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Hate to ask, but is she still alive?

T

TooBigToFit

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2019
Messages
285
Location
SW PA
Around 6:00 last night I shot a doe that was under me. My mind said that I ought to wait for her to walk out further for a better angle, but I guess the rest of my body had a different plan.

Arrow went into her lower and more forward than I would have wanted. I think I remember seeing the fletching and the nock near her armpit. Arrow didn't go all the way through, definitely hit bone, and the blood trail isn't great. I can't find the blood trail further than 10 feet away from where I shot her, where I also found the arrow backed out.

Searched till about 9:30 last night and I'm out searching right now. Just curious about what SH thinks...

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Okay, where precisely on the chart did you hit? Were you in a tree or on the ground? How far was the shot? Was she broadside or quartering to or away? How much penetration did you get? What exactly did she do after the shot?
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Looked like a D or C 4. I was about 12 ft up, she was about 3 ft away from the base of the tree broadside or maybe slightly quartering away. She ducked, did a 180 and booked it in the direction after the shot.
 
It’s hard to tell but it you were shooting down and did get it in the cavity but didn’t poke a hole thru the bottom it will take a while for it to fill up and start bleeding out. Hit deer usually take straight lines and head down hill, start taking every trail from the last blood and work your way out favoring down hill if you have the option first. if you happen to have marking tape that really helps to find the line she took and helps keep track of what you are finding. If you have anyone with a blood tracking dog that would be a good avenue to try if they are available. The arrow having blood from top to bottom tells me it probably did go thru all the way and came out. That’s too much penetration to not have gone all the way and then work it’s way back out.
 
I think she’s dead buddy, just hit a doe in a very similar spot Friday night and she only made it 100 yards. Hopefully you get the same results I did, good luck!
 

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If you mean she was under you as in if you dropped your bow it would land on her, and you think you saw your arrow fletching at the armpit then I would say your broadhead missed all the important stuff. More info, like @Hunter260 said, will help us to better guess how she fared.

FWIW, I know some don't advocate taking the shot when game is directly under your feet (whatever your feet are standing on) but I'll take that shot every time without hesitation and I've done so quite a few times. Yes I know at best I'll get only one lung and heart and chances are it'll only be one lung but I do know that I will have a nice drain hole at the bottom of the chest cavity and an easy blood trail to follow. They've been short ones for me.

Your point of aim needs to be just off the backstrap on the side closest to you if the deer is broadside, so the line between row A & B on the chart should be about right. Steep angle shots require a higher point of impact. Remember, you need to mentally picture the arrow's path through the deer so that it passes through the vitals, no matter what angle or height you are from your prey.
 
So apparently my memory wasn't great and I might have merged a few events out of order. My first archery deer, and first one out of a saddle so I might not have been in the right frame of mind. Anyways took a couple of photos when I was skinning and quartering (did it at a nearby SGL, not trying to freak out my neighbors in my apartment).

I hit high near the spine probably in an attempt to get it low near the opposite shoulder. Looks like it hit the shoulder/leg on the way out (where I thought the POI was seems like where it exited, not entered). It wasn't a pass through on the shot, because the arrow ended up behind where I was shooting from. Maybe the broadhead made it through, but the shaft didn't and it popped the rest of the way out as she ran?

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Anyways like I said there wasn't a blood trail past 10 ft, which ended where the arrow popped out... Maybe it's because of how high I hit. She didn't run far (less than 75 yards), but she didn't go quite where I expected. In hindsight, I put too much emphasis on searching for a blood trail, and on searching where I thought I heard her crash, and not enough on searching where I had saw her last. I passed her multiple times and wasted time searching further than I needed to. Lessons learned for the future.

I'm a bit worried about the safety of eating the meat (especially near that blue spot), given that it took nearly 20 hours to find her, and it was in the 50s at night, 70s during the day. I'm still going to try and eat it though (I owe her that, at the very least). If I end up destroying my commode, I'll consider that her revenge.
 
I bet the meat is fine! If it smells okay and had decent texture. It’s really surprising what you can get away with and congrats on the kill!
 
Glad you found her! That doesn’t look like a terrible shot considering the angle. You did the right thing and put in the effort, my hats off to you. I still do think the arrow passed thru and maybe when she took off it kicked out to the side you found it on.

you might be surprised on the meat, discard anything around the wound, that will have bacteria from the shot and give it all a good sniff test. Ball joints usually get ripe first and the first part to go bad. I shot a buck two years ago, thought it was a perfect shot and thought I knew exactly where he crashed over but couldn’t find him. Turns out it was a perfect shot but I was looking in the wrong area and had to leave him until the next day. I was really down on myself. 60s over night. I found him later in the morning the next day. When I quartered him in the woods the next morning I could push my thumb into the quarters, the straps pulled off like butter with no need for a knife and thought it was all ruined but everything smelled ok so I took it all. It was the best, most tender venison I ever ate. No idea how it happened but it was all great. I hope yours is the same
 
I would agree the shot looks good for the angle. Also where the arrow exited I would assume it didn’t allow for blood to flow out maybe. I bet she was filled up inside with blood. If you heard her crash she was hit good. Great that you found her and great effort on your part. Each deer shot is a lesson learned because they all can react differently
 
There's nothing at all wrong with that shot dude, especially considering the extreme downward angle. In a perfect world, you would have recovered her a little sooner, but I assure you, that was a 100% ethical kill, and you have nothing at all to be ashamed about! Great work!

I shot a doe in nearly the exact same spot last September, and she dropped where she stood. I have a fascinating video of her bleeding out that has been really educational for me.
 
I shot a smallish buck two days ago shot below heart. The buck bedded within sight hurt badly and suffering. I quietly got out of the tree and shot the buck again fatally this time. I said all this to say if the buck had been a wise old doe it would have ducked into the arrow for a perfect shot. Bow hunting anything can happen even at close ranges. Glad you found the deer.
 
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