Earlier this morning I shot and hit a buck. The arrow went in about 6-8 inches before it broke off. We found the blood trail and it was small at first but eventually we got on a really good bright red trail. We tracked this for probably 150 yards and then we noticed it was starting to become smaller and smaller. We eventually get to a creek and see tracks that he crossed and went up. At the top of the creek there was a small pool of blood from where it stood but we were not able to pick anything up after that he gave me his right broadside at 30 yards and I hit him a little high and a few inches back. Could've sworn I'd hit lung but we haven't been able to recover this deer. Its been 9 hours. Any advice?
How long did you wait until tracking? Any chance he was pushed? If not my advice is get a few buddies and search every inch you can from last blood.
U never know, maybe he'll turn up(hopefully sooner than later) Friend shot a unique monster buck, lost the trail, few months later neighbors found the skeleton & rack. Got it mounted and looks gr8! I don't know if I could wait very long to search for a big buck.
Honestly I am no expert at all but the best advice I have ever got about bow hunting was wait wait wait on the tracking now I won't even go look past where I shot it for at least 1.5 hrs if you didn't know for a fact you made a Good shot it's best to wait a few hrs. If you don't find it chalk it up as a lesson learned and move on....oh and I try not to have more than one person with me when I am on a blood trail, only after all else fails do I call for help
There's a sticky at the top of the forum. What to do after the shot. This is invaluable to have in your pack IMO. Here's the link. Print it out, fold it up, and stuff it in your pack. You never know when you might want to refer to it while you're sitting in a tree stand. http://forums.bowhunting.com/bowhunting-talk/52643-official-what-do-after-shot-please-read.html Just think to yourself when you're about to climb out of the tree stand. "What good can come from me leaving this tree stand too soon?" The answer is always...none. Dead is dead. He's not going to come back to life and start prancing around the meadow. Just wait. I'm not even necessarily typing this to the OP, but to anybody who might run into the situation. The only thing worse than the feeling of not putting a great shot on a deer is the sinking feeling you'll get when you know you're not going to find it. I truly hope you find it. Good Luck.
