A Little Advice!

[Geno C]

Its sad to see so many lost deer threads considering it is the first weekend of bow. It is a reality that these things do happen however there are tactics a hunter can do to limit this.

I think the biggest thing here, is the deer are not given the time to expire (bleed out). Seems like some are quick to peruse the deer and that only leads to the deer running off and being pushed around. your margin for loss becomes greater when those deer are not given enough time. If the shot is that questionable or one does not see the deer go down in a site then it should be left alone. for more then "30 minutes".

i know i am not the only one that has been seeing these lost deer threads.

its simply crazy... theres more non recover stories right now then deer recovered...

[steve863]

I know that there are a lot of young hunters on this board so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes you live and learn, but since they ARE bowhunting they really need to discipline themselves more.  Putting an arrow thru a deer is not like putting a bullet thru it although deer can get away with either.  Generally the deer just won't drop as quickly in bowhunting.  I keep saying that being a great bow shot on targets means JACK in the field.  There is more to being a good bowhunter than shooting ability, that's for sure.

 

[First-light]

Hit a big body deer in the liver at 20 yards. He didn't run but just walked away. I found the arrow covered in deep dark red blood. I walked past this deer 3 times (spotty blood trail) before it bolted across a field. I went back to camp and gave it 4 hours. Came back out with some help and looked for another 2.5 hours. The only reason we found this deer was the noise the crows were making pecking at its wound. We went over to see what they were doing and we found the deer. True story, so in despair look to the skies for crows!

[Geno C]

Hit a big body deer in the liver at 20 yards. He didn't run but just walked away. I found the arrow covered in deep dark red blood. I walked past this deer 3 times (spotty blood trail) before it bolted across a field. I went back to camp and gave it 4 hours. Came back out with some help and looked for another 2.5 hours. The only reason we found this deer was the noise the crows were making pecking at its wound. We went over to see what they were doing and we found the deer. True story, so in despair look to the skies for crows!

i have found others wounded deer that way, it works...

[Geno C]

I know that there are a lot of young hunters on this board so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes you live and learn, but since they ARE bowhunting they really need to discipline themselves more.  Putting an arrow thru a deer is not like putting a bullet thru it although deer can get away with either.  Generally the deer just won't drop as quickly in bowhunting.  I keep saying that being a great bow shot on targets means JACK in the field.  There is more to being a good bowhunter than shooting ability, that's for sure.

that is the truth...

[growalot]

I always know whose gotten a deer ...the crows never lie...

It's the lost deer threads that keep Mr. B from ever picking up a bow

[CNYlungbuster]

Well since thier are not enough success stories I'll share one that happend on my farm this past weekend.  A friend of mine that I have been hunting with since the begining of our hunting carrers recently started bowhunting.  He text me sunday night and said I need help tracking a deer. I was pumped for him it was his first deer with a bow and his first buck ever. So I replied with a laundry list of questions lol, where are you? Where did you hit it? Did the deer run or walk away? Which direction was he headed? ...etc. After I grilled him like a FBI agent I determined that it was most likely a gut shot and to wait it out and told him to sneak out of the woods as quitely as possible and that we would go back in 4 hours.  So the hunt was on starting at 10:00 pm we looked for about an hour, had very little blood with only a pin prick every 30 yards.  After going about 100 yards I called the search for the night and decided to take it back up in the morn.  After looking for awhile the next morning we called it and took a break to eat lunch.  He had to run into work quick and do a few things & pick up his dad.  So once he got back with his dad the both of them went out and found it within 10 minutes not 20 yards from where we lost blood the last time.  The goldenrod was just so thick that we couldn't see him I walked right past him at least two times. 

So the morale of the story is take your time and if you lost the blood go back to the last spot and start doing circles getting a little bit bigger every time. 

Good Luck

CNY

[Geno C]

nice! congrats! always exciting to share a first deer with a friend

[First-light]

Excellent advice about going back and doing circles. Never forget this when all else fails, Way to go!

[CNYlungbuster]

Thats what I love about hunting its the "work" after the shot and spending it with friends and family

[Nomad]

I'm with you. I'm also not sure I'd be posting my lost deer ,bad shot story for the world to see. If you need answers to how to look for, track it  etc. well google it or PM somebody who seems like they know what they are doing.

Myself, I have not had to track a bow shot deer in many years . Cut on contact broadside and most don't even run more then a few steps,stop and look around...... fall over, job over.

If every deer you shoot runs like it was kicked in the a$$ maybe you should switch.

Practice with your broadheads, from a treestand and wait for a good shot when hunting. Every time you are walking,at work in a parking lot etc. guess yardage to a car, door,hallway whatever do this untill your always within a yard or two of your guess.

Shooting at an alert deer is risky and leads to many a "bad" shot.

[Geno C]

yeah, like one has mentioned tho i gues you never know the real situation. only the shooter does... but  you never know who didnt practice prior to the season, who changed what on there bow and never shot it after until they were in the stand, who got out to chase a deer to quick, who shot at an alert deer or took a low percentage shot. i guess you never know. but these ar all things a hunter should take into account for as well. i think a some of the biggest problems are mis judge in yardage (wrong pin), crappy shot placement, taking low percentage shots, not giving the deer enough time to expire. all variables that can add up to a lost deer.

[biggamefish]

  The first deer I shot I got down put my treestand together (climber) stuffed it in some brush and started trailing.  Good blood at first then it started to peter out and I was getting tiny little pin pricks I went and went nothing.  I was getting pretty discouraged when the blood just stopped.  Now what I started doing circles they ended up with nothing.  So I did zag zags getting longer zigs and zags as I got farther out.  After about 2 to 3 hundred feet there he was dead. 

  Looking back at it it was a high shot with a decent placment one lung no exit wound.  I pushed the deer all that way by not waiting 20-30 minutes.  I learned to wait after that one. 

[Cabin Fever]

I thought I'd share something that has happened to me a couple of times. Thought it might be worth mentioning, maybe it will help someone out when they at wits end on a blood trail.

While blood trailing a couple times, I've gotton so focused when the trail is obvious that I neglected to notice when the deer has backtracked, for whatever reason, and has veered off the origional path. Sometimes a good blood trail seems to come to an abrupt stop and you're left scratching your head (and panicing), because you can't find anymore blood. I've then backtracked the blood trail and watched along the sides and found where the deer must have turned around, followed the same path, then veered off the origional path in another direction.

Just a little tip to keep in mind...

[biggamefish]

Cabin great advice

  To add to cabin's note they will side jump if they are being pushed.  Up to 6-10 feet off the trail.  I have had the trail just end and then you pick up the trail ten feet to the left or right.  I have seen it in the snow when tracking is real easy.

  Also if the trail just ends I have found that the deer will run another 100 or so yards then fall over with no apperent blood trail.  If you use two stick with ribbon on them you can tell the general direction that the deer was headed and walk out look back line up the two sticks and then do you grind out farther.