I’ve been rolling this around in my mind for a bit and wanted to get some feedback from fellow bow hunters. Do you let shot placement on a deer that you killed brother you even though you killed the deer? I’ll give you my example. I’ve had a great year and shot my biggest buck to date back in the beginning of Nov and just shot a nice doe two days ago. Both deer were put down with some poor shots that I’m not proud of and can only hope to learn from and move on but they are still nagging me. I spine shot my buck at 25 yards and hit the doe way back in the guys on a quartering shot. She ran 100 yards out of sight and died 30 minutes later. I must’ve hit an artery or something but I definitely got lucky. Anyway, how do you take what should be extremely proud moments, moments that you’d love to replay in your mind as successes but also at the same time have a bit of a tarnished feel to them because of poor arrow placement. I want to be happy and believe me I am but at the same time I just hate the fact that these deer weren’t double lunged and dropped 60 yards later. I know I know , it’s Bowhunting but that doesn’t make things better after months and months of practicing and shooting better than I ever have. All feedback is appreciated. Good luck out there Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I know exactly what you're referring to. I've spine shot a few deer over the years, and yes it makes you think you didn't do things right, but if it results in a quick kill I'm OK with it. Usually a spine shot deer requires a finishing shot, but the deer usually doesn't suffer for very long, if at all. You just have try to get better shot placement on the next deer. I'm still proud of ANY bow kill.
This season has reminded me of how difficult bow hunting actually is. I have taken four shots at deer and missed completely on every one of them. Two ducked my arrow and the other two were my fault (hit a tree limb I didn't see and then had a new equipment issue) which has resulted in no deer for me yet. There are just so many things that can happen in a shot - deer moves, adrenaline gets the best of us, tree limbs, shooting from an awkward position, having to hold a draw for a long time, etc. When I look at the professional videos of many hunters who will undoubtedly miss or have a less than stellar shot placement once a season or so, I imagine this is even more common for the rest of us. I think we practice as much as we can and then celebrate when we are able to shoot and recover our deer, no matter where we hit it. At least that is my opinion and I will hopefully still get a chance to do so this season.
I know the feeling but I get over it quick and chalk it up to gaining experience and striving to improve. I shot 2 deer: one was a single lung which I jumped the deer while tracking 1 hour after the shot.... probably took 1-2 hours total to die. I consider that a "decent shot". The other was a spine shot, which I wasn't proud of, but with a second arrow it was dead within a minute of me seeing it. Seems to me that this is technically more ethical since it died so fast.... but I wouldn't try to repeat it. Personally, I just replay the situations in my head to sort out what went right and what went wrong hope that one day I'll be a knowledgeable hunter. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
None of that matters except the shot. You wanted to hit the deer in 1 spot, but hit in a different spot. Understand why that happens, practice the correction, and make the next shot. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
nothing can replace experience the more experience a person has the better they will become, Yes feel bad, BUT move on and learn from the experience
Hunt long enough you will learn that even a perfect shot when released can drastically change if the deer moves. Only if I force a shot would it bother me - too long a shot, too much cover, or too dark. But just the fact of a gut shot would not bother me unless I was intending to take a gut shot. Which of course I wouldn't.
Thinking about this a little more, if there were a choice, I would much rather spine a deer than gut shoot one. There's never a tracking job with a spine shot deer, and it's always recovered. I try to avoid both.
there's guys on Sportsman's Channel that got famous recovering deer after piss-poor shots. Usually after yelling "smoked 'im!" in all seriousness; there's no shame in making a bad shot- only taking them. Other than good shot selection all you can do is be practiced and prepared. At the end of the day you are shooting a sharp pointy stick at a very alert prey animal. Things happen- count your blessings you recovered them both and learn from the experience.
Personally speaking.....if someone can write off a bad shot merely because you recovered the animal than that person should examine themselves pretty intently whether hunting is for them or not. I can in detail remember on what deer I've made less than good shots....will never leave me.
Thanks for all the replies. You all make great points and have lifted my spirits. It’s so true that when you hunt long enough you’re going to see all kinds of results even when you think that pin is hovering over the vitals and the shot breaks just right. I agree for sure that a spine shot is much much better than a gut shot. After a follow up, the deer expires in a minute or two. Gut shot deer, well we know that can be hours and hours and it just tears ya up. I think the silver lining in all of this is that I’m just going to shoot even more now and I was shooting quite a bit this entire year. I never really stopped shooting and I extended my range all the way out to some long distance shooting to tighten up my 20 and 30 yard groups but foam is foam and live animals are a completely different ballgame. Like one of you said “I’m still proud of anything I take with a bow.” Now to get back to shooting! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I think even the most experienced bow hunter can occasionally make a bad shot, as others have said there are so many things that can go wrong with little twigs or branches or just nerves and on and on. I have, in my youth and inexperience taken a couple of questionable shots, wounded the deer and not recovered leaving the deer to suffer. After each of those experiences I felt horrible and it literally took me days to get over it and I still think about them. I learned from those experiences and today I just will not take a low percentage or questionable shot even if it means not getting a shot. 3 seasons ago I was drawn back on the one deer I was hunting for (150+ inch 8 pointer), been in the stand for days and he finally appears at 13 yards but he was facing directly at me. I didn't shoot and never saw the deer again. Oh how I wanted to but I would not because most likely I would have wounded him and never found him and I would have kicked myself forever over it. So I look back at that and still say I am glad I didn't shoot at that deer. I have had other encounters similar that I have done the same. If you are doing all you can do as a bowhunter, you equipment is in good shape, you have practiced adequately, the deer is in a good position and you take the shot and something crazy happens just know that occasionally it does happen and you did the best you could do, it still bothers me but there is consolation in the fact that you were prepared and executed as best you could at the time. I had an acquaintance that told me one time "You can't kill them unless you shoot at them" while that is true I would much rather only shoot at them when I am confident I can make a clean, ethical kill. The animal deserves that respect and so do you.
No one makes anyone take a bad shot. I make an effort to take what I consider a killing shot, a direct line to the vitals inside 30 yards, if elevated , 15-16 ft. max. at a relaxed deer.
I think as "real" bowhunters, its a good thing to work to make the best shot possible, to perfect it. But I also feel like we can't be so hard on ourselves. Sure, if you're constantly losing deer because of bad shots thats one thing, but if you're recovering them with an hour of the shot and the deer aren't making it very far, then you're doing it right.
