Good point about sympathy threads. I for one think the OP should feel like crap about what happened and if they don't, they shouldn't be in the woods. I think these posts should be on a case by case basis. If a guy comes on here and admits he took a bad shot, beyond his range, bad angle, whatever, then yeah, he should get a virtual slap for doing so. But some of these posts are honest mistakes that could happen to anyone of us. Sometimes, crap just happens. The beauty of all of this is we really never know how much of these posts are truth and what has been modified or fabricated to make them seem less bad.
I posted something like this and then deleted it. IMO, how the thread is treated is based on who posted it and what the details are. If someone puts in their post anywhere phrases like "I threaded the needle" or "I only had a small window" ETC......flame away on them. (but keep it clean)
Absolutely, and I do respond to many of them in hopes of helping. Still, I am concerned about the increase in lost deer threads.
Patience, patience, and patience is the reason why we have lost arrowed deer. You must have the patience to take a good ethical shot and you must have the patience to give the animal sufficient time to expire on marginal hits. My buck Sunday was broadside at 40 and 32 yards, but it was also getting dark and visibility was not the greatest. Could I have shot him, yes. The chances of me wounding that deer though were greatly increased. I had to wait him out and was finally given my opportunity at 23 yards. The point is I was waiting for the right conditions and I wasn't going to force a bad shot. I also had to wait to track him too, about 12 hours from the time of the shot. That is HARD to do, but it is a must if you want to recover your animal.
Boom......its that simple. But a lot of guys are lazy and don't educate themselves on this. Don't we have a term for them? Oh yeah, slobs.
I think some posters view it as kind of a AA introduction. "Hi my names CowboyColby and I lost a deer" (bh.com members) "Hi CowboyColby" Ok it may be nothing like that but everytime I read one that is exactly what pops into my head. Like they have a problem and are admitting to it for help. (For the record I haven't been to AA or lost a deer yet but am sure it will happen and I don't know how I'll handle that)
It's no secret I'm not a fan of lost deer threads. I think the huge influx here is attributed to a bigger % of newer hunters along with the openess to post about it. Whether it's just becuase it's the internet, or there is a "culture" of hunter out that where wounding & not recoverying deer is just taken as a given. So commonly losing one is just accepted as that's how it is. There was a time back on the "old site" I started counting lost deer threads, that lasted a week because it was disgusting. If you did all you could and it turned out to be one of those things, sorry about your deer but why even post? If you knowingly made bonehead mistakes and it cost you, then expect to be slammed.
Good stuff these last few threads. Dan, you're correct. You can whoop on a guy that makes those statements in a decent manner. However, the OP's who make these posts need to realize their stupidity will be awarded accordingly and shouldn't get all offended by others being critical.
We all know practice is one main key but at the same time, it takes the experience of having deer in front of you to get better. In that I mean, its not the same when there is a live deer in front of you and the only way to get use to that feeling is to have them there. All boils down to experience. Heck we are not even sure if these guys know where to place a shot on a real deer. Maybe someone could do an article on where to shoot a deer. Do a pictorial maybe. Pictures of real deer in the woods with the area that should be targeted. It may not reduce it immediately but, if it helps one person it would be worth it.
The biggest error I see is if you make a marginal shot you need to WAIT before tracking looking or even peaking over the next ridge if you bump that deer you odds of recovery go way down.
Agreed Pat! You can not just go in for a quick look. That animal could be right where you last saw it.
I couldn't agree more with this and the fact of the rise of lost deer threads. I myself have been guilty of posting this thread last year in order for advice on what to do since gun season started the day after I shot my buck. I appreciated all the help and knowledge I received through this forum which I am now addicted to. I also believe one of the causes to the growing number of "lost" deer is due to not only sheer inexperience but also pure laziness. I have killed many deer with a bow and have only lost two in 15 years of bowhunting. I have never given up on finding a deer that I shot. The first buck I hit and couldn't find any good sign I let lay for the night and took to the trail the next morning. I found good blood. Then my arrow. I trailed the blood onto public ground and it led straight to a gut pile. Had one good guess on how it was made. My last deer I lost was last year a day before Illinois gun season. I let the deer lay overnight and I searched from sunrise to after sunset without luck. We are talking a good 15 hour day here. Not an hour or two like I've heard lately. I never gave up on that buck. I found him this spring right after the snow melted in the area I thought he was in. I then called the dnr and retained the correct permit to legally keep the deer. I have heard two counts locally of my actual supposed friends who shot good bucks this year and gave up after an hour. It's just pathetic!!! If you're going to shoot at it...shoot in your comfort zone. Take good shots not bad and for gosh sakes don't give up!!!! Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Staying calm during a stressful encounter is what bowhunting is all about. You have to control your nerves and select the proper time to draw and shoot, plus remain calm when you actually release the arrow. The more times one succesfully kills a deer with a bow, the more confidence they gain in their abilities and more importantly, they gain a better understanding of themselves. Here are two examples of knowing yourself. When I get stressed and get into that fight or flight mode, my hands tense hard. I tried the old "let the bow be loose in your hand and just let it fall forward after you shoot" for a few years. I could never master it because during a real hunting encounter I would tense my hands back up and would not have my bow tuned to that instinct, and would shoot poorly. Since discovering that about myself I got rid of that technique and instead just grip the bow with a strong left hand in both practice and in hunting situations. My bow is tuned to take that into account. I used to use a peep sight. I shot really good with it during practice, but in real hunting situations I would have a hard time acquiring my target through that peep sight. It would screw up my shots as I panicked to find my peep sight hole instead of focusing on the deer. The peep sight messed up my hunts on more than one occasion so I decided to take off the peep sight. I lost about 5-7 yards of range but gained a ton in confidence in the moment of truth as I can just pick up my bow, aim, and kill.
Is there an increase or does it just seem like there is to you? To me, it seems to be about the same (ratio) as any other year. Actually, I was thinking that there seemed to be a lot of first time hunters getting their first deer or first buck this year. Really, the best way to solve this problem is to shoot them with a gun. I mean, if you can just see a deer, you can kill it with a gun....right?
I have heard two counts locally of my actual supposed friends who shot good bucks this year and gave up after an hour. It's just pathetic!!! I wish this was all I have heard of this season in my area. I only know 3 hunters personally enough to talk to on a regular basis. Out of these 3 there have been 5 deer in my area this has happened with this season. When I told them how long I looked for mine (just over 5 hours total) They all said almost the same thing. What? If you can't find it in an hour it aint dead. I begged to differ with them all and then once I did, they didn't know what to say.
I agree w/Greg on this one. I'm sure if you took the time to count the number of successful threads versus lost deer threads, it would tip far in favor of success. Just look at the score card as a great example. Vito is just a Debbie Downer. Trying to make pass off his inability to kill a deer by bringing everyone else down.
I left my Garmin in the woods so the deer won't get lost anymore. I also marked where my tree stand is and hit destination for them :D
Like I said ...if EVERYONE that wounded a deer this year put a post up .... I bet it would be close .... and of course those that recover them post up the pics .... they aren't worried about feeling stupid .... unless they shoot bucks like mine or fawns :D
I agree. If your not in the "click" within the forums, people sure get crucified for not able to recover a deer or taking a shot they don't agree with. We're human, mistakes are going to happen and when it does you can bet most will try their hardest not to repeat it and learn from it.
