen and watch for crows etc. They find them all!! Using a dog cant hurt either, Ive had our farm dog find me a couple.

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Guest Deepwoods1

Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Hey guys, im new to the forum thing here. I couldnt agree more with you on the subject. I have been bow hunting for good time now, and have learned (like most of us) that its a little more than just point and shoot. You control the outcome of your shot. The shot might be placed perfect in your eyes, but in reality the shot might have been off a little. The only real way to find out is to find your game after the shot. I hunt on NAS Patuxent River MD during the season, and when somone makes a shot on the animal, we do everything in our power to find the animal. Its ethics. The ethics that our parents/grandparents passed to us. The same ethics that have to be passed on to the next generation.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Very well said Al, glad you brought this up. Have noticed some things along the lines of what is said here and Gary mentioned them in his reply too.

Was kind of noticing that there seems this year to be a lot more wounded or lost animals than has been in the past as I can remember. Thought it better not to comment on it in an individual post to single out any one hunter, but rather thought it better to wish the hunter luck at finding their game and encourage them to get back out there. Really glad you brought this up.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I agree but you can't single people out. I have not seen anyone say, hey I took a shot I knew I shouldn't have and it was a bad hit so I just said forget it. Everyone has lost deer, and everyone has missed their mark. I know it tore me up in the past. I have shot two with my bow that I never found, but for those two I have killed about fifteen. I agree that if you just want to wound stuff, then don't post it, it does not belong here. On the other hand I don't really think that has been the case. If you look in the Hunter Success Thread posted that nice buck that is the first post started as a post of a deer not found on Oct. 1, and he stuck with it and look what he came up with.

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Guest OhioHunt

Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I totally agree on this subject as well. I am 23 years old and I started bow hunting when I was 12. The first deer I ever shot I shot him at 35 yards and made a nice hit on him. I was so excited I got out of my stand almost right away and went to go get my dad from his stand and we went looking. We walked about 60 yards from where the hit occured and saw the deer get up out of a bed. Noticing that the deer went onto the neighbors property we went to the house to ask permission first before going to recover the deer. They promptly told us "absolutely no". A week later both our stands were stolen and I was told that the neighbor checked in that deer. It still burns at me after 11 years that that's the only deer I have shot at and not been able to recover. But I at least tried to do things the right way, the way I was always taught to do. If I don't feel that I can make a killing shot with one shot I simply do not take it. If I do make a bad shot then I do everything in my power to recover the animal. Luckily that's the only deer I was not able to recover and to think it was because of some people that stood there and told a 12 year old kid he could not go recover his deer still irks me to this day. But it is their property and although I was very dissapointed it was still a learning expierience for me. I think I was more dissapointed that the next time I went out there my treestand that I bought with my own allowance money was stolen. The next year they stole another one but that evening I hunted on the ground and I did kill and recover my first buck ever that night. I have pictures of that deer that I will post this evening for you guys. I just wanted to share my little expierience with you guys. I am sure alot of you guys have stories similar.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Very well put folks!

I've been hunting for over 25 years and by the grace of God I've only lost one deer, but it still haunts me to this day.

I've always said after that, I would much rather miss a deer completly than to make a bad shot on one and never find it.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Well put friends! One thing I'd like to say is keep in mind RESPECT for the ANIMAL you shoot. We take an animal's life and whether we recover the animal or if we fail to find it no matter how hard we look. give it respect. An animal is living and breathing like us and God made them also!

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

Good post Al. I commented on this very subject around mid-season last year. It seemed like there were an inordinately high number of posts about deer being shot with both gun and bow that were not being recovered.

I think we all owe it to the sport and to the animals to make sure we're doing our part to make a quick, clean kill with whatever weapon we're using.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

[ QUOTE ]

By the way, I am out there for a purpose. I sat in my stand last night for just over 2 hrs. after work. Didn't see any Whitetails, but man just being in the woods, hearing everthing, taking in all the colors, nothing really calms or relaxes you more. God bless and GO BLUE

[/ QUOTE ]

AMEN to that!!! Never a gamble from this bowhunter!!

It's a sure shot or no shot,,

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about

I totally agree with all that is said in this post and will back it to no end for the true archers. I'd like to add a little to this from two well placed shots on two Doe's this season so far. I had shot one Doe on the third day of the season, a perfect 17 yard double lunger, watch her do the face slide shot. Then as I watch go 70 yards and out of sight, I began to question my shot. I shoot all white flethcings and knock so I can see the arrow in flight and I knew I had hit this girl perfect. At dark I get down and start looking tthe last place I saw her. I found a lot of blodd and just knew she'd be very close. Well after dark and an hour later, me and my hunting partner found her. This girl was blowing blood three feet off the trail she was on and leaving a very good blood trail a blind man could follow for right at 300 yards through a thicket we had to get on our hands and knees to follow through. Danny told me I must have hit one lung the reason she went so far and I knew I had hit both by the entry and exit holes. Upon skinning her out I removed the lungs for verification and showed him, two perfect holes through the center of both lungs. I did another Doe that Saturday and she went around 250 yards, same scenario and blood trail. I was totally blown away at the distance these deer went. Danny made a great commment that made me feel very good on the end of our hunt. He said those two deer would have never been recovered by the normal hunter, the thickets and distance those two deer went would have detered them from finding her, that he's been looking for a bowhunter to hunt with that is as dedicated and loves bowhunting as much as him and thinks he's finally found someone. Bottom line folks is if you've got sign be it blood, scuffed up leave, hair, or stomache contents, don't give up! We owe to our future and upmost the animals. By the way, I did read an article on lung shot deer in Bowhunting world just the other day. Very interesting about a lung shot deer forward and a lung shot deer towards the back of the lungs. It shed some light on my situation of those two shots.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about this

some time things just happen gun hunting and bow hunting . I have a friend he shoot a doe last year 1/4 away shot he hit her on 2nd from last rib .We found great blood for 20-30 yds then it quit.we looked for 3-4 hrs that nite. We came back that next morning she was laying 20yds from were th truck was parked.She had ran down hill 100-150 yds . The problem was the broad head broke up .It was 100 grain muzzy 3 blade the charcar tip was gone also was the blades.I had never seen a muzzy break up like that and I have been using them for 10 yrs. We didn,t give up and we found her short drag to.

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Re: ***Here is a touchy subject...lets talk about this

[ QUOTE ]

It has been brought to my attention by a few great forum members that remember last season, that sometimes the following happens...and I cant agree more. We sometimes have individuals brag up the "shot they made"...but the deal is not sealed, and the deer is lost to yotes...or never found, or they just plain give up...so, here is my thoughts on the matter. I feel we all will have a bad shot, or a botched set up, where nothing works....we will be here on the forums to discuss each and every one of these, I hope. However, if you get a thrill of making just contact with an arrow, vs a deer, and never ever expect to recover your animal, and you have become juvenile, and ignorant in your respects for the archer, and the prey...than dont post it here. This is not for the ones who want to wound and tell with no remorse...this is an educational, and family oriented website....and we want to help ALL we can....for the love of the sport.......God Bless, be safe, and may all your arrows fly true. AL

[/ QUOTE ]

couldn't have said it better myself grin.gif

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