Hey all, offering this up because its the time of year when folks make shots on deer that aren't recovered right away. Had an experience that changed the way I think about shots on deer. My son is 21 and has bow hunted since he was 12. He made an 18 yard shot on a doe Wed. night that he described as almost perfect. The only doubt in his m ind was the deer looked to be slightly quartering away. He made the shot about 15 minutes before the end of shooting time. The Nocturnal was easy to find and the blood on the arrow was bright , no sign of guts. Small amount of white hair was noticed. He said that was from the crease in her shoulder maybe from the exit hole on the belly line as he was shooting down. He heard her cough as she was running away.
We gave her some time went to camp and got spotlights. Found decent blood and followed her by track and blood probably 100 yds through the thickest brush on the lease. Came to an intersection of 3 trails and then nothing. The trails forked a little right straight and a little left. Using my experience we searched each trail as the path of least resistance with nothing found. After an hour our lights started to die and we went back to camp. Weather was calling for upper 30's and it was already about 50 so we decided to wait until morning having marked our last spot of blood. The night was sleepless for my son as he replayed the shot over and over and couldn't make it a bad shot. The rage broad head opened like it should but did have a bent blade.. My though was she was quartering more than he thought and he had gotten only one lung or shot low and hit brisket.
Next morning we returned in the daylight and picked up our track..Found good blood to the trail split again then nothing. I started a circle search and found blood on a small leaf not on any trail but through the middle of a bush. The other side of the bush we picked up the trail in more thicket, no trail or path and slowly followed it speck to speck uphill into a hillside thicket. We finally hit more open ground and the blood got thicker. More frequent and it was apparent then she was bleeding from both sides. The deer made several more 90 degree turns off of trails until we topped a ridge almost a quarter of a mile away from the original shot and there she was. Stiff from laying all night in the cold unscathed by hogs or varmints. It took us an hour to drag her back tot he road and the 4 wheeler. Had we not waited until daylight we never would have found her..Upon butchering the rage worked perfect. Hole through both lungs and a huge cut through the top of the heart.
I have no idea why she went as far as she did. The deer should have been dead on her feet. I have bow hunted for 20 plus years and I have never seen a good shot go that far. I was always the one that said" if it was a good shot the deer would be dead close by". Now I cant say that..
If you make a shot, never give up. Whitetails are a alot tougher than i or anyone else gives them credit for.
We gave her some time went to camp and got spotlights. Found decent blood and followed her by track and blood probably 100 yds through the thickest brush on the lease. Came to an intersection of 3 trails and then nothing. The trails forked a little right straight and a little left. Using my experience we searched each trail as the path of least resistance with nothing found. After an hour our lights started to die and we went back to camp. Weather was calling for upper 30's and it was already about 50 so we decided to wait until morning having marked our last spot of blood. The night was sleepless for my son as he replayed the shot over and over and couldn't make it a bad shot. The rage broad head opened like it should but did have a bent blade.. My though was she was quartering more than he thought and he had gotten only one lung or shot low and hit brisket.
Next morning we returned in the daylight and picked up our track..Found good blood to the trail split again then nothing. I started a circle search and found blood on a small leaf not on any trail but through the middle of a bush. The other side of the bush we picked up the trail in more thicket, no trail or path and slowly followed it speck to speck uphill into a hillside thicket. We finally hit more open ground and the blood got thicker. More frequent and it was apparent then she was bleeding from both sides. The deer made several more 90 degree turns off of trails until we topped a ridge almost a quarter of a mile away from the original shot and there she was. Stiff from laying all night in the cold unscathed by hogs or varmints. It took us an hour to drag her back tot he road and the 4 wheeler. Had we not waited until daylight we never would have found her..Upon butchering the rage worked perfect. Hole through both lungs and a huge cut through the top of the heart.
I have no idea why she went as far as she did. The deer should have been dead on her feet. I have bow hunted for 20 plus years and I have never seen a good shot go that far. I was always the one that said" if it was a good shot the deer would be dead close by". Now I cant say that..
If you make a shot, never give up. Whitetails are a alot tougher than i or anyone else gives them credit for.
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