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I screwed up. First bow deer

Molonlabemike said:
So I messed up my first deer and I feel like **** about it. Yesterday I got into the tree outside LBL around 7:50am. Little later then I wanted but when you have a 2 hour drive in plus a boat ride i'm just happy to have made it. 10min into my sit I see a deer Ive never seen on camera and in the time hunting in the area never seen this deer. He's about 2 but a pinbald deer so I figured he was mine. 20 yards out I stop him, settle my pin and let it fly. Shot from my point of view was a little forward and maybe an in high (assuming it hit the shoulder). Instantly saw the shot open up, he kicks and runs off. I give it about 30 min before climbing down and seeing if I can find my arrow.

After about 15min of looking I find a piece of flesh and an arrow is not in sight. I thought remembering where I shot him location wise would be easy but I was way wrong. From the tree it was easy to spot but from the ground it changes everything. I wait about 20min and start on a small blood trail that took me about 20 more min to follow till I bump a doe. Back out and then about an hour I start back on the trail, I find the first part of the arrow and then the fletching portion of the arrow. Unfortunately no broad head was recovered. A short bit of blood later I found the first blood pool where he needed down until that doe blew him out.

From there I should have backed out and waited longer but in my mind I figured he would be dead. I started to search and unfortunately a few hours later I bumped him out of his bed. When I bumped him the 2nd time it was about 4pm and it was clear he wasn't gonna be dead for a while. I hung my head in shame and backed out, jumped in the boat and headed home as I was limited on time that I was already over.

I learned a lot from this deer. First, watch where he goes until you can't see. This sounds easy but I was working on getting a second arrow and relied on my ears to watch. Second, mark the spot I shot him in Onx to the best of my ability and probably take a photo before leaving the stand. 3rd, if I can't find significant blood or heard/saw a crash BACK OUT. 4th that toilet paper tracking trick really helps with blood trailing. Lastly I need to look at my arrows. I'm shooting a 29in carbon express Maxima RED 350 spline arrow with a 100gr G5 3 blade broad head. I'm not sure if it's because of my shot placement or too light of an arrow but I feel like it should have been a pass through at 20 yards and 70lbs on my bow.
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I switched to a heavy setup relative to the archery contest kinda setup I initially hunted with. The 100gr el cheapo broad head on my old flimsy arrows wouldn't penetrate my bag target any deeper than with field points. Switched to the heavier setup with 18% FOC and single bevel, and now I get full pass thru on my bag target, crossbow target and my 3D foam deer target.
Please look up the Dr Ashby information. Its very detailed. Also I think Dr Ashby has been on some podcasts if you don't want to pour thru all the data. Mechanical broadhead certainly have their pros but I think Dr Ashby has it figured out.
 

Ski said:
I feel for you. It's never easy wounding an animal.

It sounds and looks like you hit neck. The tiny sporadic bubbles in rich red blood are indicative of muscle hit. Lung blood would be watered down or pink hued with much more bubble than shown. My guess is the deer will not die. But you should do your due diligence and search to be certain, as you've planned.

Please accept my words not as criticism but as an old bow hunter advising a new bow hunter because I've already made these mistakes. There's no reason to ever aim for the "vital-V" on a whitetail. The "V" shape opening that is made by the shoulder & leg joint will close as soon as the deer is startled by the sound of the shot, thereby covering that window to the heart with heavy bone. Soon as the shoulders drop that window is closed. The safer option with much more margin of error is aiming mid cage. A deer's rib cage extends half way back its body and inside it is lungs & liver that have no heavy bone protection. Still just as lethal as "vital-V" but no threat of hard bone and it doesn't drop out of the way when a deer loads up to run. Aim behind the shoulder crease about mid body height. Huge kill zone that's hard to miss. The "vital-V" on the other hand is hard to hit, impossible if it's closed. Heaven forbid you hit too far back and hit gut, it's still a dead deer and easy recovery IF you don't pursue too soon. But if you hit too far forward the deer likely won't die at all. It'll just suffer for awhile as it heals
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Ski you sir are a wise man. We shockingly found the deer, alive and he was limping at a rather slow pace away from us. I am going to do another sit Thursday to see if I can arrow him/or locate him should he pass. What a crazy 24 hours of events.


Thanks everyone for the kind words. Im looking forward to getting the job done if I can get another opportunity.
 
tanasirivertea said:
I switched to a heavy setup relative to the archery contest kinda setup I initially hunted with. The 100gr el cheapo broad head on my old flimsy arrows wouldn't penetrate my bag target any deeper than with field points. Switched to the heavier setup with 18% FOC and single bevel, and now I get full pass thru on my bag target, crossbow target and my 3D foam deer target.
Please look up the Dr Ashby information. Its very detailed. Also I think Dr Ashby has been on some podcasts if you don't want to pour thru all the data. Mechanical broadhead certainly have their pros but I think Dr Ashby has it figured out.
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I appreciate the help, I have started a deep dive into Dr. Ashby. Thank you
 
Taking a photo of where the deer was standing when shot and taking a picture of the spot before leaving the stand is a good idea never thought of that.
 
Well I went back up and sat in a tree and to my shock he's still alive and looking better. He came in to my right and in the saddle I couldn't get a shot off until he was on my left. Tried to stop him and he was like yeah I heard that one before and took off. Hopefully next Thursday I can get him back in front of the bow. Damn this deer is tough.
 

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They have incredible will to survive. I once read about an outfitter in KS who instructed clients to NOT shoot for vitals because of a big mature buck's ability to absorb it without dying. He told them to aim for gut and don't try to track because they had a nearly perfect recovery rate on gut hit deer. That has always stuck with me because every year I hear stories about bucks surviving shots that the hunter just swore would be fatal.

Edit: I'm not promoting aiming for gut so please don't read it wrong.
 
Molonlabemike said:
Well I went back up and sat in a tree and to my shock he's still alive and looking better. He came in to my right and in the saddle I couldn't get a shot off until he was on my left. Tried to stop him and he was like yeah I heard that one before and took off. Hopefully next Thursday I can get him back in front of the bow. Damn this deer is tough.
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This story is amazing! I'd never have guessed he'd hang around. Figured he'd done made it Mexico
 
tanasirivertea said:
This story is amazing! I'd never have guessed he'd hang around. Figured he'd done made it Mexico
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It's one hell of a first deer story. I hope I can get an arrow in him and finish what I started.

With that said I can't believe he's stuck around. Some bomb doe tail must be keep him around 😂
 
Molonlabemike said:
Well I went back up and sat in a tree and to my shock he's still alive and looking better. He came in to my right and in the saddle I couldn't get a shot off until he was on my left. Tried to stop him and he was like yeah I heard that one before and took off. Hopefully next Thursday I can get him back in front of the bow. Damn this deer is tough.
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You shot a Dalmatian
 

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