I need a pep talk - or someone to clear my conscience.

[5.9cummins]

I went out to night and took my 5 year old daughter to the blind off the food plot i put in. A little after 5 had a doe walk by about 35 yards down the hill. Then my daughter sneezed twice and i could hear the deer running behind us. I bleated twice in a attempt to calm her down which had the opposite effect getting her to blow like crazy.

At this point i think the night is done so i let my daughter play with the doe bleat a little. Later i hear leaves moving and i can see several deer down hill. A little 4 point and and some doe. The 4 pt comes walking up into the food plot. My daughter wants me to shoot him so hes at 35 yards working a licking branch. I settle my pin and squeeze the release. He then jumps the string and drops something fierce.

At this point my heart sinks as i hear a twack and he runs off through the golden rod blowing the whole way which sounded like 100+ yards of breaking branches. Now i have never had a deer blow after being shot so that threw me a little. On the other hand he reacted just like all the other deer i have fatally shot (i.e. making a racket while running off).

I immediately tried to retrieve the arrow (without any success). I brought my daughter home and put her to bed and then went back up on the hill. I spent an hour looking for the arrow with no luck. Not a drop of blood to be seen anywhere. I did find where he crossed the road about 50 yards behind the plot but that is the only sign i found and as far as i went not wanting to push him. I got rained off the hill so if there was any blood its gone now.

Now i am questioning if i hit him at all?

Either way i will be up there at first light looking.

I got a feeling its going to be a long night.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I hit a doe couple of years ago above the spine, basically piercing her back. Im not 100% if she did the drop and I was just aiming too high or if I just shot too high to begin with. Anyways, she did the same thing, blew like crazy as she ran off. I watched her run for 100 yards with the arrow hanging out, so I knew she had been hit, but when I looked, there was no blood for @ 125 to 150 yards. Then I found a few drops, then a ton, then I found the arrow completely covered. At that point I thought maybe I had hit her lower than I thought, so I followed a heavy blood trail for @ 100 more yards. At that point I found some clumpy blood then nothing. I searched for a day and a half but never found her. I saw her a few weeks later with a big healing wound on the top of her back. Saw her a few times last year too. She might still be around.

If you do think it was a decent, killing shot, then call Deer Search Inc and have them bring out the tracking dogs. They can sniff the blood out even after rain.

[arrow nocker]

maybe it was a complete miss and the arrow went under the folliage and leaves.Like when you miss the target when practicing.Since you were in a ground blind and shooting level with the ground it is possible.Knoow any one with a metal detector?Just a thought.

[dave6x6]

maybe it was a complete miss and the arrow went under the folliage and leaves.Like when you miss the target when practicing.Since you were in a ground blind and shooting level with the ground it is possible.Knoow any one with a metal detector?Just a thought.

That was my first thought . Great idea to look for that arrow one more time with the metal detector. Good luck cummins. Hope it turns out well..

[erussell]

If you didn't find any blood or arrow how do you know you hit him? Could have been a complete miss and the thwak you heard was the arrow hitting something. Was there any hair on the ground. The color of the hair gets darker the farther up the deer you go and the length of the hair gos from short and white along the bottom of the deer to longer and darker to almost black at the top. I would say it was a skimming shot up high at the worst. I dont think it was a low shot if you hit him because there would be a lot of blood for about 100yrds and then it would peter out. Ive shot a lot of deer with the bow and seen a lot of deer shot with a bow on TV and never once did I ever see one that was hit ever snort. Now missed deer I have had go out 50 yrds and cut loose with the snorting which I think is just there way of thumbing there nose.

[Doc]

Here's a thought. You said that initially the 4-point was with some does. Perhaps the blowing that you heard was one of the does and not the buck at all.

[sits in trees]

sounds like you missed.

[First-light]

Wow, same thing happened to my Bro last year. We never found blood, hair or the deer. He heard the wack and the deer blowing while running away. To this day he still thinks he hit it, good luck.

[5.9cummins]

If you didn't find any blood or arrow how do you know you hit him? Could have been a complete miss and the thwak you heard was the arrow hitting something. Was there any hair on the ground. The color of the hair gets darker the farther up the deer you go and the length of the hair gos from short and white along the bottom of the deer to longer and darker to almost black at the top. I would say it was a skimming shot up high at the worst. I dont think it was a low shot if you hit him because there would be a lot of blood for about 100yrds and then it would peter out. Ive shot a lot of deer with the bow and seen a lot of deer shot with a bow on TV and never once did I ever see one that was hit ever snort. Now missed deer I have had go out 50 yrds and cut loose with the snorting which I think is just there way of thumbing there nose.

I dont know if i hit him.

The more i think about it less sure i am.

I practice alot out to 50 yards from the ground and i hold to 35 and under for hunting so i feel the shot was good - weather it connected or not is another story.

I am getting ready to go back up and start with finding that arrow.

No hair, forgot to mention that above.

[Deerthug]

I feel your pain. My first time out with a bow I had a nice doe come out of the corn at 30 yds. Put my 30 yd pin on her and released. Believe it or not she jumped up at the sound of the string and my arrow shot right under her. She bolted and after about 15 minutes I went down and found my arrow with white hairs on it and a couple of drops of blood. I saw nothing on the ground anywhere near where she was. I followed in the direction she ran for about 100 yds and saw nothing. The next morning I went back out to look and saw nothing. To this day I'm still wondering what ever happened to her. Ive seen deer drop at the sound of the string but never jump up unless they were first hit.

[mossy725]

Take a bottle of peroxide with you. I'm fairly certain that even if the blood is a bit washed away, it will still react to remnants of blood and make it bubble or turn a slight different color. Might help you determine whether or not it was a clean hit.

Good luck.

[Uncle Nicky]

Sounds like a miss, but you scared him good, if he was blowing on the run. Come to think of it, I rarely hear a buck blow, it's almost always a doe; maybe it WAS a doe blowing, like Doc suggested?

I know the feeling well, I hate to cripple anything, I'd look one more time in the daylight

[5.9cummins]

Well i went back up and without much luck.

Found the exact spot he was standing and where he dug in with his hind feet when he bolted. I did manage to find 3, yes 3 hairs (hands and knees). Short dark looks like upper back definitely not belly, brisket or the like. Still no arrow and i have a 25 X 50 or 60' area practically cleared of golden rod.

Found where he crossed the road again (broken goldenrod laid down in the road). Followed the trail down the neighbors property which is maintained and open plus goes to water. With no sign what so ever.

I think it was a grazing hit on the upper back.

I would look with a metal detector but it would be useless. The field use to be a home site. House burned and the debris was bulldozed and leveled all over the field back to the woods. Not to mention this area was the site of some of the first oil wells in the country. Metal is everywhere. When i put that plot in i got all sorts of stuff coming up piping, bed springs, hinges, nails etc. etc.

I just didn't want a repeat of last year. Lost my first deer after 11 years of hunting (same EXACT spot, down to working the same licking branch with my same daughter sitting next to me).

Last year i knew i had a dead deer i just couldn't find it. I think this time it was a miss i can live with. I think he will live to see another day.

[BUCKrub91]

deer is still alive

[mossy725]

Hmmm...it was a field with golden rod? Could the arrow possibly have hit some golden rod and then strayed upward?

[mt624]

Sorry to hear you didn't find it, but at least it sounds like just a graze. One thing I've found that helps is illuminated nocks, they really let you get a better image of where the arrow hits the deer or what the flight path of the arrow is.

[nyantler]

You can only do what you can do.. no sense beating yourself up about it. Stuff happens no matter how hard we try. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. As long as you think you've given this the attention it needs.. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

[pistolp71]

Here's a thought. You said that initially the 4-point was with some does. Perhaps the blowing that you heard was one of the does and not the buck at all.

that's what I was thinking. If you missed then what was the whack sound you heard? Especially in a field. Deer usually don't run off like you described from a bow shot without being hit. All you can do is put in a good effort. Don't beat yourself up. Good luck.

[burmjohn]

You can only do what you can do.. no sense beating yourself up about it. Stuff happens no matter how hard we try. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. As long as you think you've given this the attention it needs.. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

I agree... And just as a side note, I had a deer on Monday blow like mad running away from me in the woods (must have winded me), my uncle herd him 300 yards away, it must have went on for 30 seconds while it was running.

[erussell]

You can only do what you can do.. no sense beating yourself up about it. Stuff happens no matter how hard we try. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. As long as you think you've given this the attention it needs.. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Especially for a 4 point. What are you going to do when you miss that 20inch spread ten point? You are going to go crazy. s--t happens to good people, move on aim lower . I had an 8 point last yr with about a 17inch spread that came in chasing a doe at 25 yrds. I thought he was 20ish and aimed to low with the arrow going through the outside skin low on the deer. The last time I saw the fletching it was halfway up the body of the deer. I heard the thwack and assumed it was a good hit till the deer ran 50 yrds off and stood there for 15 minutes looking around till his doe happend to come back through and off he went chasing her again. after 15 seconds I new it was a near miss when he didnt fall in his tracks. I got down and found the arrow laying on the ground covered in tallow and a fistfull of white hair. Tracked him to where he stood and there was a bit of blood where he stood but none after he left. I'm always amazed by the amount of hair that a broadhead blows off a deer. Most people dont even notice it because they are more worried about finding blood. I still don't want to talk about the over 20 inch spread 8 point I couldnt get a shot on a few yrs back that was under my stand on the opposite side of the tree, And only presented a shot when he was 30 yrds away which I then proceeded to shoot under him. I was sick about that one for weeks. He was a real slob.

[mt624]

Sounds like you've educated a few bucks over the years!

[erussell]

Sounds like you've educated a few bucks over the years!

Don't get me started, I would like just once for a big buck to walk out in the open at 20 yrds and stand broadside like they do on TV. It never fails there either hauling cord wood throught the woods with splinters flying up behind them, or there behind something or come in from the worst possible locations for a shot. Nothing aggrivates me more than someone who say's " I don't know I just turned and there he was standing there 20yrds away looking the opposite direction and I shot him ".

I swear I have the worst luck, or maybe thats just hunting.