It took me some time before I wanted to talk about this, but I also want to put this out there for others to learn from/commiserate with.
October 30th, I was hunting a small piece of property (about 10 acres) and shot a pretty nice 8 point. This deer wasn't going to break any records, but I was really psyched. This was the first deer I ever launched an arrow at and was also the first buck I have ever shot. This is my 3rd season hunting and my first hunting archery. I had an opportunity earlier in the season on a smallish 6, but couldn't get a clear shot. Other than that, I had seen lots of bucks too small to be legal. I spotted this guy 2 nights prior at last light and was hoping to see him again. Wind was between 5-10 mph from the west and so I was anticipating movement coming in from the east. Man was I shocked when I glanced westward to see this buck working with the wind 20 yards from me. I was able to calm myself and make my shot. He was pretty much exactly broadside, maybe slightly quartering towards. I don't know if it was excitement, or fading light coupled with unlit nocks, but I did not see the impact. I did hear a very satisfying twhack right before he ran off into the brush. After I settled myself down, I looked around the shot site and saw no blood and no arrow. I had a headlamp, but headed back to my truck for a handheld light which I suspected I was going to need.
An hour and a half later I headed back to start searching, joined by the property owner. After spending some time at the shot site without find anything, we headed towards where I last saw the deer. I was able to pick up blood within about 20 yards, and by 40 yards we found my arrow, covered front to back with blood. I imagine it passed nearly all the way through and hung up right at the nock end before catching on some brush and falling out. Roughly 100 yards from where the deer was shot, we came across a bed, filled with blood. I'm sure this tells many of you how the rest of the story plays out. We spent another 4 hours following an increasingly difficult trail, until it faded completely and we called it for the night. I truly felt we must have walked past this thing and just didn't see it in the dark. I was back in the morning to look more. After several fruitless hours, I began making phone calls to try to get a hound for assistance. A tracker and hound made it out that afternoon and after going over all the evidence, his opinion was that I had likely hit the liver, possibly 1 lung. We had hoped that they would pick up the track and head the direction the blood had been heading, into a really thick, brush area of the property. Unfortunately, the trail turned and ran another 150-200 yards, right into a property line we couldn't cross, into a huge field. We attempted to get permission, but nobody was home. The next morning, we were able to get ahold of the property owner who gave us the go-ahead to look for the deer. I spent another day zig-zagging through likely bedding areas, tree lines, and basically doing my best to trip over a dead deer.
I feel like, given what had happened up to that point, that I did everything I could to recover that deer.
I made several incredibly stupid mistakes:
The biggest mistake is that I did not wait long enough. Not even close. There was a small voice in the back of my head that told me to wait longer, but it had rained all day and the forecast had more going into the night, and I was terrified that I was going to lose sign. Having had the few doe I have shot in the past expire within eye sight, I didn't know how hard/easy blood tracking would be. I will never again go after a deer that quickly unless I see it fall, regardless of concerns about sign or predators. I will continue to be haunted by the fact that if I had merely waited until morning, I would likely have found that deer 100 yards from where he was hit, laying in that bed.
I did not make a good enough shot. I did calm myself, and didn't hammer the release or jerk the shot. But I knew that my peep was starting to twist and I just can't guarantee that I took that into account when I made the shot. If I didn't, it would have moved my point of impact farther back on the deer as this shot played out, possibly being the result of the less than ideal shot placement. I'm not blaming my gear, this is on me. I convinced myself that my concerns about my string condition and peep would be able to wait until after the season. I will never make that mistake again.
I'm pretty broken up about botching my first buck. And more than a little embarrassed about the failures on my part.
I hope somebody else is able to learn from my mistakes, I know I did.
October 30th, I was hunting a small piece of property (about 10 acres) and shot a pretty nice 8 point. This deer wasn't going to break any records, but I was really psyched. This was the first deer I ever launched an arrow at and was also the first buck I have ever shot. This is my 3rd season hunting and my first hunting archery. I had an opportunity earlier in the season on a smallish 6, but couldn't get a clear shot. Other than that, I had seen lots of bucks too small to be legal. I spotted this guy 2 nights prior at last light and was hoping to see him again. Wind was between 5-10 mph from the west and so I was anticipating movement coming in from the east. Man was I shocked when I glanced westward to see this buck working with the wind 20 yards from me. I was able to calm myself and make my shot. He was pretty much exactly broadside, maybe slightly quartering towards. I don't know if it was excitement, or fading light coupled with unlit nocks, but I did not see the impact. I did hear a very satisfying twhack right before he ran off into the brush. After I settled myself down, I looked around the shot site and saw no blood and no arrow. I had a headlamp, but headed back to my truck for a handheld light which I suspected I was going to need.
An hour and a half later I headed back to start searching, joined by the property owner. After spending some time at the shot site without find anything, we headed towards where I last saw the deer. I was able to pick up blood within about 20 yards, and by 40 yards we found my arrow, covered front to back with blood. I imagine it passed nearly all the way through and hung up right at the nock end before catching on some brush and falling out. Roughly 100 yards from where the deer was shot, we came across a bed, filled with blood. I'm sure this tells many of you how the rest of the story plays out. We spent another 4 hours following an increasingly difficult trail, until it faded completely and we called it for the night. I truly felt we must have walked past this thing and just didn't see it in the dark. I was back in the morning to look more. After several fruitless hours, I began making phone calls to try to get a hound for assistance. A tracker and hound made it out that afternoon and after going over all the evidence, his opinion was that I had likely hit the liver, possibly 1 lung. We had hoped that they would pick up the track and head the direction the blood had been heading, into a really thick, brush area of the property. Unfortunately, the trail turned and ran another 150-200 yards, right into a property line we couldn't cross, into a huge field. We attempted to get permission, but nobody was home. The next morning, we were able to get ahold of the property owner who gave us the go-ahead to look for the deer. I spent another day zig-zagging through likely bedding areas, tree lines, and basically doing my best to trip over a dead deer.
I feel like, given what had happened up to that point, that I did everything I could to recover that deer.
I made several incredibly stupid mistakes:
The biggest mistake is that I did not wait long enough. Not even close. There was a small voice in the back of my head that told me to wait longer, but it had rained all day and the forecast had more going into the night, and I was terrified that I was going to lose sign. Having had the few doe I have shot in the past expire within eye sight, I didn't know how hard/easy blood tracking would be. I will never again go after a deer that quickly unless I see it fall, regardless of concerns about sign or predators. I will continue to be haunted by the fact that if I had merely waited until morning, I would likely have found that deer 100 yards from where he was hit, laying in that bed.
I did not make a good enough shot. I did calm myself, and didn't hammer the release or jerk the shot. But I knew that my peep was starting to twist and I just can't guarantee that I took that into account when I made the shot. If I didn't, it would have moved my point of impact farther back on the deer as this shot played out, possibly being the result of the less than ideal shot placement. I'm not blaming my gear, this is on me. I convinced myself that my concerns about my string condition and peep would be able to wait until after the season. I will never make that mistake again.
I'm pretty broken up about botching my first buck. And more than a little embarrassed about the failures on my part.
I hope somebody else is able to learn from my mistakes, I know I did.
