Germ

For my area Water is where they head. I have fond two bucks one I shot and my Dad near the river or in it. I just walk the bank or float down it in my boat. Don't know if you are near water, but I hope it helps.
As for the ohters guys beating you up, well I know you just need to get this off your chest. I have been there, made mistakes myself. My Grampa hunted for years told me what to do, and guess what until I screwed up myself is when I learned.
IMO what you do after the shot is most important. Even on a bad shot the deer can be recoverd if done right. A decent shot and you go after to quick, well you could loose the deer. My uncle shot a deer in the shoulder with his muzzle loader. He went right after it, he fond pools of blood in three spots, large pools. He never fond the deer, next spring I am out shed hunting on the other side of the farm(about 1/2 mile) guess what I find in the thick stuff. His 10 pointer, he has hunted a lot of years and made the mistake. There is a post about tracking, I suggest you print it out and get it laminated. Read when you are in the stand, then after you shoot and have watch the deer as long as you can read it again. I think this will help you. Just so you know I do the samething. I have been hunting for 21 years now. It just helps calm me down and think before I act.

atlasman

You don't have to be an expert to know not to chase after a poorly hit deer in 30 minutes. BASIC knowledge. He has been in the woods with a bow for near 150 days and doesn't know this???


If you don't have the BASIC knowledge of not shooting at the base of a deer's neck then you shouldn't be hunting IMO.........Here's an idea.......learn proper shot placement ANY way other then by trial and error on live game. What the heck are they teaching in your states hunter ed classes that you didn't know this??


Well that is where we differ on opinion. Keep coddling them and telling them it's OK because he said he was sorry and you will continue to see this and every other hunting board full of posts like this year after year.

Sorry..........not the way I was raised. You didn't go in the woods with less then lethal accuracy or not knowing what to do if and when something happened...........and if you did something against what you KNEW was the right thing to do and it resulted in a lost animal then that was even worse. If you don't know what the heck you are doing or have no care or respect for the animals then do everyone a favor and stay home and play video games. Don't go wounding animals and leaving them to suffer a slow and painful death because of your ignorance.


This isn't hunter'stherapy.com...........if they wanted the pointers they would have got them BEFORE they screwed up........they are looking for people to do exactly what you are doing.......pat them on the back and tell them not to worry and just "Get 'em next time"

atlasman

If you knew what you were SUPPOSED to do...........why didn't you do it??


Pretty stupid thing to say..............seeing how you started a thread begging to learn from advice on an internet board.

What is the point of everyone giving you advice???.........You have already said you don't do what you know you are SUPPOSED to do when the time comes.

Maybe if you HAD learned from the great amount of info here at this board you wouldn't be in this situation.......but maybe you would because learning it doesn't mean much if you are just gonna ignore it all and go running after a deer like a maniac before it even hits the ground.

Your welcome.........if you don't like it too bad. I don't like seeing guys like you wound deer for no reason and then come here and beg for help and a pat on the back. If we all have to suffer through reading garbage like this I don't see why you should be exempt from the truth.

Germ

Atlas,
You are correct, but if this guys has any ethics he feels this way. Beating him up is not going to fix the problem. If he does not feel bad then us jumping all over him does no good either. He screwed up, and I think he knows that, and I think no why thinks "Go get him next time". What we need to do help him understand what he did wrong, I think he knows. I will agree with you, but you are being a little harsh(IMO). You have the right to say what you feel and I respect the fact you came out and said what a lot of peole think. Just try to be more helpful then hurtful. I hope this guys already feels this way.

PS
You seem a little grumpy today, have the carbon suit guys been bothering you again? LOL

atlasman

Keep sugar coating it and treating him like a baby............grow up man..........we are out there killing things, it is not the time or the place to be doing things half-azzed. There is a BIG difference between a hunt going bad and bad hunt........see Rob's post about what he did after making a poor shot........THAT is how you handle it when things don't go right. You go to your knowledge base and THINK about what your best plan should be. The problem is when someone has no knwledge base to work off.........or even worse like in this case they just say screw it and do whatever they want anyways.......then come here crying that it didn't work out.


No he is not...........he is asking for all of us to fix his mess and make it all better for him..........if he wanted help it is here EVERY day of every year. It's like watching a child who was told 100 times not to play with fire sit there and cry because he burned his hand...........He was told what not to do and why.......yet he still did it anyways.......now he wants everyone to make the sting of that burn go away.

atlasman

I think treating him like a baby will not only not fix the problem but increase the probability it will happen again. If everyone acts like it's no big deal.......how long before people start believing it IS no big deal??

That is the worst part.........KNOWING you are doing something wrong and still doing it is unacceptable behavior from an adult. That is why people cut little children a break........"He didn't know" is something you say to a dog or a child........not an adult. That is why ignorance of the law is no excuse. An adult SHOULD know.......and of you don't it doesn't excuse your actions........sorry or not.


Exactly............everyone thinks it yet only a few have the stones to say it.........that is obviously not working judging by how many of these threads we have year after year. Maybe some more tough love would turn the tide on these kinds of things.

GR8atta2d

Cmscat, Sorry for some of the flames you are taking. I'm sure you feel bad enough without all the BS piled on you. The truth is bad shots happen to even the most accomplished archers. The only problem is you brought this one on to yourself. You admit this by "rushing the shot", That arrow is gone and a buck is wounded or worse. No flames or encouragement will undo what's done. Go out and look, look hard like shed33 said. Search the thickets and the water and anywhereelse you think he could or would go. you will either find him or you won't, but once you gave it your all..at least you can have some inner peace.
Whatever happens learn from it. One mistake is a learning expirience, making that same mistake a second time is unexcusable.

livbucks

If you hit him in the neck, and he ran for 300+ yards, I would say that you missed any major arteries, the spine and the windpipe. Severing any of those would bring him down fairly quicklike.
Did the arrow pass through? What kind of tissue was on it?
I have cut my finger before and bled like a brutal murder just occured.

A buck my brother took in gun season years back had an arrow wound in it's neck, in one side and out the other. It was healed over but looked NASTY. You may have not hit as center in the neck as you think. The arrow could have only gone slightly under the skin and out again.

In any case, keep looking. Many times a buck will circle back near the spot where he was hit and bed down and die. I would try doing the increasing size circle search both at the stand site and the last blood site. If he was heading downhill at last blood, have another guy go in that direction slowly, looking for the buck. If any prominent travel routes are going that same direction, put a guy on those trails searching.

My brother hit a buck on Saturday and the shot was downward and quartering away. We found no blood in the direction of escape. He kept searching for blood and I followed the escape route. I soon ended up on a defined trail so I kept going. Sure enough, after 100 yards or more, I found blood on that trail. I kept on it and found where the blood dropped off the trail and started downhill. I knew he was a gonner at that point and sure enough, at the bottom of the hill, there he was, belly-up. Get some fresh eyes out there to help you.

Good luck and learn from mistakes.
Bad shots, in time need lots!
Remember that....very important.
(And others shouldn't throw stones.)

Wake_Cow

I'm not going to bash but I do agree with atlas if he's been bow hunting for 5 years he should know what to do and what not to do especially when it comes to the recovery.

deer-hunter18

My buddy shot a little 7 pointer, same spot you say you shot yours at, he ran for 300 yards with lots of blood and then blood quit. 3 weeks later i saw the deer running around with a scab on his neck.