Learned a valuable lesson this morning

[Modad2010]

The Missouri archery season opens on Sept.15, but with the heat being what it has been here in the midwest this summer I have had no desire to hunt. The heat finally broke and I went out for my first morning hunt of the year. I had a nice year and a half old doe come by at 7:30, but didn't offer a shot. Then I had a group of 11 turkeys come in about 7:45. They started moving off and I heard a young turkey that had been seperated from the group "crying" quite anxiously with no response from any members of the large group. I made a few yelps with my mouth and the poor bird started yelping back in a very excited fashion as it literally ran to the base of my tree. I then tried to draw and got busted, just as a mature hen came running and yelping in a rather scolding manner. She picked me off rather quickly and took to the air - landing in a tree some 40 or so yards away. She started yelping, then I started yelping and the young bird almost lost his mind. I gave up on the shennanigans and let them do whatever turkeys do. I then noticed that the young doe had returned.

She milled around eating acorns for about 20 minutes before offering me a 10 yard, quartering away shot. I'm shooting a Toelke Pika that is40# at my draw. My arrow was tipped with a 125gr Ace standard on a 75gr adapter. Total arrow weight comes in at about 475 gr. The shot looked and felt good, but the arrow only penetrated about 1/2 of it's 29 inch length. She took off like a scalded cat with her tail tucked down tight. I assumed I had hit the off-side shoulder and that it  had kept me from getting an exit wound. I actually thought I would see her go down, but she ran out of my view through the timber. I listened, but never heard her crash. I waited about 40 minutes and got down to look. I had no blood there so I followed the tracks she left in the dirt, leaves and rock for about 45 - 50yards and then nothing. I searched the edge of a dry creek bed and saw some disturbed rocks and dirt that I decided to check out. Within 10 feet I found a few drops of blood. The blood picked up a bit here and there and it took over 2 1/2 hrs. to track it 150 yards or so. The blood was neither bright red with bubbles nor dark like a liver hit. No real indication of contact with vitals, but I kept on it. The blood trail was getting even more sparse when it began to lightly rain. My search became a bit more stressed and then it began to pour. I had gone back to my last blood and watched as the rain washed it away. I headed back to the house and will resume my search tomorrow.

Now back to the lesson I learned. This is my 31st season of bow hunting, but only my 2nd season with a stick bow. With my wheel bows and slicktricks I never hesitated at a quartering away shot and never took one that didn't have the arrow blow through the other side ( shoulder/leg ) and stick in the ground . I don't believe I will be taking anymore quartering away shots with a stick bow. I don't know what happened, if she turned slightly and the arrow skidded down her ribcage or caught the near side shoulder or what. I know that none of blood sign showed any indication of a vital hit and I did not find the arrow to get sign from it. I will still look for her, but don't have much hope. It was a bummer end of an otherwise good morning.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Don't give up on the quartering away shot just yet! That's a very deadly angle with a trad bow. I think you probably hit exactly what you thought initially, and just had bad luck with the rain. No exit wound will mess with any blood trail, but the bones in the offside shoulder are small enough that you'll slip around them a lot of the time.

[meathead]

The United Blood Tracker’s website lists several trackers, 18 I think, in Missouri. Get a K-9 in there to work through the track. You won’t be sorry.

[Orion]

Shooting 40# out of a stick bow from a tree, I wouldn't expect many pass throughs. Nothing wrong with a quartering away shot. But, shooting accuracy isn't as precise with a stick bow as it is with a compound. As you suggest, arrow placement probably wasn't as good as you initially thought.  Stuff happens. Good luck on finding her today.

[Pointer]

Well don't be so hard on yourself..I think you probably stated what actually happened here at the end of your post...No indication that you hit the vitals. 14" of penetration will get it done...you don't need a pass thru to kill a deer. In fact less penetration than that will get the job done...if you hit the vitals. Maybe she moved a bit as you released..maybe the arrow didn't impact exactly where you thought ...then throw in the rain to wash away whatever blood and there you go.   

[varmint101]

Maybe curious how high up was the shot and how much of a quarter? If you hit low out of a tree stand I could see it miss most of the vitals for a quick kill. On hard quarters I think it takes some pep to get thru. Wondering if it could’ve been low and hit brisket. Notice hair color or anything?


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[Cyclic-Rivers]

Sorry about 5he situation you are in but all bowhunters get there sooner or later.  A quartering away shot is quite preferred and I would give them up just yet.
Get a dog to help. Good luck.

[Modad2010]

Well, I took up the search again this morning. I did my best to somewhat grid-search for about 3 1/2 hrs with nothing to show. I also backtracked from my point of last blood to where the shot hit her. The actual blood trail was about 260 yards and she had gone 70-75 yards before I picked up any blood. Looking back I realized that she went the entire distance without bedding up one time. I think that's unusual for a whitetail with any kind of hit to the vitals.


Varmint101 - The shot looked to be a bit higher than 1/3 up from the bottom of the chest and she wasn't quartered really hard.

After my search today I am really doubting that I hit any vitals. Between the blood, no bedding and the fact that she was headed up hiil for all but the first 70-75 yards, it just doesn't seem to add up to a lethal hit.


Thanks for the responses, guys.

[slatty]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, we all benefit from reading them.
From what I read of your story, that deer is dead and due to the circumstances you couldn't find it. Some scavenger will. You did your best. These things happen when you fling sharp pointy things at big game animals.
Regarding your opinion on it not bedding down as an indication of not hitting the vitals. I have VERY LIMITED experience with this. What I can share is my first traditional archery deer, 5 years ago. I hit that whitetail through both lungs with a pass through. I had the great opportunity to watch her in the open and saw her run flat, then uphill, then loop down. She took one last jump then seemed to cartwheel mid air and land flopped. Total death run was 75-100 yards at mach 5 speed.

I would be interested in a "roll call" of quartering away shots if others are ok posting them. I certainly will be taking that shot if presented that opportunity.

[JonCagle]

I have taken 2 quartering away shots on deer. The first was in open woods and I found the deer within 50 yards of the stand. The second was in a thick area and I found neither the deer or one drop of blood. Both shots were perfectly placed in my mind, mid body and into the offside shoulder. I have decided not to take such shots in thick areas anymore but have no qualms taking one in open woods

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[J. Cook]

The key to consider in my mind is - does the angle allow you to hit BOTH lungs?  If so steep of an angle that you get only 1 lung, then it is much more problematic.  The old belief that a deer cannot live after a single lung hit has been proven false SO many times. 

If a deer goes extended distances after being hit...when we say "I hit him perfectly and tracked for 1/2 a mile"... Well, no, we didn't hit it perfectly. 

Nearly all of the deer that I've tracked that I thought I hit perfectly but then ran longer, stayed alive longer, etc. showed that the hit wasn't as good as my mind's eye believed.  When you find that deer that did something different - I spend extra time while dressing them to figure what I hit ( i.e. what went wrong).

Deer are very tough, but they don't have super powers.  There are things they can do, and things they can't.  They can't run all over the farm and live for hours with BOTH lungs deflated.  They CAN do that with only 1 lung hit. 

All that to say - I believe a slight quartering away angle is a great shot opportunity, but a steep quartering away angle is a recipe for disaster.  YMMV.