Ethan Givan Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Last night I went hunting and at about 6:45 2 does and a buton buck came down a trail to my stand. I waited for the biggest doe to give me a clear shot which was really difficult because the woods I am hunting in are really thick. Finally she stepped into a hole braodside at about 20 yards and i shot. I thought I saw my arrow hit her perfectly and it sounded like a perfect hit. She ran off over the hill. Well i got down later and found the arrow...it was covered in a green slime and smelled really bad. I gut shot her. I dont know how I hit that far back because I could only see the front half of the deer to begin with and I thought I saw my arrow hit perfect. After a couple hours we trailed her and found quite a bit of blood for about 100 yards, then it just kinda quit. We backed out and now im gonna go back this morning and look. I really dont think I will find her though. She ran into a thick bottom where you can only see 10 yards or so. Im so mad at myself for screwing up like that. There is no reason I shouldnt have made a good shot. Wish me luck on finding her this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I know you mad but it happens everyone loses them. Maybe she started to take off as you shot or maybe you just plain jerked out of being pumped for a taking a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bowhunter56 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Good luck, let us know how you make out.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 May have been a branch you didn't see that deflected the arrow... It happens to the best of us...keep us posted on your search! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesse8953 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Hope you find her,good luck.I bet you hit a twig and deflected the arrow.I thought I hit a doe lastnight but I found my arrow this mourning stuck in a tree.Clean miss for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Well no luck. The blood just stopped and I couldnt find any more. I tried to walk in circles down in the bottom where she went but it is so thick it was almost impossible. I could have walked within 15 yards of her and never seen her. This is the second deer I have lost in a row. I hate that I just wounded a deer and caused it to suffer and I hate that I wasted all that meat. Im almost afraid to shoot at a deer now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNcrittergittr Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Sorry to hear that. I know from experience, that is one of the worst feelings in the world. You don't sleep well at night, it's all you think about all day and you lose pretty much all confidence in yourself. If the deer didn't move, it sounds like a deflection, very possible you could have hit a branch or something else. Every now and then a guy might have an odd release too. The best thing for you to do now, is just learn from your experience. There are so many variables and things to account for in bowhunting, if you hunt long enough you are going to encounter less than ideal circumstances. This can happen to the best of us, my advice to you is to learn from this, use it not as a way to beat yourself up but to become a better, more experienced bowhunter. To get your confidence back, grab your set up and hit the targets, spend some time practicing shots that you will encounter. Make sure that you don't second-guess yourself. Don't spend the rest of the season beating yourself up, focusing on the bad, you can't change the past. Use your experience as an influence to focus on the future. We all have a resposibility to do all we can to prepare as much as possible to put an ethical shot on an animal and do all we can to recover it. It's good that you feel that responsibilty. I didn't mean to write a novel, I just know how much it sucks. So learn, prepare and get back on that horse! Good luck out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Sorry to hear that. I know from experience, that is one of the worst feelings in the world. You don't sleep well at night, it's all you think about all day and you lose pretty much all confidence in yourself. If the deer didn't move, it sounds like a deflection, very possible you could have hit a branch or something else. Every now and then a guy might have an odd release too. The best thing for you to do now, is just learn from your experience. There are so many variables and things to account for in bowhunting, if you hunt long enough you are going to encounter less than ideal circumstances. This can happen to the best of us, my advice to you is to learn from this, use it not as a way to beat yourself up but to become a better, more experienced bowhunter. To get your confidence back, grab your set up and hit the targets, spend some time practicing shots that you will encounter. Make sure that you don't second-guess yourself. Don't spend the rest of the season beating yourself up, focusing on the bad, you can't change the past. Use your experience as an influence to focus on the future. We all have a resposibility to do all we can to prepare as much as possible to put an ethical shot on an animal and do all we can to recover it. It's good that you feel that responsibilty. I didn't mean to write a novel, I just know how much it sucks. So learn, prepare and get back on that horse! Good luck out there! Actually that was pretty good and right to the point! Only thing I can add is to prepare the area your going to hunt better, cut shooting lanes, and wait until you can see the entire deer or your positive you can make the shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayzorp Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 As stated, it happens to the best. What is important is that you tried to find the animal, keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted September 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Actually that was pretty good and right to the point! Only thing I can add is to prepare the area your going to hunt better, cut shooting lanes, and wait until you can see the entire deer or your positive you can make the shot. I thought I could make that shot. It wasnt that hard of a shot...broadside at 20 yards, I could see the whole front half of the deer. I think my shot was on target the more I think about it. Im beginning to think she spun away at the shot causing the arrow to hit back and angle through her. Who knows though, there is no way to be for sure. I have shot 3d in the woods and made alot harder shots through small holes at farther distances than this. It should have been a chip shot for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I'm not doubting your abilities to make that shot. It does sound like she started to turn to get that angle too. At which point when something like that happens there was nothing you could have done anyways. Positive thing is you actually saw a deer to shoot at, took a shot you felt comfortable making, and made the attempt to find the deer afetrwards....definitely nothing it sounds like you should beat yourself up over;) In the future you'll probably see that shot many times and the deer will just stand there as the arrow passes right through! A friend recently shot a bear at 5 yds dead center in the chest and could never find it after days of looking...dont let this get you down it happens to many people;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2008 Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Lost a deer this weekend also bud. I'm with ya on the part about it sucking. The story is in the thread I posted in the Archery Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 I know how you feel, bud, I lost a doe antelope out in Wyoming where there is hardly any cover! We let her be for about 15 minutes and came back only to find that she had dissapeared. We found a lot of blood but we never found her. :no: But if you hunt long enough something like that is bound to happen. Best of luck next time! I know you'll be able to seal the deal. Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 i know you feel bad and i know its probably not proper, but theres a lesson to be learned here. when you found green stuff on the arrow, that meant you should have backed out and went in the next morning. by jumping her you made a bad problem worse. you will hopefully know better next time. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobwhite Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I second Turkeygirls post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 i know you feel bad and i know its probably not proper, but theres a lesson to be learned here. when you found green stuff on the arrow, that meant you should have backed out and went in the next morning. by jumping her you made a bad problem worse. you will hopefully know better next time. Tony You are right, we should have backed out. My dad wanted to track her though because it was warm enough last night that by this morning the meat would have been ruined. We gave her a couple hours, but I know it wasnt enough time. If it ever happens again, warm or not, I will let the deer go overnight for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewink Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 It happens to the best! Things go wrong! That is hunting. Practice will make you better, but not perfect! But do all you can to achieve the most ethical shot. One thing I have noticed is most (not all) gut shot deer I have ever tracked have headed for water. If you have any streams, ponds or even puddles around your last know route of travel. Start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ODH Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Happens to all of us bud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 yea thats a tough decision if its warm out. i can see maybe going after her if the meat would ruin. i wish you the best. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 hey if it's legal, and you have a dog, take it with you and just let it run around, if you get close it might run over to smell and lick it. I seen that done here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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