well after a great opening day and a nanny whacking opening AM and seeing some deer in the PM, I felt great. I went yesterday PM and saw nothing, but that's ok, first time in that area and the wind wasn't exactly right after I got in..tonight I had a good game plan and was set up in plenty of time for the PM hunt. at 6:30 pm I had 2 does come in and I was hestitant to shoot, i wasn't sure that I wanted to just yet, still had good light and there were some nice bucks here in past few days..so anyway, I give it a few minutes and remembered that the land owner wants all deer killed, neighborhood going up. so i waited for a perfect shot and was blessed with a broadside looking away 22 yd shot. I drew, settled the pin and released. the doe squated and haul tail...no crash at all, just pure run..so Im looking at my arrow from the stand and I see no blood on the white feathers. I climb down at dark and see nothing but white hair on the fletchings, no blood on them at all......I searched for blood, hair, guts, pee, crap anything I could find and nothing....just white hair on the fletching...I don't know what happened really, but I know I shot under her and thankfully it was not a mortal hit that I can tell. ..this is the first deer I have missed in 5 yrs!! I was getting cocky so I think this will be a lesson to me.
Landon, I hunted all day in the rain on opening day of gun season with my bow last year. The last 20 minutes of sunlight I get a slam dunk of a shot on doe at 7 yards....She is on alert. I draw silently. I settle the pin and.....shoot right over her back! I had been up since 3:30am and some 14 hours later after all the suffering in the freezing cold rain I miss! LOL
yeh I looked all the way to the botton of the ravine which was about 60 yds, but unlike Christine I had no blood on my arrow at all....her arrow had some blood on it.. yeh i smelled it, smelled like flesh a little, but no meat on the arrow.. just white hair. She bolted pretty fast and the ravine was only about 5 yds away, so when she went down in it I couldn't tell ya which way she went. I really couldn't tell where she ran through the leaves either..Im thinking I may have shot just ub=nder her belly or more likely her brisket and onlt sliced the flesh..I will return tomorrow and see what I can find, even though it's raining now, I gotta at least look in the day light....I hope Im right and it's just a flesh wound and she will heal fine.
BHF, I don't believe that is the case..I have had gut shots before and this doesn't seem to be the case...No gut smell on the arrow at least and no guts particles or anything slimey..just a slight fleshy smell. The fletchings were a bit ruffled up, not laid down like a pass thru, but like they met some resistance and puffed out, opposite of what you normally get..kind as if you took your hand and wrapped around the shaft at the knock and slid your hand down the shafts and brought the feathers against the grain
