This really irritates me!!

[bghunter777]

When I hear people tell me i hit the the deer rite where you are suppose to! or it was a perfect hit and the story ends with no deer. Come on guys if you smoke a deer they dont go far and are not hard to find with little effort barrowing a 1 in 1000 event where the deer runs into a swamp or dies in a river and floats away. When you trail a deer for 200 yards and then the blood peters out or you jump the deer up injured it was not a perfect hit I promise!!!

[ruttinbuc]

Just goes to show that some of those hunters are inexperienced and not knowing what happened or what to do after the shot. I had a guy tell me he thought he hit a deer through the lungs and and couldn't find it. We went to the spot the next morning and I found the deer was 40 yards from the stand in high grass. He felt a little embarrassed. You learn by doing. Don't let it bother you.

[cray8705]

Its hard for people to admit they didn't make the best shot, and I think sometimes people are telling them selves they made a better shot then what they actually did because it makes them feel better. I've only ever had one deer that I followed blood on and never found the deer (knock on wood) but i wasnt confident on the shot at all and came to the conclusion that i had shot under the deer and knicked it enough for some blood. Sometimes people do need to put more effort into tracking, it is their responsibility to find that wounded or dead animal. don't let it get to ya too much

[hoosierhunter]

Another thing is in that exact moment when they release the arrow they might not focus on where exactly the hit it or heck they might not be able to see it. I couldn't believe how much my vision improved when I got glasses last year.

This is another reason to shoot a lighted knock!

[Buck75]

Ok this topic hits home for me. Let me start by saying I have been deer hunting since I was 13( 22yrs) and have never lost a deer until last year. I honestly put what looked to be a "perfect" shot on my biggest buck to date. He was broadside at 25yrds standing perfectly still and I put the arrow right at the "crease", he ran about 50ft, stopped looking back, then just walked away. Now normally I would have put another shot on him but he stopped behind some junk and I figured my shot was money. I gave hime about 45 minutes and found my arrow and blood immediatly, followed by a blood trail a 2yrd old could follow right to where he stopped to look back where there was a big pool of blood. That's where things go south, from that point on there was NO blood!!! I could see him when he walked away for about 120yards so I know his direction of travel and could find nothing. This made me absolutley sick!!! My buddies helped me look for this deer for 3 straight days and could not find anything. So i'm not saying its the norm to put that perfect shot on a deer and not find it but it does happen. I wish I knew what happened?

[bloodtrails]

Guy just relax! people just giving opinions in here! If don't like them or want to hear them just ignore them. Thats why they call it "Hunting" if it were that easy they would just call it "Killing"!

[hunter109]

i think you are right i have missed deer and hit a few badly but that is all apart of hunting i dont belive it is all about the shot but if the deer has the will to live i have seen a deer shot twice in the shoulder and once in the lungs and run over three propertys well long story short it took four shots and me jumping on it in the creek cutting its throght to kill it that is the deer that had a penis in it it was a doe at that

[JDAWG]

I have shot a deer and upon field dressing the deer found 8 inches of arrow shaft inside it. I was amazed!

[pointing_dogs_rule]

Another thing is in that exact moment when they release the arrow they might not focus on where exactly the hit it or heck they might not be able to see it. I couldn't believe how much my vision improved when I got glasses last year.

This is another reason to shoot a lighted knock!

Yep, I think Hoosierhunter has this one nailed (not watching where the aroow actually hits). I too love the lighted nocks!!

good luck to all

the dog

[huntnfish]

I have had a similiar issue with a former hunt club member. He would get so excited over a buck that he would always make a terrible shot and he always required a tracking job.

[bghunter777]

Regardless of will to live without lungs they dont live long! One thing or another may lead to the arrow or bullet not penetrating all the way through but if you double lung a deer. I hear to often " I shot rite where I you are suppose to arrow stuck in the ground ect ect. If you take out both lungs that deer will not live long! Hunters not mistaking where they actually hit or simply not knowing deer anatomy is the cause of this problem more! I dont mean to sound harsh. Its just a simple fact if you take out a heat or both lungs they dont live long!

[Straight Shooter]

I can believe your statements for the most part and have heard the same stories, having long tracking jobs with no deer found. I shot a doe about 4 years ago at 17 yards, double lung and this girl went 300 yards. I cut the lungs out during skinning and looked at them just to show the guys I was hunting with, Perfect shot and she bleed all the way. the two bucks I have taken this year, noth text book shots. One went 60 yards and not blood, "double lung". The one I shot last week, shot through the heart and ran 120 yards, didn't start bleeding until the last 30 yards. So, the perfect shot theory does apply to some cases, but for the most part the perfect shot isn't the perfect shot some hunters believe they are. Buddy of mine I hunt with swore up and down that he made a text book shot on a buck two years ago. We tracked this buck for 200 yards and finally found him. The hit was right through the brisket and no vitals hit what so ever, he just bled out.

In the defense of the hunters, in the heat of the moment hunters get a tunnel vision or kind of a blindness to surroundings or anything else. Most of us call it buck fever. Release the shot, swear up and down that it was a text book hit, not having a clue to were they hit them. All of this is from a rush of adrenaline and it affects each of us differently. To be judge and jury of hunters making bad shots and when claiming they made goods is hard to hold most of them guilty.

I commited a cardinal sin for bowhunting this week in Ohio. I went brain dead on an 8 point coming in through some thick cover, I FOLLOWED HIM IN THROUGH THE PEEP AT FULL DRAW. I know better than to do that and thought I had a perfect quartering away shot clear of any obstructions. WRONG, I released the arrow and just before getting to him hit a branch, striking him in the ham. I saw the arrow hit him and knew exactly where I hit him but it was a case of stupids and blindness in the heat of the moment. I didn't recover him and feel terrible about it, he is the first buck I have ever lost and its my fault. I'm not saying that all shots are delfected but perception during the shot can be clouded so easily. Your pin might be where it's supposed to be before the shot and follow through is a must. There are so many factors that apply during a shot and the last things most hunters remember is "I had the pin where I needed it".

The 8 point I shot this week, if I hadn't of been in an area I could see along was and knew exactly where Ihit him. I would have had a heck of time finding him in thick cover because of no blood trail. I will post a picture of this deer and you can distinctly see the exit wound coming from the heart. Problem was, it was right in the elbow and as he was running kept the hole blocked off from bleeding. When his chest cavity filled with blood it was utter caios the lst 30 yards. I don't want to hear it was the boradhead because I shot a 75 grain Muzzy with a 1" cut. I have taken over 30 deer with this head and had great blood trails. I'm just trying to help out ont he perfect shot placement, make sure you pay attention to the direction the deer runs, and give your all when persuing after the shot.

I finish here in a minute. LOL One last story of perfect shot and watching the deer afte the shot. Buddy I hunt with flagged me down on the way out of the woods one evening up in Ohio a few years back. he had shot a buck and swore he watched it fall. he was so excited and totally got confused when he got down. he was telling me where he hit it, where it was standing at the shot, and it went down over there. After looking for blood and the deer for 20 minutes, I made him get back up in the stand and show me exactly where the shot took place. Amzing the difference that made, found the arrow, found blood, and found the deer 50 yards from the stand. It was thick in there and totally looks different once ont he ground. Just another case of a perfect shot.