Rookie Mistake

[the blur]

I made the stupidest rookie mistake, and I'm not a rookie.    Big woods.  I shot a nice deer, 100 yards, saw it run 50-70 yards, and saw it crash.    Big big woods.    I turn around to get my back pack, and all my other shiit which was behind me.   It was hot outside: Jacket, gloves, hat,  pack was all behind me.   I spent a minute gathering everything &  put it on,   ALL FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

I turn around to head down the mountain to my deer, and I was completely disorientated as to where I shot the deer !!   and what tree area was the general direction.      It took me an hour to find it, and it was pure luck that I found it.    Should have taken me 5 minutes to find it.   I was 100 yards off from the shot area.

Never take your eyes off the deer, or area where you shot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   and keep flagging tape on you, and not buried in your pack.

[suburbanfarmer]

I usually dont worry about my stuff until I have the deer in hand and instead of flagging tape keep TP . Its biodegradable and comes in handy in emergencies

[wolc123]

Sometimes, it is better to be lucky than good.  I shot one on the edge of a swamp this morning.  I tried to hit the shoulder blade, so I would not have to get wet.

The buck was quartering hard to me, and my slug struck a bit to the inside, completely missing bone, but driving thru the the lungs and diaphragm.  He spun around and disapeared towards the middle of the swamp.

I went right in after him, heading straight in the direction he ran.  He made it over a hundred yards.  I dont know if I would have been able to locate him, had I not heard the splashing of his last few death twitches.  There was no blood trail to follow in that black water.

Edited November 22, 2020 by wolc123

[the blur]

I got lucky in more ways than 1.   My doe was facing me, snorting at me.   I shot her straight through the neck, and the bullet traveled the entire body length, but no exit.     Barely any blood because it was a straight in neck shot.   Sometimes luck works out!!

 

[Steve D]

46 minutes ago, the blur said:

Never take your eyes off the deer, or area where you shot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   and keep flagging tape on you, and not buried in your pack.

I always keep some of these handy for situations like yours. You can also use them to mark a way in and can re-use them over & over. Pretty cheap and you can sometimes find them in Walmart.

https://www.ganderoutdoors.com/x-stand-reflective-trail-markers-10-pk.-711094.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-6nfz_eU7QIVBK_ICh2dzQD2EAQYByABEgJ7kPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Edited November 22, 2020 by Steve D

[46rkl]

 Not to worry, you figured it out and all is good. Learn from it, don’t beat yourself up over it. It is good to share your story, saves others from making the same mistake.... hopefully. Congrats on the deer.

[BowmanMike]

10 hours ago, the blur said:

I made the stupidest rookie mistake, and I'm not a rookie.    Big woods.  I shot a nice deer, 100 yards, saw it run 50-70 yards, and saw it crash.    Big big woods.    I turn around to get my back pack, and all my other shiit which was behind me.   It was hot outside: Jacket, gloves, hat,  pack was all behind me.   I spent a minute gathering everything &  put it on,   ALL FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

I turn around to head down the mountain to my deer, and I was completely disorientated as to where I shot the deer !!   and what tree area was the general direction.      It took me an hour to find it, and it was pure luck that I found it.    Should have taken me 5 minutes to find it.   I was 100 yards off from the shot area.

Never take your eyes off the deer, or area where you shot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   and keep flagging tape on you, and not buried in your pack.

You probably dont bowhunt,right? That would really drive the point home of trying to stay calm after the shot and taking in all the info you have on the shot location and the deers reaction and path. I improved on that a lot the last couple of years and it was helpful yesterday after i shot my buck too. I replay what happened several times in my mind and pick out distinctive landmarks that i can find later for orientation. 

I walked right up to the spot where i shot him after 15 mins or so and found hair and blood and took up the trail.

 

[wolc123]

10 hours ago, the blur said:

I got lucky in more ways than 1.   My doe was facing me, snorting at me.   I shot her straight through the neck, and the bullet traveled the entire body length, but no exit.     Barely any blood because it was a straight in neck shot.   Sometimes luck works out!!

 

That is almost where I hit my buck yesterday.  You can see the entry hole in the photo, just above the leg, a little left of center.  No exit from that one either. 

Oddly enough, my last 6-pointer (back in 16) was hit from the other end and had an exit hole in the same place, but no entry.  That one will go down as the best shot that I ever made on a deer.   He dropped in his tracks, as the bullet creased the top of his heart and severed the spinal column, at the base of the neck, before exiting the front.

There was hardly any meat damage on that one.  All I lost from bullet damage was a neck roast.  It will be interesting to see how much meat is lost on yesterday's.  I didn't notice anything when gutting it, but I be am guessing that the 50 cal SST slug is lodged on the inside of the opposite ham.

[wolc123]

29 minutes ago, BowmanMike said:

You probably dont bowhunt,right? That would really drive the point home of trying to stay calm after the shot and taking in all the info you have on the shot location and the deers reaction and path. I improved on that a lot the last couple of years and it was helpful yesterday after i shot my buck too. I replay what happened several times in my mind and pick out distinctive landmarks that i can find later for orientation. 

I walked right up to the spot where i shot him after 15 mins or so and found hair and blood and took up the trail.

 

Speaking of orientation, one thing that I have noticed, about deer that have been hit in the boiler room (heart lung area), is that they will usually travel straight, in the direction you last saw them, with very slight, if any left/right deviation from course.

[rob-c]

It’s happened in one form or another to all us, several years ago I was tracking a buck i shot just before end of legal light during archery and after about 100 yards I paused in mowed trail that he crossed .I decided to back out and come back next morning. I hunted the morning and went right back to the trail, walked probably 20-30 yards off the trail and leaned my bow against a tree. Followed the blood another 75 yards there’s my deer. Took me maybe 20 minutes to find him but then it took me 30 mins  to find my bow. I was not happy with myself, live and learn.  I also keep a strip of pink tape to tie on my string now when set my bow down. 

[BowmanMike]

I stripped of some layers of clothing a few years ago when still hunting with the bow. After i made it 100 yds or so i noticed i never put my release back on. That was a very frustrating half hour combing the area where i stopped for it.

[mowin]

The swamp I hunt has 8' tall Reed grass. The edges are the same scrub in every direction, with no defining trees.  

I've had troubles in the past finding the spot the deer stood. Especially if they happened to be somewhere in the Reed grass where I can see them. 

If someone is hunting with me, I won't leave the stand until they get there and direct them to where the deer was standing. 

I've spent over a hr looking for a deer I seen drop, but once on the ground, it's a PITA. 

[wolc123]

3 minutes ago, mowin said:

The swamp I hunt has 8' tall Reed grass. The edges are the same scrub in every direction, with no defining trees.  

I've had troubles in the past finding the spot the deer stood. Especially if they happened to be somewhere in the Reed grass where I can see them. 

If someone is hunting with me, I won't leave the stand until they get there and direct them to where the deer was standing. 

I've spent over a hr looking for a deer I seen drop, but once on the ground, it's a PITA. 

If you are by yourself in that situation, you can spine them on center.  That will knock them over and temporarily stun them.  By the time you climb down and get near them, they will be pulling themselves back up with their front legs.  With a big buck, it is easy to spot those long times rising up above the reeds.

[Fletch]

I killed a good buck years ago down in the Hole. A thick greenbrier hell. I got the buck a lil before dark. By the time I gave it a half hour, tracked it, gutted him it was dark out. I knew the area well and just oriented my self in the wrong direction. Dragged that stupid deer an hour in the wrong direction lol I said screw it as I was closer to the back road now and called for a pick up assist rather than go backwards through all that brier.


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[crappyice]

If you are by yourself in that situation, you can spine them on center.  That will knock them over and temporarily stun them.  By the time you climb down and get near them, they will be pulling themselves back up with their front legs.  With a big buck, it is easy to spot those long times rising up above the reeds.

No...don’t do this


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[mowin]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

If you are by yourself in that situation, you can spine them on center.  That will knock them over and temporarily stun them.  By the time you climb down and get near them, they will be pulling themselves back up with their front legs.  With a big buck, it is easy to spot those long times rising up above the reeds.

I would never intentionally spine a deer.  I don't want that adrenaline flowing for what might be several minutes before I can get to them. Let alone intentionally let a deer suffer for that time.  I'd let a big buck walk if I couldn't get a neck or heart/lung shot. 

Edited November 22, 2020 by mowin

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, mowin said:

I would never intentionally spine a deer.  I don't want that adrenaline flowing for what might be several minutes before I can get to them. Let alone intentionally let a deer suffer for that time.  I'd let a big buck walk if I couldn't get a neck or heart/lung shot. 

Sometimes, it happen by accident.  My scope was bad, back in 2018, when it happened to me.  It definitely made it easy to find that buck though.  Had he dropped dead, where he was standing when shot, it would have taken me a lot longer to locate him.

But yes I agree, and would not intentionally aim for the spine but it did happen to me again last year on a doe, from the same stand.  She was on the far side of the effective range of the gun I used then.  

This year's buck was shot from the same stand, right thru the boiler room, and was the toughest of the three to locate.  Had I not got right after him and heard those last few splashes, he might still be there.

[Daveboone]

But you found it! Good for you. 

One of the reasons I prefer to hunt in the snow....but doesnt look like I am going to have any next week.