How many deer have you shot & not recovered?

[nybuckboy]

Let's have an honest discussion about who has shot a deer and did not recover it. If you drew blood that is considered a shot deer.

Let's assume without a long story, we "all" did our best to try and recover the deer you shot. Let's include how many years we have been hunting both with gun and bow.

I'll go first: I been hunting with a gun for 44 years and 10 years with a bow.

With a bow, I have shot and not recovered 2 bucks. Spent the whole day searching. Each time ran out of blood sign and grid searched. I did find one about a week later on the way back dragging a nice buck I shot in 2007. The coyotes had found him in the goldenrod and dragged him out on a mowed trail.

With a gun, I have shot and not recovered 1 buck and tracked him about 2 miles and once again ran out of blood sign. I can't recall another one but that includes 44 years of gun hunting so there may be another.

I'd like to add until 1999, I had always hunted with my Dad who passed away in 1999. We did not had much hunting land to hunt on and I did not always go as I had to drive quite a few miles just to hunt. So in all honesty, since 1999 I have hunted much more because I now have a couple of tracts that I have permission to hunt. That being said, I put in a lot more hours bow hunting than I do gun hunting.

Who's next?

[twsted21]

i've been bow hunting for 7 years and have shot 2 does that i couldnt find. 1 being this year. ran out of blood trail and nothing turned up on the grid search.

[Geno C]

i lost a deer a few years ago (4 point), with the bow. I wasnt even going to take the deer but being we bought our house that year i was getting alot crap from the wife for being in the woods when there is things to be done. long story short i elected to take the 4 point after debating it and i put a lung liver shot on it. i thought it was more lung then anything but it wasnt... i let it lay for 45 min and there was GREAT blood. blood everywhere, after not finding it for 100 yards and finding his first bed i wanted to back out my dad elected to keep pushing and after 7 hours of looking and a blood trail that looked like he climbed a tree i lost him. i looked to see if he doubled back but the trail led into some thick swamp and rain was in the forcast for the next day...

thats why if you read my posts about passing on deer due to no shot, this is why... its not worth it. id rather spend my time in my stand then pushing deer around looking for blood, disturbing the woods and never finding the deer.

[SteveNY]

I feel like this thread is gonna turn into a real flame war, but lets see if people can be mature.

I lost 2 deer, both with a gun.

One was a high spike, the first deer I ever took a shot at, I was 16 I think. It was facing right towards me about 50 yards away. I shot right in the center of his chest and he fell over turned around got up and took off. My father was hunting several hundred yards away and came over about 15 minutes later to see if it was me who shot. He said he kicked up a deer that was laying down and there was a 6 inch pool of blood where it was. We went back to the spot where he jumped the deer. We wanted to wait to track, but it was about an hour and a half before dark, and just started snowing/raining heavily as well. We heard that we kicked this deer up another 2 times before it ran into private property. We asked the land owners that night for permission to search for it the next morning and they granted it. We searched for hours and hours, unfortunately we never recovered him.

The second deer was a monster buck. Long story short, I only found a few drops of blood from him, and he never stopped running for a couple miles before I lost the tracks in the snow.

[WNYBuckHunter]

2 with the bow, one I know survived and one I am not sure. Both times I did all I could to find the deer.

2 with the gun. The first one was shot just minutes later by another hunter, who put it on the ground and was able to claim it. The second was a nick on a deer last year that I know for a fact survived. I tracked that deer for 2 days before I gave up. I ended up seeing him once last year after that and found his tracks through the winter and spring. Saw a pic of him not too long ago from earlier this season.

**EDIT** Make that 3 with the gun. My first ever buck crossed a property line off of state land and died 50 feet onto the neighboring property. Landowner denied access and kept it for himself. DEC could not get him to let me take the deer. I was 17 at the time and was devastated, didnt hunt the rest of the season that year.

[Doewhacker]

I have taken hair off the backs of 3 in my younger days, thats about as non-fatal a hit as you can get. Other than that I haven't lost any, been hunting with bow and gun since I was of legal age and I am now 31. I have killed 14 with the bow and I don't know how many with the gun because I don't keep track, not because I have killed a ton.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

This is myy 30th season with a gun and 26th with a bow. Knock on wood I have taken 14 deer with a bow and haven't lost one yet. Last year up north I shot a doe with my ML and tracked it for almost 2 miles. It crossed the NZ/SZ line and the famer on that side of the line wouldn't let me retieve. That was the first deer with a gun that I have lost. She never laid down and I was able to follow blood with some effort. The hoof prints in the mud looked good so i am pretty sure it wasn't a leg shot. Not really sure where I hit her. It was a good standing broadside shot. The farmer asked where she had crossed before he turned down permission so I at least think it didn't go to waste...just in his freezer and not mine.

[Deerthug]

3 Years with bow - First time out with a bow shot at one doe and arrow went just below her grazing her belly. No sign of blood just some white hairs. Haven't connected with a bow yet.

6 Years with rifle - shot 3 deer and recovered them all. Thought I lost last years 6pt. Took me an hour to find him but that was because I did not pinpoint where he went into the woods. Once I found the blood it led me 20 yards right to him.

[hunterjohn]

i have been bow hunting for 15 years lost 3 bucks one my first season hit the shoulder plate and bounced out... i believe he lived second one hit a twig gut shot let him lay for 4 hours with pending rain storm ran out of blood and sign couldnt find this and the third one was couple weeks ago nice buck hit high in the spine as he jumped the string on me followed for 3oo yards and lost all sign of him wanted to look longer but the snow storm started and we got a foot and half of snow in october ....

and none with a rifle because i dont rifle hunt

Edited November 14, 2011 by hunterjohn

[Doewhacker]

I will be the first to admit to making crappy hits on a few, one with the gun in my youth I hit in the tail. Beleive it or not we tracked it a ways and my dad caught it beded down by spotting the ear of it. We then put a plan into action and surrounded it and sent one person in on the tracks and when it got up my dad was the one to put a good hit on it. I have liver hit 4 with the bow, two beded down with in sight and died after a few hours of waiting. The others we tracked and found after waiting. I had one other leg hit with the rifle that we tracked a real long ways and caught it beded and finished off.

As has been said 100 times on here, bad hits happen regaurdless of how great we think we all are. Its what you do after the shot that makes the difference.

[steve863]

The vast majority of my hunting has been with a gun. Since I started hunting in 1979 I know for a fact I've drawn blood on 5 that I did not recover and all were with gun. I think only 2 of those were serious wounds though. One was definitely a gut shot on a doe on the last day of the season. Looked as long as I could into the dark, but couldn't find her. Could not look the next day since I had to be at work. The other seriously hit deer was one that tumbled down a hill when I jumped her again while tracking her with a friend. I was ready to put another round in her when the friend told me not to since he thought she was done. Boy was he wrong. She got up again and I never found her. Will never make the mistake again of not finishing off a deer. The other 3 were most likely not seriously hit so I'm hoping they all recovered. Another 50 plus deer I have put down for good, so I don't know if my percentage of losses is good or not, but that's what it is. I have always held that many deer run off wounded without hunters even knowing that they were hit, especially with gun hunting, so hopefully none of us wounded even more than we thought. That is why it's important to look real hard for any sign of blood. A couple of deer I found in a heap a good distance from where they were shot without any blood other than where they fell.

[First-light]

30 years-4 bow 1 gun not recovered.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

That is why it's important to look real hard for any sign of blood. A couple of deer I found in a heap a good distance from where they were shot without any blood other than where they fell.

+1- I have seen them go over 100 yards without any sign of blood. I love seeing early snow. I think it really helps anyone that may not have great experience in following up long enough to find blood. Fat is our enemy. It can act just like a cork in a bottle.

[UpStateRedNeck]

Been hunting whitetails for 15 years, and I have never lost a deer. I've clean missed some! But never lost. My first big buck I hit with a 12 gauge right across the gut, severing his femural artery and proceeded to chase him for 3 hours until he bled out, without letting him lay down and die. Not too smart, but effective.

[Doewhacker]

Been hunting whitetails for 15 years, and I have never lost a deer. I've clean missed some! But never lost. My first big buck I hit with a 12 gauge right across the gut, severing his femural artery and proceeded to chase him for 3 hours until he bled out, without letting him lay down and die. Not too smart, but effective.

Not to sound like a know it all but, if you had hit the Femoral artery he would have died with in 20-30 seconds, it was most likely a liver hit.

[SteveB]

I won't answer here - don't think it is a good topic for for public discussion and record.

Happy to talk about it face to face with anyone.

Edited November 14, 2011 by SteveB

[UpStateRedNeck]

yeah you're probably right, I was 17 so I might not be remembering accurately. Maybe it was a partial? He was dropping pieces of guts and skin, I remember that much. I just kept dogging him, and he eventually just dropped, conveniently much closer to a logging road than where ishot him.

[BUCKrub91]

One doe.. I found her a couple days later drug into a feild and torn up by coyotes

[noahmstone]

I have been lucky. I have been hunting deer with rifle and muzzleloader for 10 years and haven't lost one yet.

The first deer I shot was a gut shot on a doe not knowing any better I chased her through the woods in about 1'-2' of snow for about an hour. she kept bedding down but not long enough to get another shot off. when she finally laid down long enough I ended her suffering.

[5.9cummins]

12 years hunting with a gun, 8 with a bow.

2005 hit a wide racked six point in the neck after jumping the string at 15 yards. I drew blood but was not a fatal wound. Same deer shot on the adjacent property the next year during gun (confirmed it with the scare on the neck).

2010 lost, lost my first deer (liver hit with a bow). Looked for about 12 - 14 hours over three days and could not recover him. Neighbor found him 5 days later.

[QB1]

Been hunting 4 yrs with Gun 3 with Bow. Have killed 3 deer with my Shotgun and 2 deer with my bow.

First Deer I ever drew on with my bow I did not find...one of those rookie encounters...4 pt walked in I rushed the shot had no clue where I hit the deer. Blood on arrow but could not find blood on ground looked for 2 hours circling the spot of impact. Was discouraged till the next weekend when the same deer ran by chasing a doe. So although I did not have meat in the freezer I was happy that my mistake worked out for the best.

[Dinsdale]

20 years with a gun and about 6 with a bow.....no lost yet. The last couple years I do not shoot as much either.

A few clean miss shots along the way. And one close call....

Shot a doe in an opening day blowing snow that hit way to far forward, creased her the front of her nearside shoulder. Tracked her OK but pushed her out of several beds before I could get a shot. She was bleeding good enough when pushed to keep getting close. Crossed onto property that I had permission to recover from but not hunt. Biggest deer I have ever seen in the woods walked infront of me not 40 yds away; and I couldn't shoot. After another 1/2 hr I heard a shot close enough to scare the crap out of me, the land owner shot the doe I had wounded. I gave him my tag for her.

That said I am no virgin to lost game either; just not whitetail. One I know lived and was taken the next year in the same area healed up fine....The other antlers were found a few months later on another hunt by some beaters and sent to me.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

On my 1st day ever during gun I shot a 6 point, I beleive in the leg. It jumped over a rock wall and down a hill. The rock wall was the property line. As we were out by the road, the landowners were driving by real slow and stopped to chat. My dad asked if they'd seen a 3 legged deer, the guy turned into a ---- real quick and denied us access to retrieve it. We also had permission to hunt across the rd, so during our evening sit, I could hear the buck hopping around. He never did come up into the field.

I took an incorrectly yarded shot 5 years ago at a 120'' 8 point. It missed completely. he didn't even move, so I let it go from there. I saw the slug hit the dirt.

I have never wounded a deer with the bow, but had a clean miss.

Gun hunting since 1997-ish, bow hunting since 2005-ish.

Edited November 14, 2011 by ELMER J. FUDD

[fasteddie]

I started gun hunting in 1965 and bow hunting about 2004 . I did not recover 2 doe while gun hunting in Geneseo . One of them made it to the corn field and 3 of us were looking for it . The other had blood pouring out of her and ran into the swampy area . I was walking in water over the top of my boots and figured if she went down , she probably drowned .

Hit 2 bucks in South Bristol in a 5 year period . Tracked them into some real thick briars , etc and lost their trails . Did the circle thing and couldn't pick up any trail after 500 yards . Spent at least 4 hours on each one and was sick that I had lost them .

The other one was a buck in Groveland . I aimed behind his shoulder and he was a few feet behind a doe . She bolted and so did he as I released my arrow . I hit him in the rump and he hauled butt through some thick stuff . I waited for an hour and then started looking . I found pieces of my XX78 shaft and 3 places where he had laid down . He survived and a guy shot him during gun season .

[agross]

I have been hunting for 25 years with a gun and 17 with a bow.

Never lost a deer with a gun.

5 total with the bow

Lost 2 with the bow that 99% ended up dead...rushed a track job on a beautiful 8 on state land. jumped him out of his bed 2 times. Tracked him for about a mile until lost blood other was doe.

Grazed (i know it equals a hit) 2 bucks and a doe. Followed all blood drops then petered out. 2 were low shots and the doe was a grazing leg.