Shot first deer with a bow!!! Help me confirm when to take up trail!

I agree with christine on this one, it happened to my brother last year, and we got it all on film. But the deer survived and was killed b a gun hunter later in the year.

 

If I were you, I'd be calling one of the tracking dogs that Rob provided. I've seen these dogs do some amazing things. 3-4 hours of looking is just scratching the surface IMHO. I'd give the deer another couple of hours, and then hit it again this afternoon with one of those guys that can help with a dog. The tracker will likely be able to advise you on what your next steps should be as well based on what you share. I've personally been on 3 tracks with a dog that were animals we couldn't find otherwise, and the dog recovered pretty quickly............they work.

I don't want to bash you, but when you saw the arrow looking like that last night you really should have backed out immediately and stayed out till today. Unless you hear the crash, and/or see a completely blood soaked arrow, it's always better to back out till the next day. Unless your up into the 70+ degree temps outside for an extended period of time, your meat will always make it.

 

It happens.

All you can do now is forget about it and go find another one.

It sounds like you did everything you could to try and recover her.

I don't think the deer would be edible at this point so I would just let the coyotes take care of it.

 

Gotta agree with both of these guys.

One a side note, not that it makes you feel any better, but I lost a 300#+ bear earlier this week. Had the shot and everything on video, so I knew right where I hit. It was quartering away and the shot was "nearly" perfect. Ended up shooting about 5-6" high. I thought for sure it was a dead bear, but I left it lay for 12 hrs. Found good blood the next morning for the first 125 yards and then it petered out quick. My heart sank. Followed it for 400+ yards where it started to go down towards a creek. Perfect I thought, it'll be dead in the creek. As soon as I thought that, it went straight up a big hill and bedded on a mossy rock. From there, no idea where it went. We looked and grid searched the swamp at the bottom of the hill, but nothing.

One thing I know, from my exoerience, is that bear die easier than deer will. I'm confident that he's alive and well out there, but it still bothers me that I lost an amazing animal. First time its happened in many years.

Keep your chin up and keep in the game......don't let it get to your head, it'll only cause future problems.

 

I think you are right Rick...but in his defense...right or wrong...some people in this thread advised him to go after her last night.

 

When it comes to tracking game, there is no better advice out there than this.

 

That's why I don't give advice anymore, becasue I am not there, see Jeff you did teach some of us

 

I did call the dog tracker people and never got a call back.

Last night I was very concerned about the meat being in those temps. One thing I have learned from you guys is that meat can make it overnight in 50 deg temps.

From what I was seeing at the end I believe this deer is still alive. I really do.

 

Sorry to hear you didn't find her man. That definitely sucks.

On the bright side, you just gained a bit more knowledge about hunting/tracking the elusive whitetail. Don't let this bring your confidence down.

Good luck!

 

Dude that sucks and yes I do know the feeling too...I lost my first bow buck. Did you bring others with you to look? The good thing about this is one person can stay by last blood until another spot is found and then preceed forward. Either way she is spoiled by now, but if you could find her at least you could get pics with your first bowkill

By the looks of that blood I would definately think you have a dead deer...looked like lung and liver hit! IMHO

I hope you find her man!

 

If it was lung and liver hit, he would have found it.

 

Yea i totally agree, my doe last year was a high ling liver shot and i heard her fall only about seventy yards away, also i was only shooting 50lbs at the time and didn't get a pass through. Just curoius, what broadhead were you using?

 

Not necessarily ... my brother arrow a buck that he single lung liver hit ....he thought it was a good hit, but the buck was alive AT LEAST 1 1/2 hoiurs later when I jumped him upon tracking .... he ran at least 200 more yards ...he crossed the road ..we lost the blood and went back to eat lunch ....as we are sitting on the tailgate, a guy drives over and asks if any of us killed a 6 pointer .... the buck was about 100 yards off the road on the other side ..... we carefully scoped out the hiy ...single high lung, top of the liver....

A single high back lung is a possibility ...

 

G5 Striker

 

Alright, was just wondering if maybe you had a mechaical not open or something.

 

That happens???

 

One more thing I learned is my arrow should be blood soaked and to question the integrity of the hit if it is not. I'm just rambling with my key board right now.

For those of you that think I should take the trail up again just to find the deer. A. I looked and looked for a place where the deer entered the other side of the road and could find anything. B. The property I hunted was a small 30 acre parcel. All smaller private ~40 acre parcels surrounding it. The only way I would have a chance would be a dog at this point. If the guy calls me back I will ask him if he wants to come out for a doe that the meat is no good but I won't expect him to. C. The blood was so minimal at the end I don't think we would have much to go on. D. I think that deer is alive and this was just a good flesh wound.

 

I'm going to ask this again. Did you have any water-proofing agent on your fletching?
(if you answered it before, I missed it) If not, then you should have had more blood on the fletch with a vital hit. Sometimes the fletch isn't soaked, but there's more than your arrow showed.

Did the arrow make a 'whack' or a 'thump' when it hit the deer? Was the arrow greasy at all?

It's almost useless to try and guess what happened with your deer from my keyboard here in IL... but I think it was neck or backstrap hit. If that's the case, the deer is still alive and probably will heal.

'Meat' hits sometimes hardly bleed at all, other times there's profuse bleeding for the first 150 yards or so. It just depends entirely on what vascular structures in the muscle were cut. Vessels vary in size in all tissue. This is why a liver hit deer will sometimes go down in seconds and other times, live for hours.

 

here's some feathers from a heart/lung hit.


Two more (blood is dried on these)

Top one is a lung/liver hit. Bottom is lung/heart.

 

No waterproofing on the feathers. I don't recall the sound when it hit the deer. I agree. From what I have seen while tracking gun shot wounds, this deer is alive.