This last Friday morning i was out and had my shooter, a 140-150 inch 5x5, at 20 y. As i drew back the rubber tube that connects to my peepsight broke and caused me to not be able to see through the peep sight. I panicked, this would have been my second and biggest bow deer, and tried to align it the best i could. And i made a bad shot. The shot was middle of B for height and i believe 5 for L-R. I know for a fact that i hit a Rib hard because i heard a snap and the arrow stopped immediately. I thought i got good penetration, but looking back on it i believe i only got 6" penetration if im lucky. Waited 3 hours to be safe then started tracking... tracked it for 1.5 miles and only ever had dark blood and little at that. 1 or 2 drops every 5-10 yards. We lost the trail 5 hours later. I spent the next 2.5 days walking 30 miles searching every crick within 2 miles and never found anything. If he is dead i have him narrowed down to a .5x.5 mile corn field thats still standing and very very wet, Or he is still alive. What is you guys's opinions on this is it worth walking the corn field this upcoming weekend if i dont get a trail pick of .. i know by know if he is dead he has been eaten by coyotes but i would still tag him and do what i can...
I am assuming you were in a tree stand. B 5 broadside with only six inches of penetration gets you maybe a piece of one lung. Not much to go on, if you had an angle your not much better, if your not at 5 and more towards 3 or 4 even worse. If your more like b6 or 7 your in the abdomen cavity, and unlikely you got only 6 inches of penetration. My guess is this, your higher and further in then you thought, the deer didn’t bed up, you have no indication that it’s a fatal hit and while he may succumb to his wound it won’t be quickly. Furthermore you need figure out what’s causing you to only get 6 inches of penetration, because quite frankly it’s not acceptable and unnecessary.
Alright thank you... i dont know why i only got 6 inches of penetration this time. Im using an older bow that has had good pass threws in the past. I'm pretty damn sure i hit a bone because there was a loud snap on impact and the arrow stopped immediately. I never found the arrow but i could see it in him as he ran off.
Yea, that’s why I think you hit something more solid then a rib, sounds more like you got some shoulder. We all been there! Keep at it!! And good luck!
Unfortunately this is the second time this same peepsight breaking issue has cost me a nice buck. Ive been mulling over upgrading bows for the last year and this is just going to accelerate the procress... here is a pick of the buck btw
A tubeless peep would serve you well. If your were near by I would set it up for you. Nice buck for sure.
Hopping for some better weather to keep chasing this guy, with it being an hour and half to get across the line to this spot I been picking my spots. Two quick sighting of him and couple half ass pictures ….then I moved a cam into spot I thought he was coming thought. Second night in got this picture. Despite distant fleeting sightings I have yet to get a daylight picture of him.
Damn hopefully rut kicks him into the daylight. This buck was weird i have 1 pic of him at night. But i have 8 different pics of him in the daytime.
I used to always change out the tubing yearly back when I used a peep aligner. Still run the risk of it being damaged and then snapping under tension though. If a rib stopped your arrow you definitely have some equipment/setup issues. Bow way out of tune, really light arrows, arrows too light for a large expandable broad head. But it could also be what trial153 suspects and you hit the scapula and not as far back as you think. It would be pure speculation from us as to whether it is a fatal wound or not. I've been amazed by what injuries they can survive and equally amazed at what seemingly small injury can kill them. It sucks how it feels, we've all been through it. Best you can do is what you're doing, keep checking around (watch for birds). We had a member here shoot a deer back too far, commonly they die within 12-14 hours from a gut hit, it lived for 17 days! You just never can tell.
I’m curious, you said that you had an equipment issue with your peep site and couldn’t see out of it…why shoot? Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
He said he panicked. I can see that happening in the heat of the moment. Not sure how much bowhunting he has under his belt, but I know myself after 30 years I still do dumb and impatient things at times and it has and does cost me. Granted I don't make a lot the mistakes I used to but I ain't perfect either, and sometimes I let the moment get me.
I've bow hunted for maybe 5 years. Shot 1 deer so this was 100% panic. I didnt straight up guess where i shot... i moved my head up so my eye was above the peepsight, and lined everything up with the string but in the heat of the moment i forgot that adjusting my anchor and eyeline up would cause my aimpoint to be higher. In other news HE LIVES...... just got a pic of him coming into the treestrip this morning.
I'm sorry about your tough luck. If you watch the various hunting shows, the guys and girls who hunt for a living make many horrendous shots. We have all made bad shots. I made a terrible shot last season on a 180 class buck. Fortunately, he lived and I have seen him a lot this fall on-camera. I read somewhere that on 90% of bad shots, the deer live. I have no way of knowing if that is accurate, but deer have such a will to live, they do miraculous things. Now, I'm curious about why you have one of those damn peeps with the little hose on it to start with? They are unnecessary, dangerous (I know of someone who lost a eye to one) I often think Archery Shops should refuse to sell them) your peep will align perfectly if installed correctly without the stupid damn surgical tubing! Relax, there's a good chance your buck survived.
