As a relatively new bowhunter, having made the switch to pretty much bow-only last season, I heard and read these words a lot, especially here on this forum. 'If you bow hunt long enough, everything won't always go as planned, or work out the way you wanted.'
Honestly, that's kinda hard to understand if all the deer you've killed so far with the bow have been ideal shots leading to quick kills. That was the case with me up until yesterday. The two I killed last season and one earlier this season were good shots with quick recoveries. Some of y'all may be able to relate to this post. Some, like myself prior to yesterday, haven't encountered such a situation yet. I decided to write about this with the hope that what happened to me helps someone else out down the road in some way. (Feel free to skip to the end which, to me, are the important things I learned yesterday.)
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That brings me to yesterday morning, where I made a shot on my first buck with the bow on public land at 8:40 AM. After being drawn on him for 10-15 seconds, waiting on him to enter my shooting lane, I took a slightly quartering away shot on what I thought was a stopped deer in my shooting lane at 22 yards. I say 'thought' since I'm honestly not so sure now. The resulting shot has me wondering if he took a step right as I released the arrow. After revisiting the shot site, I haven't ruled out that my arrow may have deflected off a vine that was a few yards in front of the deer (I wonder if I possibly subconsciously moved to the left and out of the shooting lane as the deer possibly started to move and I didn't notice the vine). Definitely easy to drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what went wrong. My bow was shooting dead-on POA as confirmed after taking several shots at home after getting back last night.
Thinking the shot was better than it was, I started tracking after about 30 minutes, following the trail on which I watched him run out after falling head first into the ground after the shot. Didn't find blood for the first 50-60 yards, and then found a good pile. A good blood trail followed from there, and honestly led me to believe the deer was lethally hit and was dead not too far away. I combined this with my recollection of the shot (which ended up being incorrect - I hit farther back than my memory recalled), and continued tracking.
After finding my arrow another 20-30 yards down the blood trail (covered in 20" of blood - no sign of a gutshot) and shortly thereafter a 'wound bed', which had a lot of blood and even what appeared to be a piece of organ, I couldn't find any more blood. I searched for an hour and a half, crouched down trying to find any kind of sign. This is a TERRIBLE feeling, as some of you may very well know.
At this point, thanks to the advice of Kris, here on this forum, I got in contact with Matt Wilkes in Paulding County. I told him what I was seeing, sent him some photos, and we were all pretty sure this deer was dead. I backed out of the area, and Matt loaded up Beyla, his Bavarian mountain hound, and headed right out (I can't say enough good about Matt and Beyla. He traveled over an hour to Cherokee County to meet me. If you're in Paulding or a surrounding county, save this number - 404-569-4273. If you're farther away, keep this link or this link handy).
We started the track a little over an hour later (over 4.5 hours after the shot), and Beyla got on the trail. Within 10 minutes she was on the deer. Unfortunately, he wasn't dead yet. He stood up, and slowly took off over the ridge. We regrouped and assessed the situation. At this point, it was 5 hours after the shot, and given the sign on the ground and the appearance/behavior of the deer, we were fairly certain he was struck in the liver and would not make it much longer (usually 6-8 hours). We waited a little while, and decided to try tracking him to his current location, mark the spot on my GPS, and I would come back a couple hours later for the recovery.
To our surprise, once we followed the trail out of the woods to the shore of the lake, the deer was swimming out into it. He was swimming to the opposite bank. We just couldn't believe it. We watched him reach the opposite shore, and just lay in the water motionless. It looked as if he was going to die there if not already dead. We walked a ways up the shore, and there were a couple of nice older gentlemen (long-time hunters BTW) fishing near the cove who generously offered to take us over to the other side. The deer managed to get out of the water after we arrived a little ways down shore of him, but then returned to the water and started to swim again after sensing our pressure. We decided to back off until sure that the deer would not resist if we could get close enough or he expired. We were ultimately able to recover him an hour and a half later along the shore (7 hours after the shot - right in the middle of the time frame for a liver shot) and was at the processor an hour later.
----------------------------
I started off by saying that up until yesterday, the words I often heard from other seasoned bowhunters, 'if you bow hunt long enough, everything won't always go just as you want it or the way it should', were foreign to me. Yesterday, something went wrong at the shot, and it definitely didn't go as planned or work out the way I wanted. I've taken a lot from this experience, including that if and when this happens, the hunt for that animal shouldn't end. However, if there is any doubt about the shot, back out and call a dog. If the blood trail goes cold, back out and call a dog. The dog is your BEST CHANCE to find the deer. If the deer is found alive, a decision can then be made regarding it's condition and how to proceed. These animals have a will to live like nothing I've ever seen. However, many less-than-ideal shots are still lethal, and will lead to a recovered deer if we put forth the time, effort, and even funds that may be required and called for (regardless of the size or sex). We owe it to the animals we hunt and to the name we carry as hunters to do all we can after 'something doesn't go as planned or work out the way we wanted.'
I'd like to say thanks again to Kris, Matt Wilkes and his dog Beyla, my buddy Jason who came out and helped with the recovery, and the two older gentleman who were fishing. I'm glad to know these good people, and am appreciative for their help.
Honestly, that's kinda hard to understand if all the deer you've killed so far with the bow have been ideal shots leading to quick kills. That was the case with me up until yesterday. The two I killed last season and one earlier this season were good shots with quick recoveries. Some of y'all may be able to relate to this post. Some, like myself prior to yesterday, haven't encountered such a situation yet. I decided to write about this with the hope that what happened to me helps someone else out down the road in some way. (Feel free to skip to the end which, to me, are the important things I learned yesterday.)
----------------------------
That brings me to yesterday morning, where I made a shot on my first buck with the bow on public land at 8:40 AM. After being drawn on him for 10-15 seconds, waiting on him to enter my shooting lane, I took a slightly quartering away shot on what I thought was a stopped deer in my shooting lane at 22 yards. I say 'thought' since I'm honestly not so sure now. The resulting shot has me wondering if he took a step right as I released the arrow. After revisiting the shot site, I haven't ruled out that my arrow may have deflected off a vine that was a few yards in front of the deer (I wonder if I possibly subconsciously moved to the left and out of the shooting lane as the deer possibly started to move and I didn't notice the vine). Definitely easy to drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what went wrong. My bow was shooting dead-on POA as confirmed after taking several shots at home after getting back last night.
Thinking the shot was better than it was, I started tracking after about 30 minutes, following the trail on which I watched him run out after falling head first into the ground after the shot. Didn't find blood for the first 50-60 yards, and then found a good pile. A good blood trail followed from there, and honestly led me to believe the deer was lethally hit and was dead not too far away. I combined this with my recollection of the shot (which ended up being incorrect - I hit farther back than my memory recalled), and continued tracking.
After finding my arrow another 20-30 yards down the blood trail (covered in 20" of blood - no sign of a gutshot) and shortly thereafter a 'wound bed', which had a lot of blood and even what appeared to be a piece of organ, I couldn't find any more blood. I searched for an hour and a half, crouched down trying to find any kind of sign. This is a TERRIBLE feeling, as some of you may very well know.
At this point, thanks to the advice of Kris, here on this forum, I got in contact with Matt Wilkes in Paulding County. I told him what I was seeing, sent him some photos, and we were all pretty sure this deer was dead. I backed out of the area, and Matt loaded up Beyla, his Bavarian mountain hound, and headed right out (I can't say enough good about Matt and Beyla. He traveled over an hour to Cherokee County to meet me. If you're in Paulding or a surrounding county, save this number - 404-569-4273. If you're farther away, keep this link or this link handy).
We started the track a little over an hour later (over 4.5 hours after the shot), and Beyla got on the trail. Within 10 minutes she was on the deer. Unfortunately, he wasn't dead yet. He stood up, and slowly took off over the ridge. We regrouped and assessed the situation. At this point, it was 5 hours after the shot, and given the sign on the ground and the appearance/behavior of the deer, we were fairly certain he was struck in the liver and would not make it much longer (usually 6-8 hours). We waited a little while, and decided to try tracking him to his current location, mark the spot on my GPS, and I would come back a couple hours later for the recovery.
To our surprise, once we followed the trail out of the woods to the shore of the lake, the deer was swimming out into it. He was swimming to the opposite bank. We just couldn't believe it. We watched him reach the opposite shore, and just lay in the water motionless. It looked as if he was going to die there if not already dead. We walked a ways up the shore, and there were a couple of nice older gentlemen (long-time hunters BTW) fishing near the cove who generously offered to take us over to the other side. The deer managed to get out of the water after we arrived a little ways down shore of him, but then returned to the water and started to swim again after sensing our pressure. We decided to back off until sure that the deer would not resist if we could get close enough or he expired. We were ultimately able to recover him an hour and a half later along the shore (7 hours after the shot - right in the middle of the time frame for a liver shot) and was at the processor an hour later.
----------------------------
I started off by saying that up until yesterday, the words I often heard from other seasoned bowhunters, 'if you bow hunt long enough, everything won't always go just as you want it or the way it should', were foreign to me. Yesterday, something went wrong at the shot, and it definitely didn't go as planned or work out the way I wanted. I've taken a lot from this experience, including that if and when this happens, the hunt for that animal shouldn't end. However, if there is any doubt about the shot, back out and call a dog. If the blood trail goes cold, back out and call a dog. The dog is your BEST CHANCE to find the deer. If the deer is found alive, a decision can then be made regarding it's condition and how to proceed. These animals have a will to live like nothing I've ever seen. However, many less-than-ideal shots are still lethal, and will lead to a recovered deer if we put forth the time, effort, and even funds that may be required and called for (regardless of the size or sex). We owe it to the animals we hunt and to the name we carry as hunters to do all we can after 'something doesn't go as planned or work out the way we wanted.'
I'd like to say thanks again to Kris, Matt Wilkes and his dog Beyla, my buddy Jason who came out and helped with the recovery, and the two older gentleman who were fishing. I'm glad to know these good people, and am appreciative for their help.
