Here's the scenario: You are on an evening sit with roughly 15 minutes of shooting light left. A deer (any deer) enters your lane at 20 yards, perfectly broadside. Draw back, let it fly and your arrow passes through just in front of the hind quarter (intes. The deer bounds off a few yards and then tucks it's tail, head down, hunched up and walks dead away from you. The deer then enters some brush and pops out 75 yards, completely in the open... no obstructions. No right or wrong answer.
I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to where to aim at 75 yards to be honest. I'd stretch to 60 but no farther...any farther (hell likely even at 60) and all I'd be doing is pushing him further by spooking him. I'd let him bed back up again and hope for the best.
Well, I never claimed to be the worlds greatest shot, so I probably won't let another arrow fly as it will spook the deer more. I'd rather back out for 8 hours and let it lay down and die, without more disturbance.
Back out and come back 6 to 8 hours later. (If I am absolutely sure of that particular hit.) 75 yd shot? Well, if that was an option you were implying, No Way.
Boy that's a tough call. If I have an adjustable slider style sight with a good sight tape on it, and range finder, I'm shooting again. I know I can make the shot if I have the yardage and a dead on pin to hold with, I've done it countless times on 3D targets and I'm confident I could pull it off. I would NEVER shoot that distance though at an uninjured animal. With that said, I typically only have a 50 yard pin, so I'm not exactly sure where to hold at that distance. I would probably NOT shoot with my current equipment out of fear that I would bump the animal and cause him to go further. I would back out and come back in a good 12+ hours. I had this exact same scenario unfold 4 years ago, except it was a buddy that shot the first arrow in the buck. He ended up quite a ways out but I had a pin for the number, a range finder, and plenty of time to get myself collected and good footing for the shot. I put one right in his heart and he only made it another 10 yards or so, I was lucky to have the chance to end it quickly for the deer.
The gut shot is a fatal wound. That said, assuming I am in a treestand (I hardly hunt from the ground) I am putting another arrow in that deer at the short distance and trying to get to a single lung on either side of the spine. That's just me.
Whatever it takes to put another arrow in the deer. It's a dead deer and if I can make the track job shorter or irrelevant. I'm doing it. I'm doubting a second shot, even a miss is going to push that deer any further otherwise. It's mortally wounded and will bed. Again, however. No wrong answer as in that scenario, we're all answering about a dead deer walking.
I'm shooting too, be it the short one or the long one. When the deer is slowly walking away, there is a lot of stuff you can hit... all of which is going to help your cause. Rob I agree about "spooking" the deer more... Highly unlikely IMO.
that is a very very long shot..i was shooting at 50 this weekend..pretty consistant kill shots...but 70 ...so far...
I'm probably going to take the shot. If I hit something it's going to help the cause. If I miss I don't think I spook it to bad. A few years back I gut shot a doe. She stood at 50 yards and I took the shot, and missed. Found her that afternoon about 100 yards away.
I hope I'm never in this position, and, I hope non of you are, as well. The first shot will likely kill the deer, however, it will suffer. The deer does not know it was "shot", if just knows something hit it and its hurt. Weighing my options on retrieving the animal, I may let it go. But, I know that I can make the 75yard shot as long as I can see well enough. I practice out to 70 very often. So, I'm probably going to re-engage. I'd empty my quiver in order to do what I could to keep an animal from suffering. Like I said, I hope non of us encounter this situation, ever.
Tough one I will shoot if I think I can hit it and it may help the situation. In this scenario you gave anyway. Don't really know unless I had the view of the shot, deer and everything in front of me to help make my decision.
