Problems with harvesting my longbow hunts

[Friend]

Don't know other than it is highly common to sincerely believe that the mark was in a certain place and later proved otherwise.

Would venture to believe that those that have hunted hard have recovered an animal where the mark was significantly different than where they had perceived.

[Huntingnut]

Originally posted by Stickbow:
Somethin aint right here.............

That's what I thought. Careful guys...

[overbo]

1ST, you harvest crops and kill deer!

 I'm leaning towards my fellow archer from France w/ this one.

[Bill Carlsen]

Unless you are just stirring the pot,  I will just say that you need to learn what a sharp broad head is and then learn how to get them that way. Hunting with broad heads out of the box is poor. You also need to shoot them to be sure that they shoot well out of your bow and then sharpen them. Yea….something seems "off" here.

[Michael Arnette]

I'm with Chuck, I think you need a mentor. I've never had a lung shot deer go more than 200 yards. I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who has. If you can't find blood just grid search the area.
Sometimes there isn't enough blood trail to follow, a few things you can do that may help:

1: go up #5-10 lbs in draw weight if you can shoot it accurately
2: if you can go up in draw weight, use an efficient 3 blade broadhead. You are looking for a 3:1 length/width ratio
3: Sharpen your broadheads!!!! Never trust the sharp out of the box
4: wait after the shot at least 90 minutes.

Next time you shoot a deer, sneak out and post on Tradgang with a description of your shot. We will help you find it:)

[troutbum1]

How come we have not heard back from the OP yet. His set up is good, But I'm with the other forum member. You kill deer, you harvest turn ups. I just can't see how he lost Three deer,Maybe you should learn how to track a wounded deer first before you kill one.

[tracker12]

Looks like everything is accurate except your shot placement.  If you shoot tree deer with good lung shots you would have harvested these deer.  Looking at your equipment the only thing needed is a little more practice at shooting under the pressure of hunting.

[Mike Gerardi]

BS

[Joe Destro]

Thanks everyone for your comments.  One thing I learned is that broadheads are not sharp  out of the package.  But like the one guy said, a field point at that distance should drop a deer, right?

So lets say the broadheads, although I now understand I need to sharpen them, were sharp enough, is it common for a 43# bow at 25 feet to not completely go through the deer?  I have never had that happen.

I've read to wait about 15/20 minutes to let the deer settle down and die before tracking it and I have done that.

What is a common distance they will go before dieing?

I guess I just wanted to make sure a 43 # bow and 125 gr broad heads were appropriate.

I guess i need to learn to track better with no blood trail.

Would I have better luck with heavier broad heads (i.e., 165 g)?

[Joe Destro]

Thanks again for the help.  As far as people thinking I am trolling, when I get into something, I do a lot of research.  I'm sorry if I decided to go full bore into traditional archery in the first year I took it up.  Yes, I thought it would be cool if I built my own arrows, so I learned about it in the off season and bought a feather jig.  In buying a jig, I had to learn about feathers, left hand right hand...


Sorry I used a term like "harvesting" as to distinguish between just killing a deer, and actually getting it.

Just wanted some help.  I'm sorry there are people like this on here

[CDorton]

Forgive me if this seems a bit blunt, but at less than 10 yards the type or weight of the broadheads you are using don't make a bit of difference. 43 pounds is plenty to get the job done at that range. Most importantly, if the shots were in fact placed properly, there is no excuse for not recovering the deer. A good shot to the lungs or heart should produce a dead deer within a maximum of 200 yards if the deer is left undisturbed for 30 minutes after the shot. Even with no blood at all you should be able to easily find the deer within an hour or two at most.

[KSdan]

Joe- if your questions are for real. . . Seriously- a deer shot in the lungs with a truly sharp head: 1) feels virtually nothing. Many times- with a quiet bow- they will barely run or even just jump a few bounds dying within sight.  2)  A lung shot deer - is dead within SECONDS!  A 50-100yd tracking job took the deer under 10 seconds!

You really need a mentor or at least attend a Bow Hunter Ed course.  Something is not right with the experience you are describing. . .  

Dan in KS

[Bill Carlsen]

Living in  MIchigan I bet there are any number of guys from this site that would be willing to spend some time with you to get this figured out. You came to a good place with your questions and concerns. There is nothing wrong with your going full bore into this trad bowhunting thing and you seem to have the hard part figured out…getting into bow range of deer. My guess is that you simply need someone to take you step by step regarding gear set up and broad head sharpening. Your tackle seems adequate…my wife shoots 44# and does well but if her arrows don't pass my sharpness test they get resharpened. Her longest trailing job was about 80 yards. I once shot a moose that only took 3 steps  before going down. Sharp broad heads, really sharp ones, are lethal beyond belief, at times.  After doing this for 60 years I am still amazed at how deadly they can be. Keep at it but please get some personal assistance before you wound any more animals.

[Brad Arnett]

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
Living in  MIchigan I bet there are any number of guys from this site that would be willing to spend some time with you to get this figured out. You came to a good place with your questions and concerns. There is nothing wrong with your going full bore into this trad bowhunting thing and you seem to have the hard part figured out…getting into bow range of deer. My guess is that you simply need someone to take you step by step regarding gear set up and broad head sharpening. Your tackle seems adequate…my wife shoots 44# and does well but if her arrows don't pass my sharpness test they get resharpened. Her longest trailing job was about 80 yards. I once shot a moose that only took 3 steps  before going down. Sharp broad heads, really sharp ones, are lethal beyond belief, at times.  After doing this for 60 years I am still amazed at how deadly they can be. Keep at it but please get some personal assistance before you wound any more animals.

I agree I posted this a couple pages back.

Joe, you never said where you live?

[Traditional-Archer]

Joe Destro,

I have heard this before and the only advise I can give is when someone tells me they had a good lung shot on a deer and the animal did not go down within 200 yards. you did not have a good lung shot scientifically impossible. a deer cannot run without air. most of the time this happens the archer did not hit the animal where they believe they did. a heart shot deer or a double lung shot deer is dead in forty seconds, they could travel a pretty good distance in that time but non the less dead.

Re-think your shot through, where was the deer the last place you saw him/her.

What was your state of mind, did you follow you plan when the animal came in? did you remain calm?

how many animals have you shot in the past with archery tackle that you had this same thing happen?

I will tell you the equipment is most likely not the problem, you could have sharpened the broad heads to the razor sharp edge, I had a guy with me one time shooting a compound he swore up and down his arrow hit right in the boiler maker, after he shot the 3d target we had at camp he was right. his arrow would hit perfect with field points on every time. Then we put the Broad heads to the test, his arrow hit close to to the same spot but his arrow was not flying true it was flying knock high, therefore hitting the animal with the arrow fly sideways getting no penetration and the arrow was not even close to vitals if you would calculate the exit.

[Mike Vines]

Where in Michigan do you live?  I'm in the South East part of the lower.  If you are wanting some help (sharpening, shooting, tuning, hunting, tracking) Please let me know.  If you are truly serious about getting better, I recommend you find someone to help you out.

If you prefer, email Me at [email protected]

[ChuckC]

Take them up on it Joe.  It will help you get better fast, give you some new friends and open opportunities for you. Plus it will help you realize that dream of harvesting / killing (what.ever!) your first bow deer.

No sense struggling when folks will gladly help you.  We have all been new to this sport and needing to learn, just some of us were new back in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Do it...
ChuckC

[SELFBOW19953]

By chance are the deer ducking your arrow.  It happens so quickly that it's hard to see, especially if you've never seen it.  You swear you made a good shot and find out you hit where the deer was, right over it's back, or high above the lungs.

[troutbum1]

Joe, don't take offence about killing and harvesting. Harvesting is just a word to please anti hunting groups,They hate the word kill. But in reality: that's what we do. You are getting a lot of great advise from the forum members, Thers probably a millineum of years of experience here. We all started archery as newbees, and we are all still learning, Hell I'm 65 and forget a lot of things sometimes. But I remember things when i see them on the forums. That's why I enjoy reading other forum members. Good luck.

[Cory Mattson]

They were not lung hits - might have looked that way but they were not.
I suspect the broadheads were not sharp either - not finding blood is just about impossible if you are using sharp broadheads.
"all within 25 feet" is probably too close - that is 3 deer all around 8 to 9 yards - depending on the height of your stand deer that close invite one lung or side shoulder hits.

Start by reading books - these are a much better source to learn the fundamentals.

your tackle is very light - unless your hits are perfect - which is a broadside or slightly quartering away 10 yards minimum and 20 yards maximum with your feet no higher than 12 feet - at least for now.

You hit a deer in both lungs you won't need a blood trail cause you will hear it crash.

We use simmons sharks and almost always see or hear the deer fall.