wounded deer with bow

[JoshM]

I was wondering if any body wounded a deer with a bow and if they never found it but later seen the same deer while bow or rifle hunting. This happen to my uncle.

[B. Amish]

i think that if you bow hunt long enough that this will eventually happen.

it happened to me a few years ago. i hit a doe in the shoulder and i could see the arrow hanging out as she ran away. when i went to check where she ran into the woods i found my arrow on the ground and it had only gone in a few inches. i decided to track her the next morning as she ran into a small woods and i knew she probably wouldn't leave it. the next day i couldn't find any blood after where the arrow fell out but looked around the woods until i found her bed with a small amount of blood in it, i seen her a little later, i could tell it was her because of a small stain on her shoulder where the arrow had hit her, she was trotting fine through the woods, so i figured she would be alright

[JoshM]

thanks BAmish thats kind of incouraging to hear there is nothing worse than you or a hunting buddy loosing a wounded deer.I have only lost one and it made me sick .

[Perch Jerker]

Did it once to an 8pt and it made me sick . The arrow only penetrated 3-4in into the shoulder, I tracked the little amount of blood for as far as it would take me.

I literally felt sick to my stomach for 2-3 days, however I saw him later that season and he seemed no worse for the wear.

My bow was set for 51lbs and wouldn't go any higher. It was a PSE starter model I had for the previous 7yrs and worked well on 5 deer previously. I purchased a new bow that spring (1995), an XI Legend Magnum, and it has been set at 73lbs since then. It has gone through every deer since then but not my bear. On the bear I broke through the left side rib 2" behind the shoulder blade (hit both lungs & heart) and was stopped on the inside right side shoulder blade. As soon as he lunged forward, his left shoulder snapped the 6" of arrow sticking out. To be fair he was quite large at 424lb dressed.

I'm a firm beliver of heavy poundage bows.

PJ

[Browning83]

I've never personally done that but in WI where we rifle hunt a nice 13 pointer got up on our drive and my cousin and I both shot it. When looking at the deer my cousin bulled out a broadhead and about 4 inches of an arrow out of his shoulder(kind of felt bad for the archer....missed a dandy). It might have been adrenaline(spelling) but that deer looked fine running. You might see it again.

[Ole1855]

A friend of mine's son used to be a butcher for one of the local butcher shops, they would cut up hundreds of deer during and after firearms season. He showed me several broadheads they pulled out of deer that had been taken during firearms season, several were buried into the spinal area but most were in the front shoulders.

[bigbucks]

I know of at least two deer that were hit with a bow that lived. One in the shoulder area, another in a hind leg, both survived to be seen again. The shoulder deer was a doe taken by bow the following season. The rear leg deer was a fawn shot later during the firearm season. Both of those deer had been seen other times, between their initial injuries & when they were shot again, both limped, but seemed to function fine. It's very depressing when you make a bad hit & can't recover a deer.

I also shot a 3 legged deer during firearm season one year that's one front leg was permanently bent up. It had obviously healed from some type of injury, no way to tell what caused that. We were not aware of a bow wounded deer in the area from that season or the previous one.

[walleye_dan]

My friends dad has a rack from a 10-pointer he shot with a rifle two years ago. He usually does an european mount to all of his bucks. When he was cutting the through the skull he hit a broadhead that was smack dab in between the antlers. The whole broadhead was in the skull and the tip was right between the two lobes of the brain. A bow hunter must have been right above him and probably had a little buck fever. He left the broad head in the antlers. It's a true one of a kind trophy, and one really tough deer.

[Stratosman]

My dad shot a huge 10 pointer about 3 years ago and when we were butchering it we found a broadhead lodged in the backbone, looked like from the year before. And I shot a doe that had a funny looking scar on its hind quarter and upon further examination it was a scar in the shape of a broad head that must have went right through the leg muscle. Now that's a bad shot! Oh yeah, one other funny story, I also shot a different doe one year that had both ears pierced from a shotgun slug, looked like the year before. Close call on that one. Man I'm glad I'm not a deer!

[mudman]

looks like more people need to practice before going out!

(not being serious.)

I have lost one yet.....knock on wood

I know plenty of people that practice all year long and can fit a group of 6 arrows in a golfball at 30 yds and they still messed up. That is why I think its the most challenging sport in terms of man vs animal.

good luck to all and keep your heads high.

no shame in missing or losing a deer, it part of hunting.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quote:

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no shame in missing or losing a deer, it part of hunting.

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Well said mudman... However I think we owe it to the animail to try our darndest to not let it happen.. the truth is.. it happens to the best.

[jerkin'm]

A few years ago I shot my biggest buck to date. (decent 10 pointer) When we boned him out there was a strange round ball of very tough tissue against the shoulder blade. I cut it out and found a perfectly preserved broadhead, not even rusty! I am guessing it has happened to others as well. Kind of cool to find and the buck was perfectly healthy.

[Iceman77]

My dad had shot a doe one evening and called me on the CB(I was in the field cultivating) and asked me to come over to his location to drag a doe out. I walked over to where he shot her and not even 30 yards away their was a nice blood trail with air bubbles in the blood. We figured she would not be more than 100 yards away.... wrong!!! We tracked a spotty blood trail after the initial signs for over 3 miles before we gave up. 2 weeks later I shot a doe and on closer inspection realized it was the one my dad shot. I looked at her lungs when cleaning her and found 2 cuts where the blades from the broadhead had clipped the top of the lungs and she had sealed up nicely.

I had also wounded a 150 class buck once when I completely misjudged the range by 5 yards and the arrow dropped just under the heart and hit the front leg as it was walking. I let the deer sit until morning and I had a good idea where he was bedding. Morning came around and I snuck into the area and glassed the edge of the slough and I saw his rack sticking up about 600 yards away. 4 hours later I snuck up to within 40 yards when a doe jumped up to my left about 20 yards away and scared the buck off. I went to his bed and found my arrow and a little blood. Over the following 2 months I saw that deer a number of times walking fine and doing things he normally did. One year later my dad shot him and we found the broadhead still in his front leg but covered and in excellent condition. After this experience I place markers(branches, sticks, stones, dirt clumps, grass clumps...etc.) around my treestand to mark known distances from my treestand. Therefore, I don't misjudge when my heart is pounding out of my chest when that buck you've been pursuing is within shooting range. I took this as one of lifes many learning lessons!!!

[norm]

This happened to my buddy just last sunday. We were sitting on the ground next to a good trail when a BIG 8 pt. walked out and my friend shot it. From what we could see it looked like a lethal hit. We tracked it for about 150 yards Sunday night and another 100 yards on Monday morning before we lost blood. We then combed through a cornfield and part of a swamp Monday afternoon and found nothing. It was real tough to officially "give up" Monday night but we figured after about 11 hours of searching we had done all we could do.

[shortfatguy]

i shot a doe last year with my bow at 30 yards. the arrow hit right behind the shoulder but to high... not high enough to hit the spine but pretty close. my arrow passed completly through. i didnt find any blood at all. we looked for about an hour that night and atleast 3 hours the next day without finding a drop. i also hunted the same area the rest of the season and rifle season and never found anything. is it possible for an arrow to pass high and go over the lungs and not hit any thing?! every other deer i have shot with my bow has bled like crazy even if they arnt hit perfectly! the only thing i can figure is she lived or else i would have seen crows and ravens.

[Iceman77]

Shortfatguy... There is an area between the top of the vitals and under the backbone that contains nothing. Therefore, when an arrow misses between the backbone and the top of the lungs the only thing that will happen is maybe a broken rib or two and some cut muscle and flesh. Deer shot this way typically fair very well... but I would imagine they probably are a little sore for awhile.