Yesterday morning, I shot a legal buck but never found him. This is the first time that i have shot a deer and never found him. It made me feel awful. The shot: He was at five yards with being up 20 ft in the air. He was facing me with his head down. With it being so thick I only had one opening. I could see both of his shoulder blades so I decided to slip one right between them. SWACK. It looked like a great placement as he ran underneath me as i could see the arrow sticking out of him. He ran behind me to a thicket of trees and I heard the arrow snap off. Then he proceeded to run down the creek bed and never stopped and thats when i got worried. I waited a while before i got down and called my moms boyfriend who was hunting with me to come meet me. I found the arrow exactly where i heard it about 10-15 yards from my tree. With the broadhead there was only 3 1/2 inches of penetration. With the broadhead being just a little longer than an inch. On the arrow there was absolutely no blood. Nor did i find a drop of blood after walking the whole creek and several thickets. I followed his tracks as far as there were there and not any blood near them. Yes I know the shot wasn't ideal. But at five yards only 3 1/2 inches of penetration? Did it hit a shoulder blade or lodge in the spine without paralyzing him? Anyways, it made me feel awful. My mom's boyfriend kept saying, everyone loses a deer, no big deal. But it still gets to me. Next question, should i switch from the Killzone coc to a fixed blade or did it have nothing to do with the broad head?
It does suck but it does happen, what arrow are you using and when was the last time your bow was tuned?
with speed comes lighter arrows with lighter arrows you have less penetration when you hit anything other than a rib.
It is your choice really. I hit a buck right in the middle of the shoulder blade with a mechanical this fall, I did not get a pass thru but I got thru both shoulders with a 450 grain arrow
True. I was already wanting to switch arrows anyways to bloodsport so i think this solidifies my decision. What grain would be suitable to my situation? 450 or higher?
It is a trade off speed vs high KE, I like heavier arrows because it makes the bow quieter, I also shoot mechanicals so that is another big reason I use a heavier arrow. Try and see if you can find somebody that shoots a heavier arrow and run it thru your bow and see how you like it.
You were doomed the second you decided to shoot a deer down through the back. Horrible decision. You have a lot of bone to shoot through and if you got lucky, you would have more than likely, would have hit only 1 lung. That's if you would have gotten more penetration. Then if you didn't go all the way through you wouldn't have had any blood trail for a long time because the blood would only be able to exit the top of the animal. You should have waited for a better shot or just enjoyed the experience. Sorry if I'm being hard but this one isn't a case of everyone loses a deer from time to time.
You're right, I should have waited. I knew i should have waited. Thats why i am beating myself up about it. I knew better. I let emotion take over my knowledge!
Then move on and don't worry so much about equipment. Your current arrow will blow thru deer with no problems on high percentage shots. That being said, going to a heavier arrow is a good thing IMO. But it doesn't give you free range to try shots that aren't high percentage. good luck.
Downward angle shot, light arrows and big cut mechanicals. Recipe for disaster. A single bevel fixed head and a 475-500 grain arrow would have most likely gotten full penetration out of your set up. But still that shot wouldn't be ideal no matter the set up. My arrows for my hog hunt are 514 grains with 150 grain helix broadheads. And my whitetail arrows weigh in at 465. My advice would be to change your arrow set up and take better shots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Honestly I don't see a need to change your arrows unless you want to. Use this incident to learn from and get better. I used to think the "straight down" shot was a no brainer and would kill a deer quickly. I never took that shot because the more I read about folks losing those deer, the more I didn't want my name added to that list. It always makes you sick to lose a deer you stick an arrow in, but worse than that is not learning from it when you do. The emotions are what keep us coming back and what make us wonder why we do. Hang in there, you'll get better.
I think we have all been there with a buck we would like to take but a less than ideal situation. I can name several, low light, shooting lanes not clear, or good shooting angles. I had the biggest buck of my life this year at fifteen yards, clear shooting lane, and was drawn back and pin centered but the buck was head on toward me. Oh, how I wanted to take that shot but I would not because I did not want to risk wounding that wonderful looking buck. He won that time fair and square and I waited for another day. Have I always done that, no, like you I have taken a questionable shot or two and learned the hard way about living to fight another day. You will learn from this experience and be better because of it.
Yeah it really comes down to the angle and shot selection. I am shooting 58# and my arrows weigh 377grns and I shot a buck a few weeks ago and the arrow was buried 6-8" in the dirt on the other side of the deer. I also shoot a QAD Exodus fixed blade so that helps. I do think I am going to build a 400 grn plus arrow for next year though. For the record at 366 and 68# you are dangerously close the recommended 5 grain per pound rule. I'm sorry you wounded and lost a deer. In 31 years of hunting I've lost 3, all early in my hunting career and all from either poor shot selection or pushing too soon. It does happen and is an unfortunate part of bowhunting; even with good shots it has happened to some folks. But what we can do to try and minimize it is take make smart decisions and make sure we have ourselves and our equipment working well (lots of practice, sharp broadhead blades, etc...). Good luck the rest of the season!
I understand that a bad shot can happen to everyone and if you shoot enough it is going to happen to everyone at some point or another. If we didnt take shots we should not or not have the piss poor attitude of your Moms boyfriend...it happens to everyone dont worry about it we wouldn't have as many of these threads.
