Well this past Saturday when I shot my buck that I posted on the Trad Harvest Thread I made a less than perfect shot. Hit him about 5' further back thatn I wanted too. He was perfectly broadside and I put the arrow thru his last rib on both sides. I was confident that I was a direct Liver and possible back of lung hit. He jumped out of my feeder pen trotted about 25yds facing straight away and stood statue still for 25 minutes without even wiggling an ear. I happened to have a rifle in the blind with me so I was watching him thru the scope and could tell that he wasn't bleeding very much from the entry and exit wounds but was obviously very sick. I decided that if he started to walk/run off I was going to finish him with the rifle to prevent a difficult track job in the dark.
He finally started to walk off and as he turned broadside I squeezed the trigger. Misfire. I quickly worked the bolt and the deer heard this. He started to trot at this point. He went about 30 more yds and stopped again but was behind a mesquite tree and didn't provide a shot. I should have stayed put at this point as I could see him starting to sway side to side but I didn't. I got out of the blind and attempted to relocate to get a clear shot. This was a bad idea. He saw me as I was about to shoot at him and started picking up the pace. I was able to get a clear shot and put a round thru his neck and dropped him.
This is what I learned. Upon gutting him I discovered that I was correct in my observation of the first shot. The arrow went thru the liver and the back of one lung and out the diaphragm. His chest cavity was completely full of blood and he was essentially dead on his feet. The deer I shot last year did the same thing shot thru the liver and I spooked him not knowing he was standing 30 yds from the blind when I exited it 30 minutes later. So Basically Im saying if you think its a liver hit give them PLENTY of time.
If I would have waited him out I think he would have stood in his second location until he died had I not racked the bolt and spooked him. But in my head I was trying to prevent a difficult track job. What says the green screen? Did I make the right call or should I have waited him out. And does it still count as a true TRAD kill?
This makes me wonder how many deer that have been liver shot are simply standing still just inside the brush close to where they were shot and slink away unseen by the hunter as they approach to look for the arrow or first blood.
He finally started to walk off and as he turned broadside I squeezed the trigger. Misfire. I quickly worked the bolt and the deer heard this. He started to trot at this point. He went about 30 more yds and stopped again but was behind a mesquite tree and didn't provide a shot. I should have stayed put at this point as I could see him starting to sway side to side but I didn't. I got out of the blind and attempted to relocate to get a clear shot. This was a bad idea. He saw me as I was about to shoot at him and started picking up the pace. I was able to get a clear shot and put a round thru his neck and dropped him.
This is what I learned. Upon gutting him I discovered that I was correct in my observation of the first shot. The arrow went thru the liver and the back of one lung and out the diaphragm. His chest cavity was completely full of blood and he was essentially dead on his feet. The deer I shot last year did the same thing shot thru the liver and I spooked him not knowing he was standing 30 yds from the blind when I exited it 30 minutes later. So Basically Im saying if you think its a liver hit give them PLENTY of time.
If I would have waited him out I think he would have stood in his second location until he died had I not racked the bolt and spooked him. But in my head I was trying to prevent a difficult track job. What says the green screen? Did I make the right call or should I have waited him out. And does it still count as a true TRAD kill?
This makes me wonder how many deer that have been liver shot are simply standing still just inside the brush close to where they were shot and slink away unseen by the hunter as they approach to look for the arrow or first blood.
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