My months of hard work and planning panned out perfect..... Almost.. I had a big doe and a large fawn come into a mineral site. I had my hunters orange on because it's muzzle loader season here in ks. The doe came in saw my orange and starred at me in my stand for almost 2 minutes. When she went down to the minerals I drew my bow. She looked back up at me and I held for almost a minute then fired when she turned to look at the fawn. She was broadside and I made a great shot....except the split second I shot she ducked and turned into my arrow. It hit her directly in the middle of her neck. It was a 25 yard shot , 15 feet up, 55 pound bow, rage 2 blade. The arrow stuck in her neck and did not pass through. She hopped a fence and ran about 100 yards and I believe bedded down. I waited an hour and when I started to head that direction a neighbors dog came in and bumped her. I found 1 drop of blood at the impact spot and not another single drop (looked for 3 hours) I'm going to look again tomorrow but don't have a clue where to search with out a blood trail.. I'm sick about this BTW.. I did everything right and it all went wrong! I hate the fact that deer had/has to suffer longer than it should and I'm gonna feel worse if I don't recover her. Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated
That's a tough break. About all you can do is go out in the morning and do your best to find her. Hopefully she is dead. When you are looking if there is a water source nearby make sure you check there. MANY wounded deer go to water and more than once I've seen where coyotes got on the blood trail and ran a wounded deer into a pond where they died. Good luck.
Sorry my friend. Perhaps the tip hit bone. When you go back look for buzzards circling above. Don't give up yet...the blade may still cut an artery if the arrow strikes a tree or other object.
It happens. I shot a deer in the neck last year, still not sure how I missed that bad and she was dead seconds later about 50 yards from where I shot her. Sorry you didn't have the same luck. Hopefully you stumble upon her or she survived.
Neck shots are tough track jobs unless you hit something serious.I tracked one 300 yards with only a speck blood maybe every 15 to 20 yards and once the arrow fell out the deer bleed out. Dont give up on the track job shes probably out there some where.
Hey thanks for the advice and PM's. There are a few ponds in the area that I am going to check. I'm sure she is Coyote food by now but going to get a couple buddies to help me look later today. After a few messages and some thinking I believe I need to switch to fixed blades for dear and save the Rages for the turkeys do to my set up. I had a complete shoulder reconstruction 8 years ago from playing football.... Got screws and wire holding it together. I purchased an old cheap PSE bow with a 55lb draw because I didn't want to spend $600+ on a bow and find out I couldn't shoot properly because of my injury It has held up fine and I have become extremely accurate with it practicing 4-5 times a week for the last year. I will be buying a new bow with a heavier draw and way more speed for Xmas.
You definitely don't need a heavier draw to easily kill deer. Plenty of deer are killed every year with 50lbs. or less draw weight. You just need to use a good fixed blade head and make a good shot. Good luck.
I agree with fletch's above statement, no need for a heavier poundage unless you really want to shoot mechanicals then go for it!
waiting only 1 hour after a neck shot is not long enough. Should have waited 5-6 hours. I'd rather find her 6 hours later then risk bumping her. If you don't find her 6 hours after the shot, you weren't going to find her 1 hour after the shot.
I didn't specify very well. I went down after an hour to inspect the impact area. I figured if I hit an artery and there was major blood everywhere I would wait a tad bit longer. Or wait till morning if the blood trail was weak. The deer ran up a hill and into an area that there was 0 chance of it hearing me or seeing me check out the impact area.. At that time a dog started going nuts in the area where I heard the deer stop moving so I figured it bumped it. The owner was yelling at the top of his lungs to get the dog to come back. After all that I figured the deer had to be jumped for sure. Yelled for the guy and got no response, didn't want to go on his property and accidentally get shot. I am a long time turkey hunter with a shotgun but the last year I've spent close to 50-60 hours watching and reading as much as I can on the subject. Nothing has been more helpfull than the Bow Hunt or Die videos I binge watched. Todd has def been stressing giving enough time.
Tough break, and we have all make mistakes in our shot, or tracking. Just learn from them and get better each and every time out. I would agree that at 55lbs, you should change over to a fixed blade. Another tip is to wait until the doe is at ease. A deer that is on alert is ten times more likely to jump the string than one that is calm. She had seen you, she was still uneasy, even though she had went back to the mineral. Hopefully you are able to locate her and at least put your mind at ease even if she has become coyote bait. Good Luck.
I would stay away from Rage they don't penetrate well especially out of a lower poundage bow. Go with a smaller Mechanical Grim reaper 1 3/8th or Rocket steelhead. I personally prefer Rockets they will still fly great out of your bow and penetrate much much better
Neck shot isn't always lethal unless a major artery was hit and you would have known if one was right away.
Nope no luck, the cattle guy was on the property all day getting the last of the cattle rounded up and he didn't see anything either. LARGE FAWN - lol , It's what I call a younger small deer with its mom but doesn't have any spots. Is there a more correct way of saying it?!
Agree with mitchp21 above. In my experience, a neck shot can be lethal if you hit the spine or the main artery. If not, its probably not fatal. I've seen em shot right through the meat in the neck with no ill effects, other than a flesh wound. The only thing that doesn't make sense is the arrow not passing through. Good luck finding her, but I'd say odds are low. I had a deer turn almost all the way around one time right as I released my arrow. Got her, but it was lucky really. She turned around enough that I got vitals, entering on the opposite side I was aiming at. Crazy what they do sometimes. Don't beat yourself up. Try and find her and if not, learn and move on.
