Recovery rate with your bow (poll, but names not public)

[moog5050]

I have had 2 deer that I hit and didn't recover (one I know I gut shot, left overnight and still bumped it next day - deer search couldn't find it either - and the other I could find literally nothing (blood, arrow, etc.) so I suppose I could have missed but my eyes and ears told me otherwise.  That would put me somewhere above the 90% mark in terms of recovery rate.

[rob-c]

In the 20 years that I have been bow hunting I have lost 1 deer, but I take high percentage shots. I can vividly remember the 4 big bucks that I did not shoot because they just would not give me a good shot  ( all were easily over 120 inches ) . The way I look at it , for me personally I would rather let them go to shoot later or some one else get s shot versus risking a bad shot and have them run off and die and never to be seen again .. 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

10 hours ago, steve863 said:

Good to see people being honest here.  I never considered myself much of a bowhunter, and killed very, very few with a bow.  One deer I did stick with a very superficial wound.  That was it for me as far as wounding.  I do not hunt with a bow anymore, nor do I miss it.  I have way more confidence with a rifle in my hands.  I'll probably get flack for this, but my opinion is that many bowhunters are not nearly as good as they think they are.  Shooting at targets is one thing (and quit honestly not very difficult), but shooting at live game is another.  Bowhunting seems to be the fad these days and everyone seems to want to bowhunt.  But I think the reality is that only a few are good enough to consistently put game down with a bow, thus you get to see and hear about a lot of unrecovered deer.   I guess some will say the same for gun hunters, but I think due to a gun being way more lethal, one has a better chance of getting away with less than ideal shooting skill.  I've seen a good many mediocre gun shooters who consistently put down deer.  If you are mediocre with a bow, that will NEVER happen.  And I would say the percentage of mediocrity is the same with bowhunters and gun hunters.  I'm sure the bowhunters will want to argue this point, but this has at least been my observation of things.

 

 

So True.  Tracking is a huge part but i believe if more guys put the effort into knowing on a high % what a deer is going to do and placing a stand accordingly to get a closer shot would up a lot of hunter success rate's.

[Buckstopshere]

This is my 47th...in NY. 'Course I have hunted other states and Ontario for whitetails. Almost always hunted Pa. since 1970. Killed a bunch with my bows. Early on, before the compound bow...it was not unusual to hear as many  stories about the one that got away...than kills. As technology has improved, along with a more serious commitment to bowhunting...the wounding rate has crashed...and I am speaking of myself and others...through their stories. With the proper mindset by the hunter...and the equipment/technology improvements...and teaching/info  that is available compared to the old days....no comparison overall, even though there are those that grab a bow, buy some arrows and heads and let them go at deer with insufficient practice...always happened. And hey, I have wounded deer that I have had to try and kill for years after...bucks and does. Good luck. An arrow though a leg is a bad shot. But chances are, it is just another injury to a deer in a lifetime of injuries. In all the time I have spent in the woods...I have only found one dead deer shot by another archer..ever....now I can not say that about shotgun and rifle. Shotgun especially. Way down with rifle.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Buckstopshere

[biggamefish]

I started with a compound Martin tiger. I practiced and practiced but was nevery consistent with it. (I was young) I hit and lost a decent buck with it and put the bow down.  About 3 years later I picked up a sovereign mace recurve and fell in love with the simplicity of it and I was confident with it. I shot my first deer (recovered) with it. That was it I never turned back. That being said I have been hunting with a bow for 18 years and been successful pretty much every year.  I have lost 3 deer that I know were mortally wounded (gut shot etc.) It happens the thing is you have to step back and learn from it.

[Buckstopshere]

But in the question on the poll...do you want the answer for my entire career or lately...and where is the cutoff ? Since I have been shooting a compound (Xi's and Bowtechs) ...since 1996. It is about 98% kill and recover. But back with the long bow (#70 Howard Hill bamboo long bow) about 1980 to 1996, about 75%. Back in the real old days of the recurve, 1970 to 1980, ...#50 Bear super mag. and #60  Browning recurve ...probably 60%. So what do I put in the poll?

Edited October 5, 2017 by Buckstopshere

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

25 years or so ago while learning to hunt and also to bow hunt I wounded a lot of deer, I also learned tons about deer and recovery, knowing where the deer is hit and knowing what and how long to let them be is crucial in a successful recovery, That said Its very rare I will wound a deer and I don't take risky shots anymore or ones I know won't have a success rate I can live with..

[Steve D]

21 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

Haha I'm prolly even worse at math but nah not that many. I've whacked around 100. Exact number unknown. Let's just say 100 for easy math, I guess that would put me around 95% recovery then

100 in 15 years...that is quite a accomplishment. I don't get that many tags for gun & bow seasons combined.

[Adkhunter1590]

100 in 15 years...that is quite a accomplishment. I don't get that many tags for gun & bow seasons combined.

It's a whole lot of does. I took part in a bunch of doe management hunts when I lived out west. Whacked and stacked them like cord wood.

[richgeo58]

I used to have deer run a long time losing many in swamps n thickets....untill switching to the rage broadheads..... the deer don't run more than 20yards before they drop I use compound bow haven't lost a deer in years

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[518BowSlayer]

Haven't lost one yet (knock on wood). Completely missed one 3 years ago, shot right under her and have missed 3 turkeys with the bow. Keep in mind I've also never even attempted to shoot one over 20 yards because that's as far as I can practice in my backyard

Sent from my SM-J327T using Tapatalk

[Doc]

Am I being overly paranoid in feeling a bit weird about preparing a wounding loss database for any member of anti bowhunting organizations that happen upon this site? Most of the entries are not really all that complimentary to the sport and anyone who is interested in quoting self-confessions right from the horse's mouth would see this stuff as a goldmine for newspaper editorials and such.

[Core]

On 10/4/2017 at 7:48 PM, Buckstopshere said:

But in the question on the poll...do you want the answer for my entire career or lately...and where is the cutoff ? Since I have been shooting a compound (Xi's and Bowtechs) ...since 1996. It is about 98% kill and recover. But back with the long bow (#70 Howard Hill bamboo long bow) about 1980 to 1996, about 75%. Back in the real old days of the recurve, 1970 to 1980, ...#50 Bear super mag. and #60  Browning recurve ...probably 60%. So what do I put in the poll?

Not sure to be honest. So many responses now i think a future poll would have to qualify exactly what the question means, as I suspect some are interpreting it differently than others. If I redid the poll I would say within the last 5 years and if you take blood and do not recover it as part of that initial event, it counts as a failure (i.e. wounding it but it lives I would consider a failed recovery).

[Core]

2 minutes ago, Doc said:

Am I being overly paranoid in feeling a bit weird about preparing a wounding loss database for any member of anti bowhunting organizations that happen upon this site? Most of the entries are not really all that complimentary to the sport and anyone who is interested in quoting self-confessions right from the horse's mouth would see this stuff as a goldmine for newspaper editorials and such.

Possibly, but how else could we discuss it? Others online have noted the same. Objectively, this is just a reality of any sort of hunting from time to time. 

[Five Seasons]

I've lost a few deer with a gun. young and dumb. I've only lost one and not fatally to a bow and it was also dumb. Dragging out a dow this nice basket 8 walks up behind me. It was my last day of bow and I had a tag. I drew without my release and briscuit. yes it was dumb. yes he survived and was fine. story is somewhere on here. I feel like I shoot better with the bow because of the range and need for a good shot.

[dbHunterNY]

i have taken a lot of deer with a bow.  couple most years and at least 1 other years.  i have had a weird things happen, little blood a couple times, and had to back out and come back later. i have never lots one with a bow though.  that scares the crap out of me, because i feel like somehow i'm due.  i mean you can make a perfect shot but weird things happen when deer are shot with arrows.

[Doc]

4 hours ago, Core said:

Possibly, but how else could we discuss it? Others online have noted the same. Objectively, this is just a reality of any sort of hunting from time to time. 

I'm not sure I am 100% sold on my own reply. But it just seems a little weird to be airing our dirty laundry in public when we have so many looking for material to attack bowhunting with. It just seems like we are compiling electronic documentation for their use.

[phade]

I'm in the 90s and I am pretty confident I crossed the 100 archery mark. I can think of five - two shoulders and one ham (sight pin got bent on walk in on this shot and I wasn't aware of it until after the fact). Not recovered. Two were later recovered beyond useful timeframes for consumption - one gut and one hard quarter away liver shot that was jumped by ATV riders during the period which it was bedded after the shot. 3 bucks, two does.

 

I can even recall the shot distances - 5, 10, 10, 30, and 42.

Edited October 9, 2017 by phade

[nybuckboy]

4 of 5 bucks. never shot a doe with bow.  Another spike, the first deer I shot at I hit high just below the vertebrae in no mans land and saw him the next day walk by the stand again but was fine so not sure where that falls.

[gjs4]

I think vertical bow hunters are much more atune to tracking than gun hunters as a norm ....they may report more losses than the gun guy who lobs a few slugs at 250 but didn’t see him drop or find blood where as an archer recovers and arrow and sees a more natural less traumatic reaction. Tough to compare. 

[biggamefish]

 

On 10/9/2017 at 6:24 PM, gjs4 said:

I think vertical bow hunters are much more atune to tracking than gun hunters as a norm ....they may report more losses than the gun guy who lobs a few slugs at 250 but didn’t see him drop or find blood where as an archer recovers and arrow and sees a more natural less traumatic reaction. Tough to compare. 

I agree with you.  I used to hunt an open hunting spot people would come and go and nobody cared.  Gun guys would volley shots at a deer and then wouldn't look for it because they didn't see it drop.  Crazy way of thinking. I think alot of gun hunters put to much confidence into the bullet. Most think it is like the movies!

Another factor too is most bow hunters aren't shooting 100+ yards! You ever try to find the exact place that far away after a shot? It usually takes the shooter sitting in place and putting someone else in the spot the deer was it is still hard then.

[BowmanMike]

I am planning on jumping up into the next bracket this season,might go for two does and a buck with the bow if it ever cools down enough. That will improve the curve mightyly. Keep checking the harvest thread,haha.