i am really thankful to have you guys. thanks to each of you for your thoughtful replies. as i've said in other threads, I didn't grow up hunting, nor bowhunting or even doing archery, so this is all unchartered territory for me. and I don't have a local mentor that I've gone bowhunting/shopping/shooting with who is also a hunter. so i am appreciative of the help and feedback you guys provide. my goal is to become a responsible and skilled bowhunter, so i am eager to learn from my mistakes as best as I can.
that being said - what I am happiest to report is this shot in fact resulted in the harvest of a nice doe! this is my first deer killed with a bow, and my first deer of the season actually. (for those of you up north, LA has until end of Jan / early Feb). on public land, too.
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she made it 120 yards from my shot. i searched all around the shot, went back 50-75 yards into the thicket, fanned out - found no blood nor arrow. searched the W side of the thicket - nothing. finally searched the E side of the thicket, and again found no signs of entrance/exit. but about 40 yards E of the thicket is a slough, and it's all real open there, and she was collapsed on the opposite edge of the slough. plain as day.
so my eyes were totally wrong - when she came from behind the tree, I mistook the vines hanging from the tree to be a rack. I would guess that this shot was within the last 5min of light, and in this thick area I'm not surprised I mistook them. plus with the excitement and all. I am still elated to have harvest my first archery deer and am relieved I found her today.
I was under the gun quartering and packing her out - storms were rolling in, could literally hear thunder as I was quartering - and I never did find my arrow. i also didn't cut her chest/lungs open to see if the arrow was inside. there was a little bit of blood on the leaves near where she collapsed. BUT there was no exit wound, so it didn't pass through her. here's a close up of my shot placement though - it's pretty damn good, if I may so, and was behind the ball of her shoulder;
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so that is bad. my best guess is that the arrow got lodged in her and then fell or was pulled out. I'm really disappointed with the outfitter I used locally, as they had given me confidence in shooting the Eastons I have with 100gr broadheads, at 30.5" DL and 60lbs DW. I use Magnus Stinger buzzcuts. and at 10 yards, this should have gone right through. so I have a lot to learn and tinker with my arrow setup because that can't happen again.
i am again thankful for everyone's help and advice. I think i just got way ahead of myself assuming that because I didn't see a bunch of blood and all that I just clean missed. but I'm actually pretty proud of that shot as I see it now - all the mishaps and foolishness aside.