I'M SICK!!!

[Okie]

This is my first year hunting with all self made equipment and my first opportunity turns out bad. My son and I went out this evening and after walking with him to his blind  I made my way to my stand. We only had about an hour till sunset, but wanted to make the best of it. About 15 minutes before dark I heard leaves rustling and then the doe appeared from behind my tree. It was the perfect shot I had hoped for. 7 yards broadside. Instinct took over and a million things rushed though my mind. Smooth draw, pick a spot, pick a spot, pick a spot, ect.
I picked a spot and released, SCORE, I thought. The shot was a little to far back, but I thought it may have caught a lung. I could see about 10 inches of the fletching end still sticking out of her, so I new it wasn't a passthru. After watching her jump a fence and then turn around and jump it again I started to worry. After getting down I went and got my son and we began tracking. After about 40 yards I found about 10 inches of the fletched end of my rivercane arrow. After about 10 more yards we started seeing blood, not alot but some is better than none. We followed the blood trail for about 50-60 more yards and then it just stopped. After about 2 1/2 hrs of looking we decided to call it a night. This just makes me sick!!! I keep thinking of the shot and I can't think of anything I would do differently. I thought it was a great shot except it was a little to far back. I will probably call in sick in the morning and take my bloodhound out to try and find her. My bloodhound is not trained for that but hopefully her instincts will kick in. I sure wanted my first experience with a selfbow to have a better ending. I was using the first Osage bow I had made (47#@28") and my rivercane arra's with homemade broadheads which weighed in at 500 grains. Anyway wish me luck finding her in the morning.

John

[hawkbow]

sounds like you may have hit the liver.. she should head for the nearest water if you hit her in the paunch... good luck in the morning.. wish I was there to help you find her, nothing feels worse than not knowing if you made the kill or only wounded your prey. remember to look on the surounding brush for sign, sometimes that is the only spore you will find.. good luck brother. HAWK

[El Destructo]

John....chances are that She did go down....and you probably walked right by Her....I have done this on numerous occasions....2 years ago...I knew I got a good shot off on an 8 point Buck....I follwed blood till I could not see any more....all of the Grass in this Pasture was red tipped....so you can imagine the predicament....anyways....I had a friend with me....and He just happened to backtrack me....and I had walked within 3 yards of the Deer...and walked right on passed....he just about stumbled over Him too....so don't give up....and if I were you....I would call and say I was going to be a Bit Late!!! Good Luck on finding Her...

[armymedic.2]

i wish you luck, i ahve been there, and it is not a good feeling.  rememebr your tracking skills even when you feel flustered, go look where there is water if you can not find her.  i have had deer hit too far back that nestled into bushes and stuff, they become hard to find when they don't die on a flat out run.  i have even had rifle killed deer hide before falling.  don't give up.  paunch hit deer are still dead deer, they are just harder to find.  the way you are talking i would say it might be a liver or one lung shot, so keep your search within 100 yard of where you last saw her.  still can't find her, then go to water.

[GregB]

They usually won't travel to far with a liver shot, but still might be best to wait a while before taking up the track. If there is sign of a gut shot when tracking, we usually back off and give the deer several hours before tracking. A gut shot deer can cover a lot of ground if pushed to soon, but will usually bed up pretty quick if left alone. If we jump the deer when tracking, we for sure back off of it for a while before tracking.

Good luck finding her!

[TRACY]

Had a similar experience last year with my hickory bow. It's not the gear as much just the situation. Could have happened with gun or compound, keep up the spirit. I hope you find her and I can sympathize with how you're feeling about it. Good luck and don't beat yourself up too much, it happens.

Tracy

[Okie]

Well we had a thunderstorm move in this morning, It waspouring at daylight, so I went ahead and went to work.
I know this kind of thing happens sometimes, but it doesn't make it easy to take. I hate it. One bright note, I took my camera down last night after tracking the doe and there was a nice 8 point on it from the night before at 8:00 pm. I'll try to post some pics of him later. He looks identical to the 10 pointer I killed last year with my rifle.

John

[The Singing Bowyer]

Sorry to hear about that, John. I was out of town this past week, but if I am around, I am always happy to help track one. No more time than I have had to get into the woods this year, I will gladly do whatever I can to be in the woods!

You have my number....

[viktorkuhn]

HEY,
THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME! USED A 65lb SCYTHIAN RECURVE AT 15 FEET. SHOT WAS A LITTLE FAR BACK, BUT A SOLID HIT. MAYBE A BIT OF BUCK FEVER... SHE RAN OFF INTO EXTREMELY THICK BUSH (SOUTH AFRICA) WE COULD ONLY TRACK HER FOR 200 YARDS BEFORE THE BLOOD TRAIL STOPPED. SEARCHED THE WHOLE DAY. USED KIDS ON HORSES, MOTORBIKES (THE GAME ON THAT PARTICULAR FARM ARE NOT SCARED OF MOTORBIKES) AND EVEN A MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT.
I PHONE THE OWNER OF THE RANCH EVERY DAY TO HEAR IF THEY SPOTTED OR FOUND HER, BUT TO NO AVAIL. SHE HAS NOT JOINED THE HERDS AND WAS NOT SEEN AGAIN, THE FARMER SAID THAT IT IS PROBABLY DEAD AND THAT IF THEY DIE OFF IN A THICKET YOU WILL NOT SEE THEM EASILY.
NOT A GOOD FEELING...AND NOT A GOOD START TO MY FIRST HUNT..
VIKTOR

[ballista]

  i feel youre pain- exact same thing happened to me. it got so cold one day, but we still wanted to hunt so i had a compound. A full,  corn fed Illinois doe was broadside at 35 yards, took the shot- dead on DBL lung, but minimal penetration. Waited in the stand for 45 minutes (which it was dark by then) no blood at all, until 60 yards. Blood for another 100 or so yards, than it ran into private property, where there was a massive amount of blood and impression ion the grass from the deer-
  Im almost positive somebody else took the deer, but thats part of bowhunting i suppose. again, im sorry for youre loss, mine was with compound, but at least you can say you did it traditional. -jimmy

[recurve shooter]

now im paranoid about taking my first one with a bow. never failed with the rifle, lets hope for the same with the bow next year.