Lost

[newfish]

Ok I need to vent a little and find out what others here would do. I was out hunting last night when early on in my hunt a few deer came out. A good size 8 came out but not what I was looking for so I let him and few other does walk. I went through the motions in my head of what I was do if I was going to take a the shot. The draw back, grip on my bow I simulated the breathing and when I would shoot. Practiced the whole nine yards of what I would have done.

So towards the end of the evening (right at dusk) I hear a commotion behind me and turn around to see a 10 (could have been a big 8) and a spike walking into the field I was hunting. I glassed them and the 10 pt was one I wanted to shoot. Quick shot some ranges and he was either going to be 25 to 30 yards away when he got to the field. I had my site set at 30 and thought I would rather it go a little high than have it sail under him and miss. He walks out on the to the field and stops to eat. As he was walking out when his head went behind a tree and me I drew back. I took careful aim and aimed for the center of his chest. It felt like a really good release, my breathing all that was timed right.

Smack, it hit him a little high and back in the chest. Where I hit him if I didn't get his lungs I know I got him in the liver for sure. I saw him bolt and go crashing through the woods. When he got into the woods i lost sight of him. Right after the shot I replayed the shot in my head where I hit him and where he went. I wanted to let the rush pass but also start thinking on how I was going to track him.

After I stopped shaking from the rush (about 35 min), I climbed down out of my stand. I waited another 20 min before I walked over to where I last saw him. I had my father come out and help me look for him. We found a nice blood trail right away but it slowed and then stopped. We didn't push to hard that night and decided to resume in the morning. The bleeding had stopped on him. A great blood trail early on and then it dwindled down to nothing. My arrow was broken off and it was over half way in him. We looked through the woods without any other sign. we tried to guess where he could have gone but no such luck. I am sick to my stomach that I lost him.

We ended up searching about a total of 5 hours between the two nights. I felt my shot was good, yeah in a perfect world I could have ranged him exactly and then dialed in my sight to that yardage but it all happened really fast. I felt keeping my sight at 30yds was going to get me the best option to hit him in case he wondered out to 30 yards when he hit the field. I didn't have a lot of time to range, set my site and then take aim one he got to the field.

Please don't tell me I am the only one that has had this happen to bowhunting? What have others done to get over losing a nice deer? What makes me sick is this would have been the biggest buck I would have ever gotten.

Thoughts and advice?

[Wensel]

Wow, sad story, I've been there. The big question is; did he die? I shot and lost the biggest buck of my life. Shot him in late November found him April the following year.

So if you think you killed him, keep looking, if not pull up the boots and get back at it.

Good luck let us know what you find out.

[goblueM]

It's happened to everybody. Just my 2 cents, I wouldnt call it lost after only 5 hours of searching. Get back out there!

[sticknstring]

Always better to aim a little low than high on a whitetail. Keep searching until you run out of places to look. I hope you find him!

[LOTWSvirgin]

Just cause you lost the blood dont mean you cant still follow him try to see if you can see his tracks and follow them not the easiest thing to do but it does work or get some more buddies out there and do a big search walk it one way then walk it a differnt way kind of like a checker board

[Bear55]

The best advice I can give you is to learn from your mistakes and move on. Here are some lessons you might take away from the lost deer.

First don't give up looking, you still might be able to find him If he was hit in the liver they sometimes go to the nearest water so check that out.

You also learned how important it is to know your yardages, you kind of did everything right but close doesn't alwasy cut it when you use archery equipment, you need to be dead on.

Was the deer walking when you shot? If he was you sometimes have to lead them a little, that might explain why the hit was back. This might not be the case here but keep note of this for the fuyure.

Finally learn to take your time and be patient when aiming/shooting. I am just as guilty as the next guy, as hunters we often rush shots on nice bucks and it can cost us. We feel they have to get a shot off asap or he will bolt. This can be true some of the time but taking that extra time to settle your pins, waiting for the right time to draw, or waiting for him to clear a tree/brush is essential to making a good shot. Add a little buck fever to a rushed shot and it can be a recipe for disaster. Learning when to shoot asap and when to wait isn't something you just know how to do, it comes from years of messing up and learning from your mistakes.

[Getanet]

My first thought was I'd feel sick over losing any deer I'd hit, not just a nice buck. I'm sure that wasn't what you were trying to say so I'll get off my soapbox about that.

As for tracking a wounded deer - I was either reading here or another forum about this last year. The discussion turned to those blood tracking flash lights - and the consensus seemed to be they don't work well. Then someone mentioned keeping a small spray bottle and some hydrogen peroxide in your pack. While I haven't tried it, it seemed to make sense and only costs a few bucks. Particularly in a case like yours with a strong blood trail at one point and you know the direction the deer was heading.

I'm guessing it only works with relatively fresh blood, so that doesn't help now, but perhaps in the future. The peroxide would fizz if it contacted blood.

Good luck if you give the search another try.

[Scoot]

Always better to aim a little low than high on a whitetail.

Absolutely! Much better off low than high. Also, deer "duck the string" they don't actually "jump the string" (at least initially), so if a deer moves it's most likely to be down. This means a shot that was going to be high gets even higher when the deer drops down. Related to this, many people aim too far back on deer- in the "pocket". The "pocket" actually puts you in the middle-back portion of the lungs on a broadside deer, which doesn't leave much room for error if you miss further back than you aimed. If you aim straight up from the middle of where the leg meets the torso you're in a place that allows for more room for error. This is a topic that gets many up in arms, but if you study the actual bone structure of a whitetail there's little room for debate.

Not sure if any of this applies to you and your shot, but it's common and very well may...

[slimngrizzly]

Bumber man! I feel for ya! Dont give up yet. Keep an eye out for the crows and look near the water! I hope you find him!

[bikeoutback]

Like the opinions in this thread and support. Tired of reading the [PoorWordUsage] that should have taken a better shot.... bad shot and lost deer happens to everyone at some point and if not you then your lucky. I'd say keep trying to find it, even if the meat is bad at this point I'd still want to tag it and get the rack but that's me personally. If you think it's lost still plenty of season.

[Meat-Run]

One question that came to mind right away was how far is water from where you shot him? Liver shots usually result in deer wanting water so I would check that first if you haven't already. I had the exact same scenario last year but furtunelty he don't go as far as I thought but found in within inches of water so I would check again if I was you.

Good Luck,

mr

[newfish]

when we looked for it we covered a lot of ground in that time. When we lost the blood trail i tried to think like I was him. where would I want to go. My first thought is cover, I first checked places to eliminate where by some outside chance he could be. Then back tracked and then walked into heavy cover. The person with me walked parallel from me. It gets thick back in the woods we hunt so we took our time. nothing. I then back tracked up through a different part. I went through bedding areas some really thick cover. I walked down by a river but didn't see anything. We even checked in areas that were not likely but just to cover the bases.

I was thinking that he is hurt so he going to get to where he feels safe without pressure and hunker down. We didn't push him during the night and resumed searching in the morning where we covered the most ground. I had to stop looking because I had other things I to take care of today. I hunt about 2 hours away from where I live. I felt like we covered where he could have went. So we either walked right by him or he went someplace completely unexpectedly different.

It still just bothers me as to where he went to. If I do find him a week or more from now I will still tag him and be proud that we found him. I am just frustrated with myself. I just hate it when I lose a deer. Thanks for all the tips and info. If I find him, I will update it here.

[bigbucks]

If you said I missed it. How far did he go before the blood ran out? Did he ever bed down? Seem like you said the arrow broke off in him, doesn't sound like a liver hit to me, sounds like front shoulders. If he didn't bed for several hundred yards I'd say it's likely he's going to be fine. I assume he'll have a limp, but will recover.

[Archerysniper]

This product has worked for me in the past,makes even the smallest drops or splatter glow.

Tink' s Starlight Bloodhound¨ is a blood trailing aid to help find a lost blood trail in the dark. Starlight Bloodhound¨ makes the blood glow in the dark for easy visibility and trailing. 8 ounce spray bottle.

[mabr]

I wish I could make you feel better but none of us can. Weve all been there if you've bow hunted long enough, learn from it and move on. I still have gut wrenching feelings on a 3 year quest that I know I killed and never found.

I still say this state needs to allow tracking dogs. But thats whole nuther thread.

[Archerysniper]

I still say this state needs to allow tracking dogs. But thats whole nuther thread.

I agree 100%, I know people that went back the next day to grouse or pheasant hunt and were able to recover the deer.

[Stcloudangler]

I still say this state needs to allow tracking dogs. But thats whole nuther thread.

Ahem... Good luck on finding your deer.

[TylerS]

[tunrevir]

Bummer on the followup, I too have lost deer after great sign from a variety of mistakes. Give them time(which you did!) Get a buddy to help(which you did!) Go back and look some more(which you did!) Don't give up on the deer and keep at it. One thing I like to do is take TP and mark the blood trail with little pieces of it as I am tracking. When you look back at the trail it gives you a general direction of travel to continue on your search. Blood illumination products are nice as well as peroxide if you have fresher blood but once it is dry they tend to lose the ability to assist you. Look at the blood sign and the arrow. Was it frothy? Was there alot of hair and tallow on the arrow or was it covered in blood? Did it smell bad or have dark blood on it or stomach matter? All these things can give you clues as to the hit you made. If you found half the arrow it could be the rest lodged in the offside shoulderblade. Was there blood on both sides of the trail as you followed it? Did it splatter off to the both sides or just drip to the ground on one side? Is there a heavily used trail in the area? What way was the wind blowing and which way did it head after the shot? How far did it travel untill you lost the blood? What did the sign look like as it ran out? A clot, a spatter or a few drips? All kinds of clues to put together to assist you in finding the deer. Someone mentioned water. Is there a bedding area nearby? Go over every detail you can think of and walk your way through all of the possible scenarios. If it was a fatal shot chances are the deer will be within 100-200 yards of where the blood ran out if it wasn't pressured. Hope it works out for you, there is always the chance he lived to shoot another day. The buck I shot last year had 8 inches of a carbon shaft and a rage 2 blade stuck in along his spine but made it through untill last year when I shot him. Don't lose hope or get discouraged if you hunt long enough, it will happen to you or someone you know at some point. Again good luck in the search let us know how things turn out for you.

Tunrevir~

[96trigger]

I don't know if this an option or not, but more than once I have had deer double back on me after they shot. You keep following the path you think they should be on and look for blood, when they turn and go in a completely opposite direction. I once shot a deer and had it run 100 yards away, and then turn and run back to 50 yards of where I shot him, had I followed where I thought he went, I would have never found him. Instead, I got on my hands and knees and looked for any spec of blood to try and tell me which way he went. Even though the good blood trail stopped, more than likely there is still some blood out there somewhere to help you, but you really have to look and even think outside of the box. Its tough, I know, I've been there. The broadside shot, where you say you hit him, and the broken arrow make me think the arrow hit the opposite shoulder blade, the good blood on a high shot makes me think lungs or liver. I really think he is worth going back out and giving it one more try. Take someone that is patient and positive with you. Often, I second guess myself, and the other person keeps me sane and keeps me on the trail.

[dogs]

Keep an eye out for crows and eagles.

[#fishhunt#]

Since you were is a tree stand you have to remember your arrow is more than likely going to be hitting higher than you are aiming depending how high up in a tree you are. My bow shoots 2 inches high at 20 yards 15-17 feet up in a tree. If the deer was at 25 yards and you were in a tree and you used your 30 yard pin you probably hit higher than you think.

[Crappie Rage]

I was thinking on the line of huntfish. It sounds alot like a muscle hit. Alot of blood early then tapers off to nothing. If you hit above the backbone but really close to it, you could get that kind of penetration yet have nothing but a muscle hit.

[newfish]

THEY FOUND HIM!!!! My nephew and dad were out bird hunting and looking for that deer too and 40 yards in the woods they saw some hawks fly away. They went to look and there he was. We can't use any of the meat but at least he wasn't a total lost. yes, I would have like to recovered him for the meat too, but we just weren't able to do so. They said there was a about a half dollar size hole in the liver area where I thought I had hit him. I was shooting slick trick mag broadheads with a carbon arrow.

He isn't going to set any records except for me, never have I gotten a buck like this ever and I have been hunting since I was about 14 years old.

Thanks for all support and advice. Good luck to everyone.

[Shu]

Congrats, I bet that is a huge relief for you