So if any of you are in the live from the stand thread you know that I hit a doe while I was home in PA with my crossbow yesterday, after hours of tracking with minimal blood and jumping the deer where there was no blood after we figured it was a non lethal hit. So that sucks but at least we believe she will be okay. Today I was back down in North Carolina, I knew that deer would be moving and after being unimpressed with my crossbows performance I decided I would try pulling my compound back ( I injured my shoulder in lacrosse this year and havent been able to pull my bow back) But today was the day I could pull it back and was doing very well shooting so it was go time, I took one of my buddies out with me and it was his first time bowhunting. Around 5:30 I heard a twig snap behind me and stood up grabbed my bow just in time to see a doe coming towards the stand. I knew I had a clearing at 20 yards, she had already passed the 25 yard clearing. she got behind a clump of brush and I went to draw back then she smelled me but didnt take off she was just on alert, so was the doe behind her. After about a minute at full draw my shoulder was hurting but just due to the injury I practice holding for periods of time and then shooting. Just as she went to take a step into my 20 yard lane she turned around. She got into the 25 yard lane and I put the pin on her and unfortunately punched the trigger sending the arrow straight through her stomach I was hoping the angle was okay and it would go through the lungs as well but it didn't. I got down and found a pile of stomach entrails and white hair on the ground, the stomach entrails were everywhere. After waiting an hour I decided to track a little further just to try to find first blood. About 40 yards into the trail I was still following piles of stomach. After I found my arrow that had a tiny bit of blood on it, I saw something about 40 yards ahead and went to check it out, there was her gut pile, not from another hunter gutting her but from my arrow, has anyone ever seen this happen before? I couldn't believe it but after this i figured she couldn't be far, However with all of her guts out there was no trail to follow. This is where I left my arrow and will be heading out in the morning to grid search for her. Theres no way I will be able to track her in her in the dark with no blood to reflect off of my light. This has been a really crappy two days and it is making me want to hang up the bow for the season but I know if i do that it will ruin bowhunting for me. I have already filled out the tag for this doe since I know it was a lethal shot, I just really hope coyotes don't get to her and she doesn't go to waste. Sorry guys Im sure some of you know the feeling but this sucks. Here's the picture of the impact spot And what I was following And this is where I lost the trail and found her gut pile
Wow, thats crazy right there. Never seen one loose it guts. Hang in there Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Never seen that before either. She prolly won't go far after that. Good call waiting for tomorrow. I'm sure you will find her Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Im interested to see if anyone else has ever seen stuff like that, the broadhead did its job thats for sure i just wish i made a good shot on it!
Also Im concerned with my bow, My set up is 70 Lbs with a 29 inch draw hundred grain swhackers why on earth would I not get a passthrough in the stomach does anyone have any idea?
If you didn't bump her blundering around you will most likely find her in her first bed. Generally speaking since you knew it was as gut shot the best corse of action would have been to back out and let the deer expire before taking up the track. However what's done is done and all you can do is make better choices from this point forward. So tomorrow go to the last point you had positive sign and stay on/with the track until you find the deer or are sure you lost the track. Don't start grid searching ( more often then not that means more blundering around "looking") until your sure your track is finished. That doesn't mean you look for 10 minutes at the point of loss and declare the track disappeared. Spend an hour more, deer don't vanish in air. Look for prints, a hair, a spec of guts on leaves. That maybe all you need to get you past the hard spot and back onto the trail. If all else fails and you loose the track before random searching check the nearest water in the direction the deer took. If that doesn't pan out then look randomly in the area.
Holy smokes, that's unreal! I think you may have gotten a pass thru, but just didn't find the arrow. I also think the shot was low and she may have an enormous hole under the belly but you just didn't hit anything that would cause bleeding. Go in at first light before it gets too warm, no doubt you'll find her in the morning
I found the arrow 40 yards into the track a little before I found the pile, watched the nockturnal as she ran Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oh my bad, missed that part. That's odd then for sure. I wouldn't blame the bow or the broadhead, weird stuff happens
Yea I need to take it to Lancaster archery when I go home, I also didn't get a pass through on a coyote this year, and my buck last year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you have a shoulder injury turn that bow on down. Don't need 70lb to kill a deer. Do yourself a favor and save your shoulder.
Will temps in the low 50s keep the meat alright over night? I know I will probably need to cut out all the stuff near the guts but I'm hoping the rest will be good Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had a similar experience with gut shot on a doe Saturday night. Fortunately, she bedded down in range and I put a second arrow in her lungs. She dropped back into the first bed and laid her head down. I thought she was done and climbed down after 10 minutes of watching her lay there. Three steps from the doe and she jumped up and ran 20 yards with her stomach hanging out the side. I backed out and waited an hour. When I found her head stomach and intestines were 10 yards from her body. She had started rolling down a hill, leaving her guts at the top. It is amazing what they can survive. Your doe is dead and you will find her close. Just go slow and be patient.
With that temp, being gut shot, along with probably being dead for a long period of time (more than 8 hours) that meat is marginal at best. Probably ruined.
I once shot low on a deer from a good elevation and it ripped her open just like that, she went running by me and went down 5 yards into the phrag.
Did a grid search for hours yesterday with my two buddies after giving it an hour of trying to track her any further, searched every water source and she was no where to be found, by mid day it was in the mid 70s, really frustrated about this, I also went and go my bow tuned turns out my strings have stretched causing my nocking point to rise. The bow tech said that is probably was is causing the non pass throughs to happen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
