accuracy question.. honesty please

[Hud]

I might have missed a couple points. After the shot, mark the spot, direction traveled, listen for sounds and wait quietly. Unless it is going to rain, wait 1 hr. follow tracks from the side and mark with surveyor orange tape, periodically.  Read some stuff on tracking. Animals react differently when hit solid, make mental notes. Use a sharp, serrated broadhead.

[danbow]

If you hit where you wanted it would'nt have mattered if it was shot from a compound, crossbow or traditional bow, you would have the same result.

[DaveT1963]

Hard to say what happened without some more details/pics.  Did the blood you found contain bubbles/froathy?  Was it light red or dark red.  Any hair found?  Did you recover the arrow?

If the deer bled heavily for 200 yards and it had bubbles in it my guess is that it is dead.  If it was realy dark red and the arrow was not full of stomach contents then my guess is a liver shot. There are just so many variables it is hard to speculate what happened.  I do appluad you for giving the 6 hour effort and for having enough respect for the animal to feel remorse and to try so hard.  I think that speaks to your character more than if you find a deer or not ..... more hunters need to have these qualities now days.  I've seen some that give up after just 30 minutes and say something like "well it was just a doe, or there are too many deer here anyways at least the coyotes will eat well tonight."

The truth is there is never a gaurantee with bow hunting and I don't care if it is traditional or wheelies - sometimes you make a bad shot, sometimes an animal moves, a limb jumps out of nowhere deflecting your shot or you make a great shot and a rib or something deflects the arrow.  After almost 4 decades of bowhunting I have seen a little of everything.  

As I see it you have a choice - learn all you can from this and then move forward with new determination and let this experience add to your hunting wisdom, or give up trad archery...... only one of these will move you towards becoming a better hunter/man - the other will just teach you to become full of despair whenever something difficult arises and to look for an easy way..... I think you know which one I personally think you should take.

I knwo the feeling, and we all should have a heavy heart when we make a hit and don't recover an animal.  But don't let that keep you down.  Feel it, become more determined for better results next time, get up and shake the dust off, and get back into the fight.

[ChuckC]

when I taught Hunters ed and bowhunter ed I discovered a couple facts.  Yes, facts.  I made a large model (2D) of a deer with velcro for the front half of the body.  I had organs (heart, lungs, liver) wth the opposing velcro glued to it.  We had the class go up and show everybody where they went, and then, where to aim.

In ALL my classes, adult, kids, everybody, NOBODY got the placement perfect, and very few got it right at all.     For "where to aim", they ALL pointed "behind the shoulder", their shoulder being the point where the front leg meets the body.

We are taught this, passed on down.  If you shoot low and a few inches behind this "shoulder" you will miss heart and lungs completely.

Few also understood the complexity of aiming at a deer that is not broadside and at the same height as the bowman.  Changing this angle ( from an elevated platform, from angling to or fro) it changes the place where you should aim.

I feel, we miss, mostly because we fail to pick a spot. Lots of pressure at shoot time and this happens a lot.

I also feel that many of us need to spend just a bit of time reviewing anatomy of the critters we hunt.  Terry has a thread going near the top of the PowWow for this very topic.

If you hit where you were looking, and got decent penetration, maybe we should discuss where you were looking.

CHuckC

[medic77]

Thanks for all the words everyone.  I'm not giving up, period.  Not even an option.
I waited 2hrs before getting down and we waited 4hrs before really taking up the search with 3 of us total.  There was no bubbles or froth in the blood eliminating a lung hit to me.  The crazy thing is, this deer never bedded.  It had blood from both sides until he snapped the arrow off (10 inches of the fetching side).  Heavy bright red blood coming from what looked like the entrance side only for the remainder of 200yds.   No blood was present at shot impact which was worry some originally.

[LBR]

If you hit where you were looking, and got decent penetration, maybe we should discuss where you were looking.  

Yep--that's it IMO.  I've been excited about "perfect" shots at 3D tournaments--hit EXACTLY where I wanted--or so I thought.  I've been shooting 3-D for near 20 years, but sometimes I still don't look at the right spot.  I may hit the exact spot I'm looking at , and find out I wasn't looking at the right spot.

My bet is you didn't hit vitals.

[DaveT1963]

Originally posted by medic77:
Thanks for all the words everyone.  I'm not giving up, period.  Not even an option.
I waited 2hrs before getting down and we waited 4hrs before really taking up the search with 3 of us total.  There was no bubbles or froth in the blood eliminating a lung hit to me.  The crazy thing is, this deer never bedded.  It had blood from both sides until he snapped the arrow off (10 inches of the fetching side).  Heavy bright red blood coming from what looked like the entrance side only for the remainder of 200yds.   No blood was present at shot impact which was worry some originally.

It is not all that uncommon to not find a lot of blood at the kill site - especially if there is not an exit hole.

Glad you are staying in the game - keep at it things will get better.

[Mint]

I hit a deer a couple of years ago low like yours and had a great blood trail too. It even looked like blood was spraying but I knew better. I knew I hit him too low and the "spray" was from when the deer shook a little bit and the blood on the belly hair sprayed the blood. I just penetrated the hide but too low to hit vitals. Lost the trail too at about 250 yards. Got a nice pick of the deer about two weeks later on a tail cam in the area so I knew he was fine. I just plain hit him too low.

[damascusdave]

Is it possible that your shooting was fine and it is simply your follow up that is flawed...bowhunting requires you to be very sharp at follow up sometimes...also we have read all sorts of accounts on here of some amazing recoveries with a tracking dog...did you try to access one if they are legal to use in your state?

DDave

[damascusdave]

I missed reading your last post...sounds like the follow up was sound...in that case I am in agreement with those who speculate you hit that deer below the vitals in which case he will recover quickly and completely...sometimes what we think we see in the heat of the moment and what actually happened are two different things

DDave

[Gooserbat]

I like to practice at hay bails with no dots or anything just pick a spot on the bail because I've found a bail of hay to be like a deer or other critter and they both have a tuff, of hair or straw, or some other "spot" that will provide an aiming reference.  And for what it's worth I can shoot tighter groups on a blank bail than at spots.t

[elkken]

I shot a nice buck in the liver once and it travelled well over a mile, I tracked the distance with a Garmin GPS. Fortunately for me there was five inches of snow on the ground. After the shot I gave the animal 30 minutes and took up the trail. It never bedded not even once, there was very little blood in the beginning but after a few hundred yards it started coming out both sides and was very easy to follow. I kept thinking this deer will be dead right around the next tree ... well that didn't happen. When I finally spotted him he was just breathing his last and still trying to get up and go ...

My advice is to keep practicing the shooting style that works best for you, don't try and second guess what a deer is going to do when you release an arrow. Some times they duck and sometimes they don't, just pick the spot with the best odds of a clean kill and trust your skills.

I 3D shoot with a guy who is one of the best shots I have ever seen, but he cannot duplicate his 3D results in the hunting woods shooting at critters. If you think target panic or buck fever is your issue there are some good books on that subject. Practice breathing, be calm, don't take risky shots.

Keep at it, build your confidence and skills. Keep whacking those does and the big bucks will come.

Good luck to ya in the future

[Charlie3]

Honestly, I can go for a week of shooting without missing the 8-ring on a 3-d deer at 20 steps, But I still miss live game.

Try to hunt some small game, even trash birds like starlings or pigions...this makes you better at live targets.

Make an effort to go to a traditional 3-D shoot and see some other guys shoot.

Hang in there  

[ishoot4thrills]

Well said, Diamond Paul.

[woodchucker]

It honestly seems to me... That your shooting, is fine!!!

You just need more "experiance", that's all!

Bowhunting is a complicated endevor. There are many aspects of it, besides just "shooting". Woodsmanship,stand placement,picking a "spot"... Also, picking your shot! Sometimes knowing "when" to shoot, is more important than knowing "how" to shoot... A few years ago, My son Tyler, drew on his first deer. I watched him as my heart pounded in my ears... Then he let down.  :confused:

When I asked him why he didn't let it fly? He told me,"There was a stick in the way". I never saw it from my angle, but dang if he didn't go right down there and break it off!!!

Experiance... This isn't "Rocket Science" But, it's not easy either!!! There's no "cut & dried" every situation is differant. In the words of my good friend & fellow Tradanger, Joe Skipp... "If you wanta kill deer, ya gota put wood in the air!!!"

Keep at it, it'll happen!!! Good Luck!!!!!

[Possum Head]

I hate you lost your buck and it will take a while for the pain to ease. Dont beat yourself up as I've seen deer take a well placed broadhead into the next county and you probably made a good shot. Anyone in the bowhuntin business has missed or made a bad shot so keep practicing and do your best.

[Kopper1013]

Some day I walk around shooting dandelion heads at 20yrds then there are those days when I'm having trouble hitting a milk jug.
Some of us are pie plate shooters and others are quarter killers.....
The thing I've found is not to try outside your effective range. Know your range and stick to it no matter what walks out.
Next thing is: you can be the best target shooter in the world but it dosent mean you will be great at hitting animals. Once that heart starts pumping things happen. I don't get buck fever I get deer fever. It dosent matter what's on its head my heart starts pounding and I get the fever. Normally my first shot of the season isn't great, but after that I can calm myself the next time.
Bottom line, your in good company, we miss sometimes and worse some times we loss injured game. We can only try harder to right our mistakes next time. So get back in that tree and punch a tag.

[Lee Waltman]

If anyone tells you they never lost a deer they either just started hunting or not telling the truth.It can be very tough to pick a spot when a nice buck walks up.Shorten up your shots,pick a spot and get back on the horse.Remember a long wait makes for a short track and the opposite holds true as well.

[BRITTMAN]

Ive lost deer with a rifle , shootgun , black powder , compound , but not with a stickbow yet but I have shot over a fews back . It made me sick every time and I still think about each one from time to time . My point being im not a sorry shot but ive hunted alot and had many diffrent shot situatons over the years . Some I shouldnt have taken and some were just like yours , I learned from each . I think you will find this buck if you can get some help . Dont give up hope yet ,
Mike

[drewsbow]

I am ok accuracy wise but for me it came down to not forcing a shot that didn't exist ,now I am picky about my shots and only take high % shots if I can . Time will help you learn what shots to take