Well fellas...I almost went two for two on my first two saddle hunts. Sunday night I was back in NY with an antlerless tag in my pocket. Nice doe walked out in the magic hour. She got 10 yards broadside at my 10:00 postion when I let it fly. Waited a half hour then quietly climbed down to check my arrow. Broadhead was busted off, shaft was cracked, scant blood on it and white hair on the fletching.
Was pretty discouraged until I saw blood near the impact site. Walked in the direction that she left and found massive blood. Way better than Friday's track. Like... Costco ketchup bottle squirted full throttle while walking blood.
After about 20 yards of this it turned to a light, steady, trickle. Easy to follow. Never had to look around for more than a minute to find next drop and follow it.
2 hours later over hill and dale my rechargeable spotlight gave out on me and I was standing deep in the woods in the black. Fortunately I had a GPS. I marked the spot and headed to truck to recharge and gather myself a bit. Got on the phone and got hold of a dog tracker. After discussing situation including the arrow he convinced me it was a non fatal hit to the leg and that she should likely clot the wound and survive. I was going to go back there the next day after work to have some daylight and be sure but it rained all night and through the morning. Not sure there would have been anything to see and follow at that point.
Feel pretty bad about wounding and not recovering the animal. I've had it happen before but it is still tough. Not sure how such a simple shot went wrong. Thought I'd share my roller coaster of a weekend that went from the elation of punching two tickets on two sits to the low of not recovering an animal.
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk