You're penalized with needing another 50" on your buck Chit happens, if anyone tells you they've never lost/bad shot a deer they're either lieing, haven't hunted long enough or have never shot a deer. Mistakes are the best lesson learner in life, if you can't learn from them you are bound to repeat. Shake it off, evaluate what you may have done wrong, if anything, adjust and succeed.
Ive had my share of bad shots and enough to learn from but this one just eats at me. 1. Is it wasn’t a risky shot. 20 yards quartering away. 2. I’ve always been good at tracking a hard to find deer. But this ended on a newly bought neighboring property that I don’t have communication with. Just won’t walk were I don’t have permission. 3 She didn’t act like a liver shot deer. When I climbed down and picked up my arrow, it was blood soaked.(clean pass thru). It’s when I ended up 60-80 yards into the track when I started to see wet bile looking stuff in the blood. I walked a lot looking for her but believe she ended up in the thick stuff next door. So I’m a little sick that I lost her this way.
She is dead. Liver into backside lung. While the single lung shot is not always fatal, the liver shot is. Same thing happened to me once. Buck ended up on a property that I didn’t have permission on that was a giant swamp. He ran into there to bed down and die but I couldn’t follow. Just have to bite the bullet and either explain the situation to the neighbors and hope for the best.
I agree. I am told they bought this property for hunting. I wanted to buy it but just couldn’t. So I hope I can meet up with them just to have a good relationship.
One thing I never managed to do. Tried to be cocky once and shoot one in basically the trachea while it was walking straight at me. Got a bunch of wing feathers and 35yds of blood but no recovery. Their beady little eyes are worse than deer at catching movement, worse as in for me.
It was a hell of a day in the woods that’s for sure. Appreciate all the congratulatory messages, team
Sat for 4 hours this morning. Red fox, squirrels, and a handful of rope dragging turkeys. Am a touch disappointed, as the wind was right and had a really cool morning. Should have been perfect. “Hunting, not killing”… Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
11 days till I can get back out for general season. My last remaining camera is picking up more camouflage than Camp Pendleton (Marine base near me) and not a single buck. With little time left to scout for new areas I'm relying on door knocking and my connections with forestry and wildlife partners. I feel the itch of not being out in the trees. I'm irritable, short fused and aloof in the clouds. The mountains are calling, I must go.
