redkneck Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 First year ever to hunt with a mechanical. I picked up a pack of rage just to see for myself what they were like. I got out of work just a tad early and got on the stand behind the house. 7 minutes went by before the first doe showed up. I gave her a little while as she was eating some acorns and finally when she had worked her way to fifteen yards and looked the other way I calmly drew and released. WHAT THE CRAP?!?! Shot under her by six inches!!!! I was livid. I calmly went down, got my arrow, no blood, no hair, nothing! I dont miss at that yardage. So I just collected my thoughts and went back to the stand. 45 minutes later a bigger doe walked out and I had to wait an eternity before I could get the angle on her to draw. I released and heard the good ole SWACK! She ran 40 yards and stopped and after about 4 minutes she staggered down. I'm just waiting now for her to bleed down. After the pass through, the arrow went UP! I'll be lucky to find that one. I'll post pics as soon as I can get her dragged up, but the jury is still WAY out on Rage for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drop-time Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Good luck and post pics. Ive shot a broadhead similar to Rage for about 10 years now. Rocky Mt. Gator heads. I wouldnt trade em' for nothin. Some of my entry/exit wounds over the years have looked like something from a horror flick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Heck yeah... when you find her send a pack of that grizzly old doe meat to NY! Good luck on the recovery bud if you haven't tracked her down yet. Go get'cha some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I better not count my chickens before they hatch. I just went out and expecting to find my deer, only to find she got back on her feet and went another 50 yards! She's still on her feet, and I backed off. Should be able to turn the dogs loose later, but going to wait a bit. This will be a good training for the lab, but I got to let her lie for a while before going back. My stand is less than a hundred yards behind the house, and she made a bee line toward my driveway before turning back toward pine plantation. My camera software has been acting up lately, and I gave Mama my card reader, so it may be tomorrow before pics are up. I sure hope this will be a short night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 The dogs are itching to get out there! They smell the deer on me and are crying at the door (they aint house dogs). Going to carry the .22 with me when I go out. Some of you may think that's unethical, but I've used it a time or two when you just keep pushing the deer up and end up a mile away from where you started! It's not like you can recover the next morning when your dealing with 70 degree temps! Hopefully she'll hurry up and lay down for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Good luck, bud! I had the same problem with my antelope buck. I hit him behind the shoulder, but about an inch or so further back. It was a pass thru and he was bleeding hard but I had to seal the deal to get him on the ground. By the time I got up to him he'd crashed but was still clinging to life with all he had and I had to finish him. You'll get her, she's hit hard from the sounds of it. Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Hope you catch up to her, John! Too bad about those Rage heads, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger-Hunter Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Congrats. I hope you find your deer and soon. By now it is probably a done deal. Keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Well folks, after a four hour affair, I can't find her I've never shot one that only ran for that short a distance and laid down, only to get back up and go that far with nobody pushing her. I got good blood for over a hundred yards, then spotty in pine plantation. Three guys with 5 dogs just wandering around getting cut up in briar thickets. I'm really disgusted. Not the first time, no doubt, probably won't be the last, but still a sick feeling every time it happens. I just don't know where it all went wrong. Fifteen yard shots I can stack in a coffee cup. My first impression with the new heads aint looking too rosey. I'm thinking I'll go back to the tried and true muzzy's, whether or not there was a problem with shooting the broadheads or not, I just don't want to repeat this afternoon again for a while. Been a few years since I've failed to recover one, and if I can help it it'll be quite a few more. I took the cam out and took some pics of the big blood bath where she went down, hoping to post some pics of entry and exit wounds just for folks to compare, but that never came to pass. You can see how the blood started heavy then got to match head size. It didnt help that the two guys that helped me weren't too hot in the tracking dept, and was hard to get one of them to hold still on the last blood while I circled out further, we finally ended up circling back onto the same trail after a long circle, and their hounds were about as worthless as my dachsund and lab. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 I can just kick myself now, because I was standing only about 20 yards from her when she was down to start with and I could have finished her off, but I've never shot a deer that was down like that and not kicking and trying to get up, she was just moving her head a little. I'm just sick about it is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceArcher Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 The coyotes need to eat. Don't lose any sleep over it...maybe she will survive...if not oh well there are plenty more out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 (edited) Way to Thwack her redneck. :):clap::toot: She's not far from where you found the last sign. a little grid searching in the morning should produce her. Edited October 2, 2009 by buckee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Dashunds are super trackers...... Thats what we use here. Train that sucka right and reap the rewards... Get him/her back on the track, Their memmory is crazy good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Hope you find her bud! Friend of mine shoots them Rages and loves them. They shoot good for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 I hate it for you Redneck, but it happens. Get back out there this afternoon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_lou Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Don't beat yourself up to bad. Perhaps go with what Buckee said, do a grid search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Well, good idea guys, but for starters, the deer's spoiled in this heat, I'd only do that if I was trying to recover horns. Two, there's no such thing as a grid search in that terrain. You can't grid search what you cant even walk in. Young pines, vines and briars so thick in places a guy can't even walk. If I could have somehow tied a pork chop to the deer's neck my lab would have surely tracked her down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HUNTINGMAN Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 It happens to all of us at one time or another,I thought about switching to those rage heads at one time. With the way my muzzys still do the job I won't be switching anytime soon though. There's more deer out there,just count it as a learning experience and go get another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaTechHunter Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Sorry to hear you lost one. Which rage were you using? The 2 or 3 blades? I have had good luck with both, maybe you just had some bad luck, but I understand going back to a broadhead that is proven for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted October 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Which rage were you using? The 2 or 3 blades? the 2 blade 100's. I cant fault the head, I just dont doubt my abilities at that range. Going to shoot a bit shortly to see what things are looking like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghunter777 Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 just for future reference when in doubt give them more time! after watching that deer for 4 minutes obviously it wasnt a double lung or heart shot. I would pot money on if you had left the deer until morning she would have been rite where she laid down the first time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Ahh that bites John...I know that feeling of having to let a deer lay over night...I hate it and never sleep. Hope you find her, and if the Rage heads have given you reason to doubt, then go back to what you were shooting and your confidence level should rise using your old heads. How many arrows does your quiver hold? Mix up the heads with Rage and whatever you were using. Keep swingin':) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drop-time Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Im with ya on the sick feeling. It happens, but it always stinks. I wouldnt give up on expandables all together though. Rocky MT. makes great heads. Ive shot them for a long while with great results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 That stinks John. Yotes here would be on the deer pretty quick, really cannot leave them overnight here and expect to find anything good the next day. Too bad, but it does happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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