I made a couple of mistakes this year that I hope I won't repeat next year . . . can't say the same for subsequent years . . . after all I am getting old.
The first mistake I made was a new one for me. I hunt using an EZ-V sight and last spring I decided that imagining a circle on a deer's body wasn't as effective as actually practicing shooting at a deer's frame so I bought a standing deer target (my first in all my years of hunting). Well I bought an inexpensive one and its not really representative of a full size deer, at least for an adult buck in northern Michigan. I spent all summer practicing on that target with my EZ-V settling the V on the front shoulder and last rib. I was deadly on that target.
Fast forward to the morning of Nov. 9th. About an hour after light I had a nice 8 walk toward me out of a thick select cut. As he approached I drew and he turned and offered me a direct 30yd broadside shot right in my 3 o-clock position. I centered up the EZ-V and let it fly. The arrow passed just below him and he bounded 10 yds and stopped. He stood there for a minute or two and then turned 90 degrees and continued walking, unaware of what had just happened. Nocking another arrow I managed another undetected draw and he stopped again at 30yds directly in my 6 o'clock position. For a split second I considered aiming higher but I have learned over the years not to make an adjustment based on a single miss. I again centered it up and let it loose. Once again, just under his belly. Still not fully aware of what was going on he leisurely walked off into the brush.
in hindsight I realized that the body of a full sized deer is quite a bit larger than the body of the target I had been shooting at all year. By framing that same amount of deer in the sight I was actually to far up on the V and effectively aiming low. I made the exact same shot twice, neither one of them on target. It's a mistake I won't make again. Even if I don't upgrade my target I now know I need to frame a bit less of the deer than when target shooting.
My second mistake was a lesson I have learned more than once and even preach to my younger hunting buddies. Nevertheless I still repeated it this year.
On the afternoon of Nov. 9th this year (yes, same day as above and same tree) I was setup in the tree for the afternoon hunt at 3:30. At 3:45 a doe came running directly under me from the north with a buck grunting behind her. I drew as she went under me and it turns out she was closely followed by a much nicer 8 than the one from the morning. I "meh'd" twice loudly and managed to stop him right at 15 yds. He was quartering toward me but with the doe still in sight and running away I knew I had to take the shot as given. I centered the EZ-V where I felt his heart would be a let it fly. The shot hit him right where I was aiming and folded him up on the spot. He flopped once and laid there not moving. I was sure he was done. He laid there for at least 2 minutes as I had time to hang up my bow, get out my phone, send a text and, as I was framing a picture of him laying there he suddenly struggled to his feet and staggered off. The blood was visibly pouring out of him as he ran about 50 yards and laid down again within sight of me. Given the circumstances I was still unconcerned, I knew he was done. I watched him lay there for another 5 minutes before he again struggled to his feet and staggered over the hill out of sight. I was still not very concerned, the hit looked good and with blood pouring out of him he was obviously hit well. It was early, I still had almost 2hrs of daylight left, and I sat in the tree for 45 more minutes before rappelling down and packing up my gear which I left at the base of the tree. I walked over to the huge blood puddle where he originally fell and started the track. As expected the blood trail was outstanding and confirmed to me the lethality of the hit. Along that trail I found the arrow (less broadhead) which had definitely penetrated more than 10". There was another large puddle where he had laid the second time and a solid blood trail out of there. I followed it slowly up and over the ridge and down and up over the next ridge. Before I knew it I had covered almost 300yds with no deer. At that point, even though I still had daylight I came to my senses and backed out, in retrospect way too late.
The next morning I went back and picked up the trail again. While I found several puddles along the track where he had obviously stopped for periods of time I never found what I would definitely call a bed. To make a long story short, I tracked a really good blood trail for over 700 yds (GPS trail data) before finally losing it in a thick set of pines. Despite another morning's searching I never did recover that buck. I suspect I one lunged it then bumped it in the initial evening's track job pushing it to keep going.
FWIW, I did call a dog tracker and he declined to take up the job. He was convinced it was just a shoulder shot and not likely recoverable. I thanked him and continued my grid search.
My mistake . . . I should have never continued the track that evening beyond more than 100yds. I knew better and yet did it anyway. Why did I do it? I think it was a combination of causes. First, The deer's reaction and blood trail really made me believe he'd be laying dead just over the next ridge. Secondarily, it was early and the tracking was extremely easy. There was no struggling to find the next blood spot. In fact almost all of the 700 yds the track job consisted of a simple upright walk following blood spatters. Being that easy to follow the distance was just covered too quickly. I never had time to be paused long enough too think "Crap, I should be backing out."
