Bad day

Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.

Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.

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My brother and I went on the first hunt of the year and both shot deer at very close range with our bows. But after three hours of tracking we could find either of the deer :(


There's nothing worse than wounding an animal. I shot a huge buck at about 17 yards with my bow. The shot was a little far back but still hit the lungs. I found a bloody arrow on the ground after an hour of tracking. It had pulled the arrow, which was 18 inches deep, cleanly out. I just feel terrible knowing how much pain the animal was in and all it's meat is going to go to waste. But when they run into the thorn patches there's almost no hope of finding them.

My brother hit a doe with hi crossbow directly in the shoulder from about 12 feet away and it still manage to run several hundred yards into the thorn thickets. We dint even come close to findi either.
Anyways sucky day. Two good shots and two lost deer :(
 
If the shots were good you would have two deer in the freezer. A good lung shot should have plenty of blood trail. You probably hit the buck behind the lungs, in the liver or gut. Most certainly not survivable in any event. A bit more time looking and you probably would have found it.
If the doe was hit in the shoulder, the crossbow bolt most likely got lodged in the bone and did not penetate into the vitals. That may be a survivable injury if predators don't get it first.
 
I found lung tissue on my arrow and bright red arterial blood. I think I got the very end of the pleural cavity. It should have been a fatal shot but who knows how long it lived :(

I can't understand how we didn't find my brothers though. The arrow wet through the shoulder and was sticking out about 2 inches when it ran off. We should have found it but we tried everything and there was not a drop of blood.

We had 3 people looking and still had no luck.

Terrible day. I just hope both died quicky and didn't suffer :(
 
See if you can find someone that has a dog trained to find dead deer.If it is legal in your area.I would still go back in the morning to look. I have found deer 20 yards from where we lost blood the next morning.Your right there is no sicker feeling then not recovering an animal.
 
last Thursday, i had to chase a goat i'd wounded (not a great shot on my part) for about a mile before i could get another arrow into it and bring it down.
 
Same here. Had my shoulder reconstructed and after that just couldn't shoot consistently so retired the bow rather than risk a gut shot deer. KalEl, there are too many hunters who would have given up after 15 minutes of searching and gone back to their stand to continue hunting. You should be commended for doing all you could to locate the animal.
 
First I want to say I'm all for hunting, I support hunting but I have something against bow, cross bow hunting. I sincerely believe in a humane hunt. Thus using the proper tools to effectively dispatch an animal when hunting. And I find bow and arrows should not be used for this clear example of your illustration. Now you got two wasted lives and two wasted dead meat. I like to see humane shots, one shot one kill. I hate seeing hunters using bow arrows there is just too many factors that may cause failure just like in this case. But hey what do I know, bow and arrows should just be used for archery not hunting, with the technology now with rifles that could hit targets at 1,000 yards leave the bow and arrows to your grand children.
 
Glock26 said:
First I want to say I'm all for hunting, I support hunting but I have something against bow, cross bow hunting. I sincerely believe in a humane hunt. Thus using the proper tools to effectively dispatch an animal when hunting. And I find bow and arrows should not be used for this clear example of your illustration. Now you got two wasted lives and two wasted dead meat. I like to see humane shots, one shot one kill. I hate seeing hunters using bow arrows there is just too many factors that may cause failure just like in this case. But hey what do I know, bow and arrows should just be used for archery not hunting, with the technology now with rifles that could hit targets at 1,000 yards leave the bow and arrows to your grand children.
Click to expand...

i like the challenge of bowhunting. with a good rifle, just about anyone can blast away @ 300m+ and get a clean kill. with a bow, it's all about the stalk in and getting into range (preferably <20m) before letting fly.

in any case, a gut shot from a rifle is still a gut shot.
 
You made a sincere effort to recover the deer. Good. Now every significant experience should teach us something. It is your experience so you will have to decide what you learn from it. But do reflect on it. Don't let the experience also become wasted.

As a minimum, I would suggest you hunt in areas not containing extensive thorn bushes.
 
Glock26 said:
First I want to say I'm all for hunting, I support hunting but I have something against bow, cross bow hunting. I sincerely believe in a humane hunt. Thus using the proper tools to effectively dispatch an animal when hunting. And I find bow and arrows should not be used for this clear example of your illustration. Now you got two wasted lives and two wasted dead meat. I like to see humane shots, one shot one kill. I hate seeing hunters using bow arrows there is just too many factors that may cause failure just like in this case. But hey what do I know, bow and arrows should just be used for archery not hunting, with the technology now with rifles that could hit targets at 1,000 yards leave the bow and arrows to your grand children.
Click to expand...

Shooting at an animal at 1,000 yards with a rifle is rediculous. There is no sport in that. I don't have any statistics, but I would bet there are just as many, or more, animals wounded by rifles every year. Most people don't practice enough to be good shots. The biggest thrill of archery hunting is being in an animals element when they don't know you are there. You can watch them, listen to them and smell them when you are 10-30 yards away. Most rifle hunters will never get the chance to see the animals in that way, and that is something that can't be bought. Even if you don't kill anything, the season is still a success

sambo. said:
i like the challenge of bowhunting. with a good rifle, just about anyone can blast away @ 300m+ and get a clean kill. with a bow, it's all about the stalk in and getting into range (preferably <20m) before letting fly.

in any case, a gut shot from a rifle is still a gut shot.
Click to expand...

Yep... There are a lot of animals that have been shot with rifles, that don't get recovered.
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. It doesn't take a howitzer to take down an animal quickly and humanely. An animal that has been shot with an arrow, through the lungs, isn't going to last long usually. The last deer I shot only went about 10 yards and fell over.
A broadhead is a very lethal tool
 
Glock26 said:
First I want to say I'm all for hunting, I support hunting but I have something against bow, cross bow hunting. I sincerely believe in a humane hunt. Thus using the proper tools to effectively dispatch an animal when hunting. And I find bow and arrows should not be used for this clear example of your illustration. Now you got two wasted lives and two wasted dead meat. I like to see humane shots, one shot one kill. I hate seeing hunters using bow arrows there is just too many factors that may cause failure just like in this case. But hey what do I know, bow and arrows should just be used for archery not hunting, with the technology now with rifles that could hit targets at 1,000 yards leave the bow and arrows to your grand children.
Click to expand...

your joking right? a properly placed arrow can dispatch about anything very quickly, what scares me is a nut that has no clue about archery and willing to take 1000 yard rifle shots...geez
anyways, KalEl, what equipment are you using? traditional?
 
Im using a compound right now but I plan on switching to a traditional now that I've gotten alot Stronger physically. I got my compound a long time ago when I was a scrawny teenager and needed the relief. I have it maxed out at 55lbs which should be plenty for deer. I like the feel of a traditional much more and I also hate using sights on a bow.

I think I am going to buy a nice recurve when I have the money.

All I know is that I am going to practice much more before hunting. I'm really busy and dont get to practice very often but I've always been somewhat of a natural with a bow so it hasn't caught up with me. I should have had a better shot at that distance. Even 3 inches could have made the difference.

What scares my is that my brother hit a deer with a CLEAN shot through the shoulder from a crossbow set at 175lbs at Almost point black range and we still couldn't find the deer.
 
lots of folks hunt with a bow, and many deer are not recovered. My Son lost one last year, and still is not happy.

My feeling is that the inefficiency of the bow was one reason guns were invented. :D

I don't bow hunt at all.
 
My feeling is that the inefficiency of the hunter, with proper shot placement and equipment set up is the reason this subject even exists, deer run away from gun shots also, problem there is if it don't fall down right away the hunter is usually to lazy to walk a few hundred yards to check, and no story to be told other than a "miss"

KalEl, practice, slow down, examine everything. good luck next time
 
If you feel that your skill with the bow is adequate, you might spend more time practicing tracking skills. Having an experienced mentor helps.
 
338375 said:
Shooting at an animal at 1,000 yards with a rifle is rediculous. There is no sport in that. I don't have any statistics, but I would bet there are just as many, or more, animals wounded by rifles every year. Most people don't practice enough to be good shots. The biggest thrill of archery hunting is being in an animals element when they don't know you are there. You can watch them, listen to them and smell them when you are 10-30 yards away. Most rifle hunters will never get the chance to see the animals in that way, and that is something that can't be bought. Even if you don't kill anything, the season is still a success



Yep... There are a lot of animals that have been shot with rifles, that don't get recovered.
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement. It doesn't take a howitzer to take down an animal quickly and humanely. An animal that has been shot with an arrow, through the lungs, isn't going to last long usually. The last deer I shot only went about 10 yards and fell over.
A broadhead is a very lethal tool
Click to expand...

preach it brother

most hunters who are worthy of their salt do their best to take the best humane shot available. i know i do.
 
Codger_64 said:
If you feel that your skill with the bow is adequate, you might spend more time practicing tracking skills. Having an experienced mentor helps.
Click to expand...

this x 100 ^ ...

OP, your first clue was good. lung tissue and bright red blood. those are good signs of a kill shot. you are off to a good start. have you tried breaking the land up in grids? search each grid, mark it off and look at another grid? sadly you will lose some. even with great shots most bucks this time of year are so doped up on testosterone that they run like the engergizer bunny. i double lunged a very nice buck a few years ago and found him 200+ yds away. he died running. no joke. go look again.

some tips. use toilet paper. mark your blood trails. toilet paper breaks down and is harmless if you were to leave it out ( i always go back and pick it up).. anyway once youare on the trail mark it with toilet paper. evenutally you will see a pattern and most times if you are good are reading you will see where he went.
 
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