As the title says, yesterday AM I unintentionally shot a big bodied nine pointer in the ham/hip, quartering away. He took off fast, arrow sticking out as far as I could watch him. I got down and out. I thought I might have hit gut, so after six hours I did a small search for my arrow, finally finding it intact about 150 yards from the shot. The 125 g montec was covered in flecks of meat, and appeared to only have penetrated 2 inches. There was also one white hair on the broadhead. I backed out for a few more hours, then went back and picked up the trail. No blood to speak of, just heavy prints. 60 yards from where I found the arrow I think I spooked him, now 7-8 hours after the shot. I found one bloody maple leaf near where he was bedded. I tried to track him a little bit further from there, finding the same heavy tracks on a dirt road 30-50 yards uphill from the bedding spot. It's now been over 24 hours after the shot. I have a few ideas about where an injured deer would seek cover, but I'm wary of disturbing the woods even more with the rut heating up. I saw seven does and four younger bucks this AM from the same tree, and I know there are other mature deer in the area. Help! Dan
First, Thanks for being honest. I can't stand it when people tell half truths. Second, By what you described the buck will live. It's not at all ideal and as sick as it makes us, it's an unfortunate truth to bow hunting. Third, Do you know why you missed? should you check you bow for tuning errors? did you arrow fly straight? Did you hit a limb? I think you should get your bow out and hit the target a few time with the broadheads on and see what's up. Mistakes happen, the best thing to do right now is to make sure it doesn't happen again.
If it was square in the hind quarter it is grim to be honest. Sometimes if you hit the hind quarter high you may catch the artery. But 2 inches in a hind quarter is not much. Did you find evidence of gut? The only possible good from this is that as long as he does not get a bad infection he should survive. Sorry. Maybe you'll him again chasing does. Deer are amazing creatures when it comes to surviving.
The conventional wisdom is to push hard on a muscle hit. Having said that, your chances of a recovery are slim.
I would say that the deer will most likely recover. You might see him chasing does again soon. If you have no sign to go on, it's pretty tough, especially the further that a deer goes. The way you described everything, my gut tells me that deer is still alive and well. If you don't see him alive again, about the only thing to do is search again in the winter/spring when it's time to shed hunt.
I would suspect, by the info given, that was not a fatal hit. If you only got 2" of penetration into the large muscle, not much chance it penetrated the guts. As long as he doesn't get an infection he will probably be fine. Infection could get him though. A few years back, I walked up on a really nice 8pt. He was bedded down in a brush pile. I drew my bow, and waited for him to stand up, which he did not do. I took a step closer, and saw that he was struggling and could not stand. After a while, I realized he was never going to stand and there were coyotes close in the area. I went ahead and put him out of his misery. After inspecting him, I found a bullet entry and exit wound in his skin behind the front leg. There was no internal damage, and it didn't even appear to have even hit the muscle. I cut him open and he had gang green all over in that area.
Thanks for all the responses! I forgot to mention that I was shooting a 53 # recurve, so much less KE than you might be imagining with a compound. I'm not entirely sure why I missed...the deer may have turned from quartering away to nearly facing away as the arrow was in flight. I was quite confident in my shooting skills, having shot a doe earlier in the season at twenty yards, and practicing regularly. When I miss I usually miss a couple inches to the left, and this was a bad miss to the right to get ham. Cold fingers? Cold bow? Really unfortunate! I've been pretty eaten up about it. (Did I mention it was a big deer, like one of the biggest Ive seen around here? Argh.) I couldn't find anymore trail today, but by the steep terrain he covered yesterday the leg must be working okay. I just never saw any blood besides what was on the arrow and what was on one leaf that I figure got stuck to the wound when he bedded the first time. No blood in tracks that I could see or anything like that, definitely no spray. I'm really hoping he's out bedding does, and that I'll get a chance to make things right later this month. In related news, my quest rogue 70# 29" came today, so I don't expect to be making this mistake again. Thanks again for all the help, that was like my second post, I really appreciate the warm welcome!
Don't know what to say here. Good advice from Cable Bob. Just a warning though... concentration is crucial when shooting at bigger animals that tend to impress us. You've got to keep those eyes glued on the target through the shot. Many times we lose focus and try to watch our arrow which usually breaks our form at the point of release. This can send arrows sailing wildly with any type bow, especially with traditional gear. Many disagree but I have found that if I can see my arrow within the first 20 yards... I am doing something wrong during the release.
