Took my shot at an 8
Massachusetts
Thoughts? 15 yards arrow snapped
No bubbles, only blood I have found so far. He took off for about 50 yards and stopped. Stood there for a minute then slowly walked on tail down, this blood is a good 200 yards from where was hit
Was he hunched over at all when he walked off? That might indicate gut shot, in which case he would likely bed right down of he wasn't pushed. If half the arrow is still in him it's probably plugging the blood. Where did it look like you hit him?
He was quartered towards me shot looked a bit high just behind shoulder from a high Angle. Found this were I saw him first stop. No bubbles.
Where is this blood at point of impact or on the blood trail. It honestly isn't much.
Blood trail, where he first stopped. arrow broke off at about 4” in. Dont have a good feeling considering the lack of blood further down his trail.
I just left, heading home to put a belt on so my pants stop falling down and waiting a bit.
Where are you located? And do you have anyone to give you a hand looking?
strongly consider waiting the night. no sense in pushing him...
Going to mark spots on gps then head home.
Going to mark spots on gps then head home.
Quartering towards shot with 4” penetration yikes. I once shot a deer quartering to with a high powered rifle and the bullet exited the hip and it took a second shot to put it down. Never will take a quarter to shot again. Good luck hope it is a good outcome.
Carpediem I am next door in Groton and can give you a hand tomorrow if you don't have help.
Jack
Carpediem I am next door in Groton and can give you a hand tomorrow if you don't have help.
Jack
Thanks petrops! I’ll def take you up on it tomorrow. I’ll pm you my number
Thanks for the info spike!
Quarter to with a bow.......you know better....
Well, let's just see what hw winds up with. IT's bright red, that's an artery so chances are it's bled our, but filled the cavity with no exit hole. I think he has a fair chance of finding it not too much past where he found blood. At least I'm hoping so! Good luck and let us kow how it's going. Maybe do it as a live hunt and give us the play by play so we can armchair quarterback for you!
C'mon proline. Put yourself in the moment. There are plenty of people that make good 1/4 towards shots.
I now know the quarter shot isn’t good, regretted it after the fact, but then again, Only my 5th season, so def still a noob ;) got the last known blood marked on the gps and headed back home. Chatted with deanman for a bit and he gave me tons of great advise and feeling optimistic.
Thanks for all the help boys!
PM'd you. We are quite a ways away, but willing to help out soon as we can get there Your about 77 miles away as the crow flies, but I don't have a helicopter. Reach out Sir
You got this... At 15 yards I'd take the shot. Just me being honest. I made a bad shot last year 1/4 towards and I hit the shoulder more than likely the scapula. I never did find the deer. It was the first deer i never couId find and learned by my mistakes . So I studied the deer Anatomy and I know now where to aim and where the best shots would be for a deer quartering towards. Is it the best scenario no... but is it possible YES. We are bow Hunters we are put in the elements sitting in A tree for hours on end. So you can practice as much as you want whether it's a perfect broadside shot or quartering away shot does not mean it's going to go as planned. All you can do now is look for the deer! Good luck finding it post the pic when u do
Carpe, we all learn. One of things we strive for on this site is to help with the learning curve. That's why you'll hear a lot of "only take broadside or slightly quartering away shots". And the reason we can tell you this is because a bunch of us have made poor shots and we just want to save you, and a deer, the experience. So don't take anything critical too personally. I know that we all want the deer we shoot to never know it was shot and to fall dead where it was standing (although I am trying to get them to jump into the back of my truck after the shot!). Take your time tomorrow. Look for tracks, not just blood. Look on brush off of the ground, as he ran some will wipe off. Listen for crows & coyotes, look for buzzards. And if you see a pile of leaves in the woods, can't hurt to kick it to see if someone is saving it for later.
Good luck and keep us posted, it's Sunday and most of us don't have anything better to do than follow you're tracking job! Although I'll be hunting Rhody, but keeping an eye to see your success!
Amen Mark. We all have to learn somehow. Hindsight is 20/20...and we all know how crazy it can be to have that first buck in range ...especially in this state where that could take years.
Carpe.. good luck tomorrow, we've all been there. And we're pulling for ya.
Carpediem, if you are stuck, I could head out and help. The only glitch for me tomorrow is that my wife is working all day (8-8), so it would be with my 7 year old twins. I'll PM my cell just in case (I'm in Leominster).
I'll back up Proline. We know better.
But good luck, I hope it works out.
Quartering toward shot is completely ethical and lethal if you are confident you can make it...especially from a tree stand with a downward angle. Lots of questioning guys shots going on
So, what if you're confident you can make the shot but you're only half the archer that you think you are. Is it still an ethical and lethal shot?
In the moment many guys are confident they can make it but the truth may be that many of them can't.
Confident may be the wrong word, but that's where each person has to be honest with themself and really have a knowledge of their limits and of what shots they are capable of taking.
Carp I will be heading in the opposite way tomorrow but if need be will make a detour to help. Let us know what you need. That’s what we are here for and what makes this community and bond we share something that a lot of people never experience. It can be very hard to come on here looking for help/guidance especially when you think you might have made a mistake or a bad call. In my opinion if you didn’t care about that animals life or doing everything you can to recover that animal you wouldn’t say anything to the people on here. Saying something to this group of people shows that care and effort. People should not be shamed or discouraged when looking for help and guidance from experienced hunters, but rather praised and helped. This is a great forum with a lot of people that care for the animals we hunt the land that we share and the people we share them with. Anything I can do to help let me know.
Any bowhunting class you take will tell you to stay away from that shot. Marign for error is great especially if the deer moves the slightest bit. Very good point Ebow for your comments about not being ashamed to ask for guidance and help. Never really thought of that. Also great that guys nearby are willing to assist. Hope you get him!
Still waiting for my wife to get back from teaching to take over kid duty, then heading out with my buddy. Thanks to everyone offering to help look. I’ll keep you all posted. I did find more blood on the initial trail last night. I didn’t go any further in past where I saw him walking to so optimistic I didn’t push him in further. Got my toilet paper in the bag and ready to track all day.
On my last two recovery ‘s Listen for The crows and both were in thick water areas. Good Luck ! Go gettem!
Here is the summary boys, I started tracking at 9:30, had to wait for the wife to get home to cover kiddos.
Went to the last known blood spot and started searching, found a couple more spots within 30 yards and then went dry.
My buddy got there around 10:30 and we grid searched a couple areas til 2:30 that was really thick and looked like a good bedding area.
We headed back to the last blood spot and started looking along the long stretch along the houses and thick low pines. I went to the road to see if I could see blood on the road and my buddy spotted a clot about 40 yards from the road, I started towards him and found another clot 5 yards off the road. We then followed a blood trail across the road and in a small section of woods between houses and wetlands.
That led us to another road and found blood on the road and picked it up across the other side for about 70 yards to a large hill and area that was wide open with large mature hardwoods. Lost the blood trail at a small brook. At this point we were about a 1.25 miles at least from the impact site. I gave deanman a call and we chatted and we decided he was out and about.
Lots of lesson learned on this hunt. Although I have only been hunting for 5 years, I have only taken shots within 20 yards. I decided to take this shot at 15 yards and wish I had waited to see if he presented more broadside.
Along the walk we found bear scat, porcupine bedding area, tons of deer activity in the grid areas and got a ton of tracking practice.
If buck traveled over a mile I doubt the hit is lethal. Good effort.
Second that on the great Effort!
solid effort. 1.25 miles of travel without being pushed, sounds like he is being a rutting buck making the rounds....you may even get another crack at him. (do something nice for your wife and then get back out there!)
Thanks fellas and all the offers to help look! Means a lot. I have learned so much from you all and take all your advise seriously.
My lady gets tomorrow off and some yoga sessions while the boys and I make huge leaf piles.
Now that is how to follow up on a marginal shot !!!! Kudos to you for giving it all you could. Sounds like the buck is fine and a lesson was learned. Great job carp !!!! That shows a ton of respect for the game you pursue
I’ll be putting a camera out in the area to see if I can get him moving about.
As others said you put in good effort and time. Maybe you will see him again.
I'll echo what the other guys have said, great effort tracking!! Here's a pick of my buck from last year. They are amazingly resilient animal's. Hope you get another crack at him!
Well done Carpe. That's a good job really covering the area. You also pulled more info out that you could use later this year or even next year or beyond. Very cool.
Given the penetration and what you described, I bet the shot was tangled up just over the spine in the spinal processes. It "looks" like a high lung hit because the spine swoops down a bit there. If it's quartering to or away, it's even tougher in that area. So you can get a little penetration and then the arrow breaks off or the deer runs off with it and the hunter is left feeling like they made a good hit but wont find the deer - non fatal generally.
Could have been the scap too... but I'm going with the spinal processes. thats a really tough part of the deer...
That's all theoretical though. Hopefully you get a picture of him which helps ID the location.
Well done.
