Rookie experience... but couple questions now?

[bikeoutback]

So I finally got a shot at deer last night. Was sitting in my 13 foot high stand over a seep on my property, have only sat here once during bow season so far so it's a clean stand. Right around 4:30 I had 3 deer come in. I know one is a fawn, obviously small so I'm not going to take that one, other two appear similar in size and larger... not going to say they were big but in 3 years of rifle and this my first year of bow I've never shot a deer so I'll take whatever I can legally take and I can legally take a doe. They shuffled in making a good amount of noise in the leaves so I slowly stand up and clip onto the bow, adrenaline just rushing now and I'm sure every time one raises it's head it hears me or sees me. I had marked my shooting lanes so I had a good idea of distance but they scattered in between my shooting lanes and I rushed and wasn't patient enough. Trying to decide which of the two is bigger and I draw, look at one, the other, back to the first, the second.... what do I do??? The one is moving and I haven't made a decision the other is standing broadside at about 27 yards I later figure give or take. I decide to take her since the shot is there. I place the pin and shoot. I heard a thwack and all 3 run off with their tail up. I have no idea if I hit it or not I didn't see where the arrow went I just shot and tried to follow through and then watched the deer to see which way they took off.

Questions: Do I de-stand to find the arrow or leave it and keep hunting if I am sure I missed?

How long do I wait to go look for arrow or can I right away?

Once I find the arrow and confirm a miss do I get back in stand or at 4:45 am I done for the evening?

The deer ran away tails up no noise, besides the thwack I heard I'm not sure they knew where I even was still. Also what did I thwack? I got down and found my arrow easily cause it was lying on the ground on top of some taller grass completely clean. I found no blood either on the ground.

No blood = no hit right? I have no idea what the sound was I heard or why the arrow wasn't stuck in the ground, I did find it right about where the deer's rump was standing. Is it possibly I bounced it off a shoulder blade and still have no blood or hair on the broadhead? Maybe I bounced it off a tree? I also though I maybe misjudged the distance but now thinking of where I found the arrow I think I used the right pin.

I'm sorry this got so long and I'm bummed I missed but stoked I actually got a shot off with the bow. That means in 1 season of bow hunting I have more shots off with the bow than 3 previous rifle seasons. No more bow till late season now but I'll be back in the same stand Saturday for rifle opener and here's hoping I get a shot with that and I still have access to another 40 we haven't hunted at all with bow.

[tracker x-2]

From the looks of your arrow if it is spot less i would call it a miss, but still do a few circles around where you seen the deer run off just to be certain theres no blood and it is a clean miss. The thawck could have been your bow or something around you hard to tell when your in a adrenaline rush.

You alwyas learn the most from mistakes. Keep at it though!

[bigbucks]

Do you know you didn't just glance off some brush? I had a deer at 5 yards or less once & I'd shot a lot of deer with my bow already at that point. I had to aim between a bunch of sucker branches lower down on my same tree. When I shot the crack sounded exactly the way it does when you hit one good. I hadn't hit him at all, I'd just managed to drill one of those sucker branches. It worked out as about 10 minutes later I called in a different buck & drilled him at about 10 yards.

I would get down right away if I didn't know if I hit it to find out. If I knew I missed I wouldn't get down at all. Unless it was like when I missed at Ripley & I knew I had to find my arrow that night.

[DonBo]

Probably hit a branch. Definitly get back in the tree. If you are SURE of a miss, stay put.

[96trigger]

Clean miss the way it sounds. Any number of things could have happened to the arrow from the time it left the bow to where it ended up. Branches, brush, rocks, you name it can get in the way. I missed a coyote earlier in the year, It was clean miss as I shot right over its back, the arrow was sitting on top of the leaves, I would have thought it would be buried in the ground, but nope, just sitting there with a little dirt on the broad head.

Bow hunting is not easy. You probably did a lot of practice over the summer but still rushed the shot. Over time, you will gain tons of experience about deer behavior and how to actually shoot one with the bow. It took me almost 10 yrs of bow hunting to actually get good enough to kill a deer with a bow. I was completely self taught and the first 3 years, I was bow hunting with a gun hunting mentality. That didn't work very well. You will learn over time, what works and what doesn't. In the mean time, read the posts on here, ask lots of questions. There are some very knowledgeable and experienced hunters on here that are more than willing to share it with you.

[nbadger23]

I would have given the situation about 10 minutes (in order for the other deer to clear away) and gotten down to look for the arrow. If the arrow was clean, I'm getting right back up in my stand and hunting the rest of the night. There's a very good chance you would still see deer the rest of the hunt so you might as well take advantage of being there. No blood doesn't necessarily mean no hit, but if there was no evidence of any sort (i.e hair, meat, guts, etc) then it means no hit. To me it sounds like you probably hit some sort of brush or something that deflected the arrow and made it come to rest flat on the ground rather than continuing it's downward path into the ground

[MattL]

Do you practice at least a little bit with all of your gear on including gloves, facemask, and hunting jacket? Perhaps the "thwack" was the string hitting your sleeve. That may have caused the arrow to miss and/or the deer to jump the string.

[gurkster]

I agree with MattL. The twack may have been the bow string hitting your sleeve or loose hanging jacket? If that happens your arrow looses a lot of its speed and may be the reason it was found just laying on the grass?? This is only one of many scenerios, and just a guess on my part. Why - because yes I have had my bow string hit my coat before - it makes a loud twack. Learn from it and get back at it.

[bigbucks]

As opposed to when it hits your bare arm & leaves a large lump... Ooh that hurts!

[bikeoutback]

I was hitting my arm when I first started shooting this summer to the point i was using an arm guard. When I rush a shot practicing I still graze my arm. I bet I hit my coat.

I did practice with every combination of clothes I'd be wearing: Hat, winter hat, full face mask, gloves, warm gloves, layers... everything but I did change out a midlayer unexpectedly this week for a warmer and just little thicker one.

I did stop right before my shot and thought bend arm slightly, check the sight level, relax and then I immediately shot so I'm sure it was more like: bendalevelax FIRE but it ran through my mind. Arm thwack makes sense and with adrenaline and the outer coat being a knock off camo canvas type coat probably wouldn't have felt a thing.

Oh well live and learn, I'd rather one of two scenarios, clean miss or clean hit so I'm glad there isn't an injured deer running around dying somewhere out there.