thought i had a doe down


chrislindsey

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yesterday went over to my buddies place and got in the woods at around 4:15 a doe walked out at around 5:00 and presented me with a 20 yard quartering away shot,which i thought was a good shot..i put the pin right behind her shoulder and thump i could hear it hit,she ran up over a little hill and i felt good about the shot.well i climbed down and walked down the trail where she had ran and at first no blood but within 15 or 20 yards i found blood so i went and got my buddies and we went to retrieve the deer but we followed a blood trail about 300 yards,still no deer,but was positive i had hit her good and the blood trail had alot of good piles of blood even found my arrow which was broke off.so we looked and looked mand still never found her...i could barely sleep last night just thinking how i could have messed that shot up...this really sucks bad even worse then missing,it would have been my first bow kill,but ill keep practicing and get back out there soon

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1st off, welcome to the forums.

Some questions:

1) How did she react at the shot?

2) What color was the blood?

3) How long did you wait?

If she was quartering away and you put the pin right behind her shoulder, you may have hit all muscle and meat and not made a vital hit. I did that on a doe last year with my muzzleloader. She was quartering away and I did not aim far enough back. My dad and I blood trailed her for 300 yards, jumped her, and she had a hole in her shoulder the size of my fist, but was running perfectly. I gave her the rest of the day and went back in the morning and did a grid search of where she had ran to, but did not find her. It sounds like, from your description, that may be the same thing that happened to you. You might have shot in front of the lungs and above the heart and just passed through the ribcage and out the brisket, which, unless you hit a major artery, is not a fatal shot.

Lastly, did you try a grid search to search for her? If not, and the weather has been cool so the meat hasn't spoiled, I would get your buddy to help you do a grid search for her. If it has been too warm, then it sounds like a lost cause since you shot her Sunday. I know it sucks to lose a deer, but it happens to all of us. We have all been in the situation where we think we smoked a deer only to find some blood that dries up and leads to no deer. It's tough, especially since this would have been your first deer with a bow. Just some advice, if a deer presents you with a quartering away shot, always aim further back than you would for a broadside shot. At worst you will catch liver and most likely at least 1 lung. Often on a quartering shot, that's what you get anyway.

Best of luck during the rest of the season to you.;)

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i agree, if you put the pin behind her shoulder and she was quartering away, its possible you didnt get any vitals. when a deer is quartering away, you must aim for where you want the arrow to come out. which is usually further back, depending on the angle.

i know it sucks to have lost a deer, but sometimes things happens when you think the shot is good.

Tony

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