My thoughts are out with Steve right now. I checked Minn is another stupid state not allowing dogs. Shame.
Sorry to hear that Steve. Hopefully you caught him better than you think. I'm pulling for you. Good luck!
I know your not being an ass, It's a good question Dan. We tracked him last night about 150 yards, I thought I had a chance at a high lung hit so that right there Is reason enough for me to track a deer or any deer. Update: Unfortunately I believe I have just lost my 1st deer. At 8:00 this morning I got back on the blood trail myself and an hour later my sister In law joined In on the search. We took him another 300 to 350 yards through standing corn, blood was easy tracking In there. Every where he walked corn was laying down or broke off from the spread on his antlers, that just dug the knife In deeper seeing that. From there he went Into some newly planted CRP that was lucky to be 6 Inches In height, never found another drop again. Winds were blowing pretty good too, makes It tough to find blood when them plants are whipping around constantly. Did a big grid search of the area on where I thought he would go, nothing there either. He never bedded once on the blood trail and blood loss was minimal for the most part. Once he started bleeding he bled good for a good 60 to 70 yards but after that he slowed up quickly, typical flesh wound hit If you ask me. I never did find the arrow but at times It sure looked like there was 2 holes according to the blood trail. One thing that I did gather from this Is I found dozens and dozens of huge beds which I'm guessing were all of his the last few weeks. I now know where this guy Is bedding most of the time so something good (kinda) came out of this. Thanks for all the "good lucks" everyone, much appreciated.
Sorry for ya man. I know the feeling. Went thru the same thing a couple of yrs ago. It'll stick w/you for a long time. I hope you find him. Good luck out there.
Steve we always say there are 2 types of Archery Hunters those who have made a less than desire-able hit and those that will...Given the time you've put into this sport, your record is indication of your skill and desire. No Shame, keep your head high, it's tough, we know. Best of luck the remainder of the season, you may well get another crack at him.
Hope he shows back up at the mock! Tough break, just another chapter in his book, eh? Hope you finish it this fall, I bet you do!
No shame at all Schultzy, you will meet back up with him and finish the job. If he were dead you would have found him.
Sorry to hear that Steve but it's bound to happen if you hunt long enough. Maybe you'll find him yet. Good luck to you.
Keep your chin up, Steve, the season's not over yet. I know that this is hard to take but don't let it get to you too much.
Sorry to hear you couldn't find him Shultzy. Are you gonna still go out and look for him? Remember Matt/PA's thread from a couple years back. That was very motivational for me when I made a poor shot on my 07 buck. Good luck buddy!
Steve, sorry to hear you couldn't find him. Hopefully it is just a flesh wound as you said and you'll get another crack at him later this year. I'm sure if you do, you'll put the smack down on him this time.
Well there certainly isn't anything we can say to make it any easier. Sorry man. Been there. Done that. I guess if there were a silver lining it would be the fact that not every hit is fatal. Tough break man.
Stinks, but I guess if there is a bright side, its that you probably did just flesh wound him. Hopefully you'll get another crack at him. Hang in there.
Sounds almost identical to the doe I shot last night. Thought I had a high lung hit, 4 of us searched for tiny droplets of blood in the reeds and cattails. Total amount of blood we found wouldn't make a good nosebleed. We determined that I probably got her through the loins. Arrow was stuck in her when she ran off (by the fletch) never found the arrow or the deer. Unlike you this wasn't my first injured deer, but I do lose sleep over it. I hate the feeling. You can take comfort in knowing if it was a loin hit the buck will most likely survive just fine. Get back in the saddle and get another one!
