Fletch, I read it, and like I said, I don't know what happened...but how many times have we read on here lately thatsomebody shot a deer and lost it, but after 2 hours of looking they saw the deer playing in a meadow of wild flowers??? I truly hope that he did see her, and that she is fine, but I have read far too many of these stories over the past couple years, and there have been way too many people just chalking it up as an growing experience. Sometimes a cold hard slap of reality is needed. I can still remember a lot of the comments way back on "the other board" after my second lost deer and trust me, they make my comment look like a pat on the back. It sucked to read what some people said, but it also made me rethink about my shot selection, and how to handle everything after the shot. I learned to put the blame on myself as it made me focus on correcting the problem no matter what the shot looked like. I haven't lost a deer since. Some shots were perfect, others weren't, but I always thought about what I had done and what steps I needed to do to make sure I didn't lose the animal. We have let personal feelings get in the way of telling people that they made a mistake and need to change what or how they are doing something. I have seen one former member of this board lose more deer in a two year period than most lose in a lifetime, and he was always given a "you'll get'em next time" because he was well liked by a lot of people and nobody wanted to give him constructive criticism. If you keep hearing "it's okay, it happens" it won't force you to make sure that it doesn't happen.
Although I may express it a little different I was thinking many of the same things reading this. Its the TV show syndrome of stating something after the fact for PR. I truly hope he did see the deer but almost every thread ends that way now. From many years of hunting it is extremely rare to encounter that same deer again especially that soon after a shot looking almost unhurt "playing in a meadow of flowers". Not saying it didn't happen here just stating as many have sometimes its better to admit our mistakes and learn from them as appose to covering them up or making excuses.
Glad the deer isn't too banged up, though I'm sure your confidence is. Next time, make sure you're equipment is sound and ready to go. There is nothing worse than having equipment go wrong while in the woods. I'm always checking my equipment, bow, treestands, etc., to make sure nothing is out of whack. Helps the confidence greatly.
Not jumping to conclusions either, but the OP posted he had poor shot placement on "another" doe, if memory serves me didn't he hit and lose one last week as well? If that is the case then he needs to not take his wife out but spend more time in the backyard shooting because he is doing something wrong. Have I missed deer? Yep. Hit one and lost it? Absolutely! However 2 in two weeks? Something is a miss with that situation. Maybe reshoot to verify everything is on and still hitting the mark before heading back out and wounding another. This may sound harsh, but hey, that's life, and the truth!
What I meant by ANOTHER doe was she was my second one I shot this year. My first doe dropped a few yards away from where she was hit. I'm pretty sure you have me confused with another person. I guess I should have updated this thread. I ultimately harvested her on the 15th of October. The stand was re-welded, straps tightened down, I shot my bow to make sure my sights weren't off just like a responsible hunter would. Although if you need to say aggravating things to a guy who was obviously in a crisis to be the coolest dude on the forum then it's no problem to me. Granted it was inattentiveness on my part to not try to stress my stand in all directions to make sure it was entirely secure. So all is well, she's in the freezer preceded by another and followed by one more. I guess I'll remember not to post any mistakes on here again lol!
