This past weekend it cooled down enough to where the deer were going to be moving. Well, any movement would be an improvement from the past few weeks of warmer windier than average Octobers.
Last night I went out for my first hunt in over a week due to (for the lack of a better word) 'crumby' weather. It was my lucky night though. Three doe that myself and another hunter have been watching throughout the summer and fall months, came walking up behind me while I was in my stand. I didn't have much time to react but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a doe. The three deer comprised of two yearling fawns and one mature doe. The mature doe was leading the way when she steped out broad side under my 20 yard marker where she stopped. Previously I didn't want to take does with fawns because it just seemed horrible to take out the mom and orphan the little ones to fend for there selves but this time the little ones looked still smaller than mom but big enough. So I let one fly and the mature doe took off running. I heard a loud 'thwack' when my Rage 2 blade hit and then I lost sight of her 20 yards later through some thicket. I watched the arrow the entire way to the target and it looked like a good hit. I was pumped. It was my first deer with my bow since before college, some 5 years ago.
The two fawns ran 20 yards and stopped. They were absolutely clueless to what had just happened. I waited for them to trot off in the direction that mom went and then I decided to get down. I got down about 10 minutes after the shot to check for blood and my arrow but couldn't find either. It was getting dark and I was running out of ideas. (Remember, this was my first deer in years.) I was rusty. I put a call in to my friend and more experienced hunter for some well needed assistance and so we both looked for about 20 minutes and found nothing. Not even a drop or some hair or even the arrow. We called off the search and decided to come back in the morning to give it a nother go in better light.
The next morning started out with grim news that my friend had been out there hunting and then searching for sign for about 2 hours before I arrived and had found nothing. Hearing this as I arrived put a big blow in my hopes of finding this deer. We searched for the arrow one last time and didn't find it. We looked for blood and were able to find two, YUP that's right TWO drops of blood on the path that she ran off on after she was hit. We were all but convinced that it wasn't a lethal hit and it was time to pack it in. Myself being the kind of person that won't give up on anything unless I for certain know that I've done all I can do, I pressed on. I had a direction of travel and two drops of blood. I had graupel falling from the sky and dwindling hopes of recovering this deer. My more experienced friend hung around for moral support but it looked like an impossible task to find this deer. As I was looking for my white fletching when I found a white deer scull in the leaves and thought it was ironic. We both joked about it and just then I looked up as if to give up the search, a brown rock caught my eye or at least it looked like a rock. Both of us looked at it intently for a second and then it was clear........... We found her! We walked up on her and the arrow was still sticking out but in the wrong place. I hit her broad side at 20 yards about 4 inches back from the shoulder but this arrow was sticking out near the guts. The arrow with the 2 blade broadhead ended up partially exiting through the second to last rib snagging some intestine. This arrow must have ricocheted in the deer in order to end up the way it did. I was shocked. I found this deer by chance becasue we just walked around in a wider area than we had previously. There wasn't any blood leading up to the area where she bedded down.
I ended up piercing one lung and liver and partially exiting through the guts. The deer layed down 200 yards from where she was hit as if it was going to sleep and stayed that way until I found her today. Pure luck. This was a first for both of us. Never had I seen a deer do this before. Absolutely PURE Luck.
She dressed out to be just over 100 pounds. Nice doe for me.
Has anyone had a broadhead do this before?
What do you think about shooting a doe with fawns? Will the fawns survive?
