What did I do wrong?

[pikehunter]

I’m hoping you all can all help me pick apart my opening morning situation to help a relative rookie bowhunter. I picked up the sport last fall and this past weekend pulled the trigger release for the first time. I hit it, but didn’t find it, and I’m having a hard time kicking a case of the woulda-shouldas. I’m probably opening myself up to an entire line of criticism, but that's ok. I’ve got a couple hunches as to how I should have done things differently, but would appreciate a few veteran viewpoints.

Here’s the story:

I had a two nice does step into a clearing just under 20 yards away from my ground blind. I came to full draw on the larger of the two, only to find some twiggy plant was covering parts of the vitals. (Probably would have been ok, but I didn’t wanna take the chance.) When I un-drew, she busted me, and ran over to an area my girlfriend had just ranged at 32 yards. I brought her to a halt with a grunt, released, heard it hit her and watched her run over a hill. I was pretty confident I put a good hit on her (despite shaking like a leaf after I pulled the trigger), but I never saw where the broadhead hit, because the sun was rising behind her, and was producing significant glare.

I made myself wait as long as I could talk myself into, and 15 minutes later decided to just take a peek at the area and see if we could find the arrow. As soon as we got out of the blind we heard something to our right, and noticed another mature doe at 15 yards. This probably cost us. She snorted, wheezed, whole nine yards. (Pretty cool to watch that close.) She didn’t give up for what seemed like five minutes, as we stood there frozen. Eventually she ran over the hill where we had last seen the doe I shot. She stopped and went through the theatrics there as well, although we could only hear her and see the steam for the snorting.

We found the arrow right where it should have been, and it had plenty of what seemed to me like lung blood on it. I was pretty pumped to have a pass-through shot. We retreated, and returned to camp probably 90 minutes after the initial shot.

We found good blood 30 yards away from the shot, and were able to track it relatively easily for the next hour, about 300 yards into a grove of trees. Once she got into the trees, it started to pump pretty good, and we were sure we were going to stumble upon her at any point. Instead, at the very end of the grove, there was a platter-sized puddle (literally, a puddle) of blood, and that was the last of it. (Of note, the doe hadn’t bedded.) We looked for three more hours, and came back in the afternoon for a couple more. Nothin.

Obviously, this is frustrating on a few counts, not the least of which is the waste aspect. Any advice you could give as to what I may have done wrong – or what I might do better if presented with the opportunity again - would be appreciated. This is stickin’ in the ol’ craw a lil bit.

Thanks!

[DonBo]

First off, let me say It's happened to all of us. Anyone here says it never happened to them, it will.

I don't believe the doe you busted 15 minutes later had anything to do with the outcome. On a good lung shot, assuming you were using good, sharp broadheads, that deer would have been dead long before that. If it truely went 300+ yards without bedding it got there long before that doe busted you.

Lots of hits will give good blood without making a killing shot. The brisket is such a spot. Lots of good blood, petering out to nothing later. The big pool you found probably only says she stood there a good long time, maybe for the first time since being hit. She may have licked herself clean and walked away without much damage. Many other meat hits will show the same type of sign.

She MAY have made a sharp turn from there and be laying dead not far away, in an area you never thought to look because she had traveled one straight direction till now. We'll probably never know for sure unless you stumble upon her at a later date.

Lessons learned? I know it's hard, but unless you see the deer drop, NEVER, NEVER leave your stand for at least half an hour after the shot. Make sure you practice often during the season and ALWAYS make sure your broadheads are scarry sharp. Get in on every blood trail you can. No way to become seriously profficient on blood trailing without doing it. Many many times I've crawled on my hands and knees from a spot of blood like you mentioned just trying to pick up a pin head size drop of blood just to tell me which direction the deer headed.

Don't get too down on yourself, next time pick a spot, try to remain calm and squeeze that release. Good luck!

[Grayfox]

If it was lung blood it would be pink with little bubbles in it. Double lung hit deer wont usually go to far but I've seen single lung hit ones go an incredible distance. Liver hit is usually thicker, darker blood. Best advise for a newbie would be to try and keep your shot distances a little shorter until you get a couple deer under your belt. They can swap ends or duck to run incredibly fast at those longer yardages when they're already on edge, like you said when she bolted when you let down. I've shot a ton of deer with the bow and regularily practice at yardages up to 60 yards and I can honestly say no more than 3 were shot over 30 yards. And the last and hardest is if you don't know for sure of the shot back out and give it plenty of time to expire. Unless you've got a storm coming I'd give it several hours. Believe me I know how hard it is to do.

I put a shot on a deer last weekend that was a little bit farther back than I'd hoped and I watched that one run 100 yards and then walk another 200 into the woods. I knew it would expire if I didn't push it,waited 3 hours and found it another 100 yards in the woods. Bedded down with his head down like it was sleeping. And then sometimes one will get away no matter what you do. Keep at it and I hope some of this rambling helps.

Rob

[spivak]

I don't think you did anything wrong. It just doesn't work that way. Experience's such as these cause us to pull back in--take the closer shot, wait for the good opening, and, most importantly, pass on a shot that might be marginal. It's inches. Inches to a good and killing hit, inches to a wounded deer, and inches to a miss. Not many of us have made the perfect killing shot every time--although some have--better people than I. There are always factors you cannot control for: an errant, unseen twig, the string catching on your clothing, the excitement of the situation, making a shot based on the desire to shoot, the tenacity and will to live of the quarry. We would like to believe we are all surgeons in the field. Delivering the perfect shot and following the heavy trail of blood to the downed deer which never really knew what hit it. It isn't that way. It's an imperfect sport where game is wounded, suffers, and is lost sometimes. We can only do so much but this we should do. Try to take ethical shots within our range. Bows are not rifles. Follow up as best we can. We will lose wounded animals. We have to accept that as part of the price of hunting and always resolve to do better.

[BuckKiller]

True but even riffle hunters lose wounded deer, it happens, nothing you can do about it. Just look the best you can and hope it turns up.

I lost my first wounded deer last year and its the worst feeling ever

[pulleye16]

I think the best thing you did was ask for advice and wanting to learn. I agree with the others that I does happen to us all and the best way to deal with it is to learn from that experience. It sounds you like you did alot of good things and tried to find it. For a pointer, one thing I do when I lose a blood trail, mark the known blood trail (last 25-50 yards) with tape or whatever on hand (every experince hunter had TP right?) so you can visualize the deers direction. Next I start making small circles around that last spot of blood and keep going around while making my circumfrance larger. Deer can often change directions on a dime so by making a circle I can cover every direction. Be sure to look under heavy pine trees and fallen brush. The worste thing you can do is have five guys randomly walking around looking for blood, moving and kicking leaves around. Become that guy /gal that everyone asks for help with when searching for fallen game...It's just as exciting as hunting!

[pikehunter]

Thanks Gents, for the advice and encouragement. To respond: It was definitely pink blood, slightly bubbled initially. As far as the length of the shot: For whatever reason, I'm more accurate at 30 than 20. Go figure. That said, I completely understand the reasoning for holding off for a slightly closer shot. Broadheads were straight out of the package, and sharp. I also should have mentioned, the first real good pool of blood was over a hill probably only 100 yards away, where it looked like she stopped to assess the situation.

Thanks again. Great advice and lessons learned.

[bottom-bouncer]

pike hunter what type of broadhead was it just curious? A lso donbo hit it on the head after a shot wait atleast 30 min an hour is better before getting out of stand or blind. Do NOT beat yourself up over it. It happens and if you play this game long enough it may happen again lets hope not.

[HooknHorns]

You might see her again, never know. I'm kinda wondering what kind of angle was she standing at? Plus I've learned sometimes when the target is on high alert everything better be perfect and closer range than normal. Thats what standards I hold me self to but letting them walk is something you have to deal with.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I too commend you for asking advice. I too think you didnt do much wrong. My only advice, this early in the season for sure, dont shoot at an already alerted deer. That arrow is not going to hit the exact spot that you are aiming. More often than not you will hit higher because the deer has started to duck for its lunge. Its not really ducking the arrow, but more loading the muscles to run.

My only other possibility I can think. Part of your heavier blood was a double back. If you still have time, I would do circles in the area again.

[Cheetah]

Don't beat yourself up too badly. This sorta thing happens in hunting.

[Scoot]

I too commend you for asking advice. I too think you didnt do much wrong. My only advice, this early in the season for sure, dont shoot at an already alerted deer.

There's no way for any of us to know, but given what you said I'm totally with DD on this one- sounds like there's a good chance you hit the deer high and through the lungs. I've seen several deer shot through BOTH lungs, but high in the lungs. They will die, but they can go a really long ways. Given that the doe became alert when you let down your draw, there's a very good chance she jumped the string some and you hit her high.

From 20 yards and in, I'll consider shooting at a somewhat alert deer. However, I'll aim very low. I try to hit them in the bottom of the heart- that's really low in the body cavity. If I hit exactly where I'm aiming, the deer'll die inside of 100 yards. If it jumps the string a fair bit, I'll hit it in the middle of both lungs- also a great result. Outside of about 20 yards, I won't shoot at an alert deer. Too many things can happen from that distance when you're dealing with an alert deer.

One last thing and a point where I'll not echo the sentiments above-- beat yourself up about this! In all honesty, I really think too many people say "Oh well, it happens..." (I'm not pointing fingers at the above posters, just making a general statement). I know it does happen and I realize the fellas above are just trying to make you feel better. I heard the same thing last year when I hit and didn't recover a deer. However, we should all feel bad when it does happen (I sure still do) and do our best to try avoid it in the future.

I realize I'm preaching to the choir here-- good for you for asking about this here and trying to learn from the experience. Good luck with your next encounter- sounds like you're on the right track and stand a very good chance to score sometime soon.

[Bear55]

I agree with Donbo, you might have caught her low in the brisket. Or maybe high above the spine, it can sometimes look like a good hit but remember the spine dips in the shoulder area and if that deer is dropping fast there is no way to tell even if you didn't have the sun in your face. If you double lunged her she would have been down right away. She might be just fine.

[fishermatt]

Blood trailing is the most important skill a bow hunter (or any big game hunter) can perfect. Where you saw that last pool of blood, that deer was probably standing there for a while before deciding which way to go. It probably doubled back on it's trail, then went a different direction off of the original trail. Circles, circles, and more circles! The absolute hardest thing for me to do in hunting is to give up on a blood trail, especially if you are confident that a killing shot was made. For me, as soon as I release the arrow, I am completely focused on that deer to see where the arrow hit and how much penetration was achieved. Every scrap of information you can gather from that moment of impact will affect your tracking. Was the deer broadside, quartering away, or quartering towards you? Knowing this plus where the deer was hit will determine where your exit wound should be, and give you a picture of what the arrow did after impact. It sounds like you made a decent shot, but need to finish the blood trailing job.

[Archerysniper]

Bear I don't know the buck in my avatar I shot with my muzzleloader last Dec and hit him through both lungs but it was the top and the back end of the lungs had spotty blood for the first 150 yards then a great trail for 100 yards and then it was down to hands and knees crawling to find him.

[mabr]

I'll suggest one thing that has helped me for seeing where Ive hit a deer as Ive gotten older and my eyes aren't what they were a short time ago.

LIGHTED KNOCKS. Even if you have excellent vision. You would be amazed at the difference in seeing where your arrow hits. Especially during low light conditions. Our bows are so fast now that any advantage i can get I'm going to take it.

[pikehunter]

To answer your questions:

* I'm shooting G5 Montecs

* She was completely boradside, looking toward me.

Awesome info guys. I'm pretty extreme when it comes to preparation, so I've done a ton of reading and watching the past two years - but I hadn't heard of the differences between shooting a deer and shooting an alert deer, and the adjustments you need to make in terms of what's a good distance. Makes a heckuva lotta sense.

Also, I argued with my younger brother (who came back to track with me), for 10 minutes about whether or not the deer would have doubled back on its own trail - so I've sent him a link to your comments. Thanks. I did back-track along the blood trail in the afternoon, looking for a place she might have veered off, but found nothing. Should have used the cicrcle approach.

[fishermatt]

The angle of the deer in relation to you when you shoot makes a huge difference of where the arrow will go and where it will exit. If the deer appears broadside but is looking at you, and if it's front feet are turned toward you even a little bit, then your arrow is going to exit further back than you expect, because it's body is curved slightly quartering towards you.

[Bear55]

Bear I don't know the buck in my avatar I shot with my muzzleloader last Dec and hit him through both lungs but it was the top and the back end of the lungs had spotty blood for the first 150 yards then a great trail for 100 yards and then it was down to hands and knees crawling to find him.

Back a little further the spine is up higher but if you hit at or around the shoulder you can see in this diagram (light blue line) that the spine dips down and there are a few bones and some meat to hit up there.

I think its this area that can often be mistaken for the void or dead zone above the lungs but below the spine. In this case it sound like an alert doe could have dropped and he hit just above the spine. I think our eye's can play tricks on us, especially when things are moving fast and we want to see nothing more than a perfect hit.

[96trigger]

I might be the only one to think this, but I think the deer is dead somewhere . You got a complete passthrough with pink, somewhat frothy blood on it. Brisket and gut shots generally have tallow and fat on them, its usually pretty noticable. I've shot deer through both lungs with a 12 gauge slug and had them run 300 yds, I've also had them drop in their tracks, every deer is different.

I echo the sentiments about shooting an alert deer. Don't do it unless its close. Learn to pass on marginal shots, and more importantly, learn to read the body language and postures of a deer. I know its hard and that you get excited, but had you not taken the marginal shot, you might have had a great shot at the doe that busted you leaving the blind. You have to remind yourself that it's early and that there will be other deer.

One thing I cannot stress enough is that very, very often, deer double back. I would be on hands and knees trying to figure out where the deer went after you found the last pool. There will be more blood somewhere, look high and look low. I spent 4 hours one morning looking for a deer that doubled back and died less than a hundred yards from where I shot it.

Also, I have shot deer and left pretty quickly, but my exit is nowhere near where the deer has went, and I know I can get out quickly, and quietly. If you cannot do that, stay in your stand. Give the deer 2-3 hours to expire, or leave under the cover of darkness and try and stay away from where the deer went.

[MNpurple]

All great advice so far and I cant add alot more for you. One thing that I cant say to be true for deer I have hit, but others swear it true, is that a wounded deer often goes to water. Any streams or ponds around you?

On another note, previous posters were spot on about shooting an alert deer. It can be tough, especially out past 30 yards. Now in no way am I saying you did this please understand that, but something to put in your pocket on future hunts. We watch TV shows where a hunter shoots a deer and then immediately goes into fist pumps, hollering at the camera man, congratulations etc. BAD idea. In my opinion, there is nothing more important before and after you pull that trigger than never letting the animal know you were there. 9 times out of 10 if an animal is shot marginally and they have no idea there is a predator (you) are there, they will run off and lay down shortly thereafter. If they know you are there,than animal is going to run as far is it can run before dying making for a very long and sometimes non existant blood trail. After you release that arrow, freeze, stay still and dont move until the animal is out of sight.

My best example of this is a doe I gut shot, I knew i gut shot her as soon as I released. She trotted off and stared, looking around, wondering what the heck just happened. She walked into the woods and kept looking for what the noise was and I stayed still. Eventually she layed down and I waited until it was at least an hour after dark before I left and when I did I took a long way around to get out, knowing if I bumped her she would be gone. I came back the next moring and she was dead in the same bed she layed in that night. I was not proud of my shot, but proud of my recovery.

I would have never found that deer had I spooked her.

Great job asking for advice, thats is the greatest thing about these forums is the ability to learn from others.

[SartellMN]

I did not see if this was public vs. private land. Don't underestimate another hunter finding the deer and walking away with it. I have seen and heard of it happening several times. Plus, if you were sitting in a stand and watched a deer fall and no one came looking for several hours, what would you do?

[Deitz Dittrich]

You said you recovered the arrow.. how did it look/smell? also echo MN's post above.. any water near by?

[Bear55]

One thing I want to add about deer jumping the string is they often duck and are angling away from the shot/noise or even the arrow if they see it coming. This might not be an issue if you are shooting from a stand and the shot is angling down but if you are at ground level this could play an important role.

This isn't a perfect photo but It kind of illustrates what I am talking about. Lets say you hit this doe a little high up and the arrow looks like its piercing the hide high in the lungs. However the angle of the doe's body, the arrow could hit the deer a little high and pass right over her spine away from the lungs and be a complete pass through. Had this doe been standing the shot is good, but her ducking and angling away puts her vitals well below the arrow.

[DonBo]

Got a chuckle out of that photo.