GSUbow

In my opinion, if your shot and hit the deer, you owe it to the deer to give it your all to find him, whether the carcass is rotting or not. He did that. I know exactly how he feels, I shot a buck in October on my first blackpowder hunt, thompson center encore, nice buck at 80 yds, did not take my time and shot the deer high, looked to be just under the spine and over the lungs. How do I know, when the smoke cleared the buck made a circle ran right under my stand(I saw the bullet hole) with almost no blood coming from it. The deer ran out limping while i was reloading stopped, and trotted off. Never found a single drop of blood, not one, after following his track through a muddy swamp for 200 yds. Searched til dark, and the next day, and the next day(during midday so i wouldnt mess no one up, its public land) and a a week and a half later, constantly listening for buzzards or large birds...never found anything. I was depressed for a long time, and while i would not have been that happy to find my buck, it would have been better than not knowing. Whether he' ll be ok or not, maybe ill stumble over his rack before the end of this season, or maybe Ill shoot the deer next year, bigger than he was this year. All im saying is that alot of folks on here get on to folks when they ask for advice when they have made a less than perfect shot, and some people bash them and tell them to get out there and look and get off the internet. he was out there, and he found his buck. He should be proud.

Mr Melnik

" Good job" to your buddy on working so hard to find the buck. It must eat at one to know there' s a wounded or dead animal out there. He might have walked up on it two weeks later to find it still required a kill shot, which would have put an entirely different spin on this story, and would have made his level of commitment justified.

I' m new to bow hunting, been gun hunting all my life, but this story reinforces what I try to keep in my head all the time I' m in my stand (along with the dozens of things about shooting the bow properly) and that is this: bucks deserve the same quality of shot selection that you' d give a doe. Or stated another way, don' t take a riskier shot at a trophy just because it might be the only shot you get. I wonder if your freind would have looked this hard for a wonded doe, or if he was looking for the rack? Maybe the rack persuaded him to pick a bad shot too.

I don' t know any of the facts, I just run these things through my mind when I' m on my stand. I don' t want to end up in your freinds shoes, but I know I will some day.

Thanks for sharing the story.

portable ladder

persistency pays!!!

Huntm Up

When i read this post i see a lot of experienced hunters replying. They all are more than willing to put there 2 cents in. But how come there is never a response like this one where there are several experienced hunters responding to other questions that no so experienced hunters ask?
Sorry this really has nothing to do with the topic i just saw a lot of people on this thread that in past i have read things they put and all make sense. I will post this same message as a new thread. and i don' t mean to cause offense

Five Minute Willie

IMO - the objective of the sport lies in the retrieval of the quarry. On occasion, there will be a predator involved that ruins the carcass. However, I have to believe that mortally wounding an animal only to retrieve its antlers is not a bowkill...it is a disaster. I know - I' ve had a few disasters in my time. And, like someone said earlier, I put the rack where I can see it as a reminder to always be sure of the next shot before I take it.

Did your friend feel good about finding the rotten carcass? That should answer your question about whether this can be considered a bowkill. It' s up to him to decide for himself. I don' t think anyone is being critical of your friend. We' ve all made a bad shot. We' re questioning how satisfied he is with this particular hunt.

tabby

I have shot and wounded a buck, my brother a doe. We tracked these deer for hours, and over a mile each. Lost the blood trails on both. I don' t know if the deer died or not, but I know I didn' t find them. I know if I would have found them weeks later, I wouldn' t consider them a bow kill. I would consider it a bad shot. I still would have killed the deer, but not a bow kill.