Friday I used my crossbow and hit a deer from 36 yards. (Ten Point 505 Nitro with Oracle X scope.) Waited 2.5 hours before tracking it. The blood trail ran out a 150 yards away, but I could see where it had laid down a couple times. I think I went in too early and bumped it and must have bumped it when I left the blind even though I didn't go that way. I have no idea where I hit it. Blood was bright red and plenty of it. I was taught that bright red is supposed to mean a heart shot and it's over within 60-90 minutes, but that wasn't the case I guess. So, now I have no idea when to go look for a deer after a bow hit.
We looked for it in the dark, but the trail was good and then it was gone. Guessing it was laying down and it jumped out of there. We were up against the boggy area that heads into the creek and it gets thick there and you lose your boots in the mud so we had to back out. We put the light everywhere around before leaving and there was nothing so my guess is it went into the thick stuff and jumped the creek.
I get that God created things for man's dominion over it and we're supposed to hunt and eat what we hunt, but if not getting a clean kill affects me this way then I don't want to go through it again. Last year during gun season I had to put one down after it was down. It was horrible to go through and depressing then too. This is coming from a guy who hasn't missed a shot with bow or gun, 6 for 6, in the last 2 seasons plus this one bow shot this season.
Something else that's bothering me is when I was leaving the blind to head to the house Friday something/someone whistled at me twice. I had waited until it was pitch black to leave and was about 50 steps from the blind out in the open in the field I was hunting. That really freaked me out. I didn't know if it was a coyote. Do coyotes whistle? There are two packs back there. Then my brain went to it being a human. It may have whistled a 3rd time, but my auto reaction was on tilt and I couldn't swear to it in court. I radio'd my wife to immediately get her handgun, get on the 4x4 and come and get me at xyz field. I made sure I had that walkie talkie turned all the way up and said it loudly and the radio squelched loudly. I was on my land and no one else has permission to be on it. Those whistles came from my land. I headed back to the blind until I heard the 4 wheeling coming up the hill and then walked to her on the opposite side of the field as fast as I could.
My wife thinks maybe there were two people were back there and one was trying to get my attention thinking I was his hunting buddy.
It seems I've been pretty upset about what happened Friday per the wife confronting me about my attitude last night. It changed apparently Saturday. To say I'm unhappy about hunting right now is a huge understatement. I'm angry, very upset and really don't want to go back out. I'm also scared for my life (humans or coyote) and/or a confrontation or me accidently shooting someone or shooting someone on my land in self defense.
In the past a 12 year old kid shot at a deer that was between him and me and neither of us knew the other person was there. The land owner was supposed to tell me on Friday evenings if anyone was going to be hunting there Saturday and she didn't tell me her son/grandson were going to be there. I didn't go back there. The second incident was on public land an hour before daylight with a thick stand of tall pines behind me that you'd have to belly crawl under to get through and someone shot the other side of the tree I was sitting against...pitch black out. There is no way they could have known I was there, but I stopped hunting for 15 years until I could buy my own land and refuse to give anyone permission to hunt.
I know gun season is Saturday and I can get clean kills, but I don't like doing this anymore. I don't like feeling this way.
If you read this far. Thanks for reading. There's no need for a reply. Kind of just needed to get this off my mind.
