Been years since I lost one .

[Just Lucky]

6 hours ago, Nomad said:

Here for your viewing pleasure .  Blue 1,2,3 are very thick areas , 1&2 require both hands at times to move through , and you’ll get stuck a few times . Red line is bucks path when shot from stand 2 .

Anything from stands 2&3 back is wide open hardwoods .

I have to wonder if the hot doe over there kept him moving to points unknown.

Sorry to hear. From my experience with 2 different deer which were both all day track jobs, he headed back to where he was shot. 

I had it happen to me once in gun, and once in muzzle loader. Almost like a rabbit with a dog behind them, they run a circle.

[suburbanfarmer]

6 hours ago, Steve D said:

AGREE !!!!

What kind of thermal are you guys using? Is it the leupold tracker. Have been thinking about it for a couple of yrs for the JIC scenario.

[suburbanfarmer]

@Nomad As others have already said, happens to all of us and those that say it doesnt are either lying or will lose one in the future.

[Five Seasons]

I think when guys here share their stories like this we all learn from them. I'm glad that for the most part we have a culture of supporting and not shaming as I know I learn more from these then a I do from a grip and grin.

Sorry this happened man, just curious as I don't know a lot about crossbows. If you hit him back, why no passthrough? that's the detail that I'm struggling with, especially when bolts have more KE than a compound. And if he was quartering away slightly and you hit opposite shoulder, that would surely have hit some vitals... 

[Steuben Jerry]

11 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:

What kind of thermal are you guys using? Is it the leupold tracker. Have been thinking about it for a couple of yrs for the JIC scenario.

Interested in this, been eyeballing that one for a while.

[moog5050]

11 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:

What kind of thermal are you guys using? Is it the leupold tracker. Have been thinking about it for a couple of yrs for the JIC scenario.

Mine is a pulsar helion xp50.   Purchased for yote hunting.    I would not spend the money just to help with deer recovery.  

Edited November 19, 2020 by moog5050

[Steve D]

11 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:

What kind of thermal are you guys using? Is it the leupold tracker. Have been thinking about it for a couple of yrs for the JIC scenario.

Mine is a pulsar quantum which was purchased primarily for fox & coyote hunting. I have also found it very useful for finding deer right after dark and early mornings on the way in. I can easily pick up life forms from 300-400 yards and can usually identify what they are. I looked into the leupold  but from what I have read they have a limited field of view and only really good out to a 100-150 yards which may be good enough for finding a deer.

 Mine is only a "white" hot or a "black" hot ; no color. Thermal is fun and nice to have but like everything else you get what you pay for.

[Nomad]

1 hour ago, Belo said:

I think when guys here share their stories like this we all learn from them. I'm glad that for the most part we have a culture of supporting and not shaming as I know I learn more from these then a I do from a grip and grin.

Sorry this happened man, just curious as I don't know a lot about crossbows. If you hit him back, why no passthrough? that's the detail that I'm struggling with, especially when bolts have more KE than a compound. And if he was quartering away slightly and you hit opposite shoulder, that would surely have hit some vitals... 

Ya last year it blew right through the buck , this one was broadside , about half way up and what looked like 5-6 inches back from the crease, perhaps it seems to have been more . When he stopped I could see blood at the entry , and the bolt mostly out the other side just flopping  around as he ran . It fell out a bit later . It was a pass through in the sense that I had two holes in him ,  it was hanging by the fletching . IDK why it didn’t sail right through and out .

He stopped with a tree trunk blocking the base of his neck ,but the vitals were all visible , I’m thinking perhaps that tree running right down by his front leg , caused me to hold away from the trunk to much. 
 

Arrow was all blood no slime, no stink .

 

 

 

[GreeneHunter]

56 minutes ago, Steve D said:

Mine is a pulsar quantum which was purchased primarily for fox & coyote hunting. I have also found it very useful for finding deer right after dark and early mornings on the way in. I can easily pick up life forms from 300-400 yards and can usually identify what they are. I looked into the leupold  but from what I have read they have a limited field of view and only really good out to a 100-150 yards which may be good enough for finding a deer.

 Mine is only a "white" hot or a "black" hot ; no color. Thermal is fun and nice to have but like everything else you get what you pay for.

I'm curious .... I've never used anything like what is quoted but if I was in my Treestand 15 ft. up during the day if I used one of these would I see the image of deer or human ?  Where I hunt 50-75 is the longest shot I take due to it being a heavily wooded area ? Also it would be useful if I used one in the AM before sunup while heading to my Treestand ! 

[Steve D]

12 minutes ago, GreeneHunter said:

I'm curious .... I've never used anything like what is quoted but if I was in my Treestand 15 ft. up during the day if I used one of these would I see the image of deer or human ?  Where I hunt 50-75 is the longest shot I take due to it being a heavily wooded area ? Also it would be useful if I used one in the AM before sunup while heading to my Treestand ! 

There are many styles of thermal but with the one I have yes you could do what you are describing. In fact I occasionally use it to check the neighboring property that I have permission to hunt to see if they are in their treestands. If they are not there I can hunt it and  have agreed to stay out if they are there.

They never let me know when they are hunting it so if I scan the area with the thermal I can tell plain as day if they are in a stand. Saves me a lot of steps and doesn't ruin their day of hunting because I walked in on them. It is also great for checking your approach route for anything so you can alter your approach if a deer is a field you are using to walk in.

[Steve D]

Short Video of what you would see:

 

[Five Seasons]

1 hour ago, Nomad said:

Ya last year it blew right through the buck , this one was broadside , about half way up and what looked like 5-6 inches back from the crease, perhaps it seems to have been more . When he stopped I could see blood at the entry , and the bolt mostly out the other side just flopping  around as he ran . It fell out a bit later . It was a pass through in the sense that I had two holes in him ,  it was hanging by the fletching . IDK why it didn’t sail right through and out .

He stopped with a tree trunk blocking the base of his neck ,but the vitals were all visible , I’m thinking perhaps that tree running right down by his front leg , caused me to hold away from the trunk to much. 
 

Arrow was all blood no slime, no stink .

 

 

 

any chance it was high too and maybe hit a bunch of that heavy muscle and vertebrae? 

[UWShunter]

I am sorry to hear about this too and Damn I know exactly how ya feel from personal experience as recently as a few weeks ago.

I shot a nice buck (135-140) on my property in CT, and after a great blood trail & 6 hours of tracking, nothing.

Bottom line, I messed up. I jumped this awesome deer. I quickly looked for arrow, started tracking within 2 hours, did everything damn wrong.

A Nice guy said to me, if ya don’t see him drop, just stay in stand, sneak out quietly and come back the next morning. The guy wasn’t an ass, just told me straight what and what not to do and I listened.

Well I shot a buck last night last night, definitely hit him. I saw blood from the stand.

But this time I did things differently. I didn’t even get out of my stand for 2 hours after the shot. Didn’t even track.
No way was I jumping this deer.

It paid off.


Today @ 6:40 am I found this guy.

Not the biggest.

But he’s mine.

I hope your luck changes too.



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[GreeneHunter]

2 hours ago, Steve D said:

There are many styles of thermal but with the one I have yes you could do what you are describing. In fact I occasionally use it to check the neighboring property that I have permission to hunt to see if they are in their treestands. If they are not there I can hunt it and  have agreed to stay out if they are there.

They never let me know when they are hunting it so if I scan the area with the thermal I can tell plain as day if they are in a stand. Saves me a lot of steps and doesn't ruin their day of hunting because I walked in on them. It is also great for checking your approach route for anything so you can alter your approach if a deer is a field you are using to walk in.

Just ordered one !   Thanks !

[Nomad]

Used fixed blade cut on contact since ‘89 , went through a lot of bone never ever had this happen .

The one blade on this thing is clipped to hell dull as can be ,not impressed ,think I’ll toss these things and use cut on contact fixed in the Xbow too .

[suburbanfarmer]

4 hours ago, Nomad said:

Used fixed blade cut on contact since ‘89 , went through a lot of bone never ever had this happen .

The one blade on this thing is clipped to hell dull as can be ,not impressed ,think I’ll toss these things and use cut on contact fixed in the Xbow too .

As with any hunting scenario, its about placement. Yes Fixed heads will be better but I am sold on the spitfire.  Even the truglo titanium blades bend when it hits bone. In the crossbow I have tried grimreaper carnifour and lost blades and deer.

So i switched to NAP spitfires 125gn and if I do my part they do their job. 

[LET EM GROW]

Can you get a search dog on him? 

[LET EM GROW]

My guess is upon or a micro second before impact the angle of bolt into the cavity changed quick, resulting in a hard track and no happy ending. 

[dbHunterNY]

Sounds like it was inevitably a fatal hit. With his path and what I've seen deer do, I feel like along the west end of thick area 3 would be a good spot to look. 1 and 2 he may have been hit hard enough he didn't feel comfortable getting into something that thick that'd take a lot of energy to get out of. They head toward wide open space or fields but then often have second thoughts skirting edges. To give themselves lots of detour options. Just a gut feeling thought is hes along that edge if he's dead, but you really never truly know.

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