My best friend shot his first buck ever in the morning. I just started hunting 3 years ago and this is his very first year of hunting ever. Got his bow in June and now he is hooked for life! Now I hope we can share many more memories like this one down the road. It is great having someone close to enjoy all your hunting activites with. Now, on to the shot. What my friend thought was a quartering away shot was actually a slightly quartering to shot. He hit the deer perfect up and down. The deer was just quartering enough that it made the shot iffy. The arrow went through the entry side lung, straight through the liver, and exited through the belly. When he found the arrow and showed it to me I thought okay, quartering away, he hit guts on the entry and exited out the liver. Arrow was covered in guts and had a little bit of dark blood on the fletchings. Now, in reality, the arrow was most likely covered in blood on the entry and wiped with guts on the way out. Now the tracking part. We gave the deer 6 and a half hours to lay down and die. It was off and on showers here all day and I wasn't expecting much of a blood trail. We got on the trail and quickly lost blood, specs here and there. The area was about a 5 acre patch of hardwoods surrounded by thick briar patches. Then around the briar patches was all swamp for the most part. We knew he wouldn't leave that area unless he was pushed. Based on the fact that I was pretty sure liver was hit, we waited only 6 and a half hours. We basically just started at one end and went slow down to the other. After crawling out of a briar patch we came together in a spot and walked another 20 yards together. Thats when I spotted white belly!!! Laying right at the edge of the swamp there he lay. It was a great feeling for both of us. Upon further inspection, he actually hit the deer fairly well. The deer was stiff as a board when we found him and I'm guessing he died shortly after the shot. When we gutted him the evidence was right in front of us. One lung, destroyed the liver, and blew out the bottom of the belly. Thanks guys for all the helpful advice. By waiting we played it safe and it worked out great. Like they say, if the deer is dead its not going anywhere, so don't push it. It was a great day and the memories made will last a lifetime. Thanks again guys!!!
Great conclusion and thanks for sharing it with all of us... If I may, here's an article I wrote about tracking and recovery about 10 years ago in a post here, It's a sticky on another site and it may help you in the future.. If you want a link to the other site, PM me and I'll send it your way, it's LOADED with everyone giving very valuable information. Print it and it may help you and your new bowhunting partner for life. . http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?6877-Recovery-Thread
Congrats to your friend on his first buck. You guys did the right thing with waiting it out. It certainly pays to be patient. Well done.
Congrats to your friend & waiting it out. Liver hit deer can be tricky depending on how square you hit it. My buck ended up being a liver shot, I waited 4 hrs before tracking. He was stiff when I found him, but a wait was definitely the right call.
