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We have 2 weeks of archery only in Northern NY, after that it’s gun.
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Lost a ten point
- Thread starter SaddleUpPartner!
- Start date
ThePennsylvanian
Well-Known Member
This is more along the lines of what I was getting at. The overwelming majority of folks look to find fault in their gear when something like this happens. Myself included, when the truth is 99.999% of the time the user. Again I know from experience, I really changed me tune and way of thinking for this season and bean to loom at things differently. My gear has worked to kill many deer, then I loose a banger buck and I need a drastic change..... just look at the variables.. is it more likely that I made mistakes and lost the deer with my decisions or that my gear all of sudden isn't adequate enough to kill a deer effectively......
This is not passing judgement on anyone, I've been here and again I lost a ood buck this year due to poor decision making on my part, tracking to early, not stopping the buck before shooting even though he's not moving fast, and so on...... focus that energy inward and things will begin to change it won't be over night but they'll change
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
I am not switching so I can take those types of risky shots you mentioned. Im genuinely very selective with my shots, this shot I took was the most “risky” I’ve ever taken. My reason for switching is deer move and you or me can’t control it, broadside or not. I honestly don’t know if the deer in question moved, I imagine he probably ducted a bit. My bow isn’t exactly new or super fast. I just want the assurance that if my broadhead hits that animal again that it will drive through anything in its path, no problem. Broadside, quartering away/to.
I don’t take front on shots, I don’t take vertical shots from high up, I don’t even take shots further than 25 yards and I wouldn’t even entertain shooting 25+ even with a fixed. I personally think I one lunged him and maybe a little liver. It was a risk taking that shot as other have mentioned, I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time. He was standing right in my shooting window so I just let it rip. Maybe next time I’ll hold off for a second or two for a more broadside shot.
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As hunters we practice to be the best we can be and choose our gear to be prepared for the worst, that’s just the way it is, anybody that has bow hunted more than a couple seasons knows this as I’m sure we all do, hence why I always use fixed blade heads, **** happens, always has and always will, and for whatever reason the bigger the horns it seems like more of this stuff happens, we’ve all been there, keep moving forward..
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
This wasn’t a giant by any means but a ten pointer is a ten pointer haha. This is exactly the way I’m looking at it. I see it as simplifying and honing my tool. It can’t hurt, I’m using arrows that aren’t even mine so the thought of switching isnt that drastic in my mind. I’m just making my shooting setup more of my own.
Learning more about tuning and arrow flight will probably help you more than anything. The ranch fairy actually has good videos on this imo. Although my current favorite broadhead is the exodus not a single bevel.
I haven't read all the posts but on the last night I could hunt bow this year I shot a small buck. He was at 10 yds., quartering to, and I was 22 feet up. I shot center mass, and it was not good. Went in 5-6 ribs from the back and came out belly. Liver, diaphragm, and gut. Would have been perfect quartering away at 25 yards. Watched him walk away hurting bad. Good blood until he hit a drainage. Between the runoff and melting, wet snow I lost blood. Found him 48 hous later only 300 yards from the stand. Meat was bad. Arrow combo, etc. doesn't compensate for placement. Graphic photo but you can see the entrance hole. Yotes had already started on him from the back end.
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
Weird part is that I didn’t even hit guts. Arrow was straight blood from tip to knock. Done over again with a different set up, I put it a touch more forward. I might have gotten away with a more forward shot with my current set up, I just had it back a touch. I think I one lunged him. I did find some drops of blood with small bubbles but it was very minimal.
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Fair enough. That's not how I interpreted:
"I guess my reason for my switch is I want the confidence to take the “questionable” shot because where I hunt, I don’t get a lot of A+ broadside chances."
Only you can decide what shots to take or not. Some folks don't even care about wounding deer, seems like you do. Why I wrote what I did.
Louder for the people in the back, please.
My arrow was blood soaked, not dark red, but "liverish" colored, with no contaminants. As has been said, don't beat yourself up for it (easier said than done). Use it as an opportunity to learn and improve. Although it sucks, that's all we can do.
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
That’s ok, I probably didn’t word that very well. Yeah when I say “questionable” I mean like a small amount of risk, not just whizzing it out there and hoping for the best. This buck was a slight quarter to me and I had a clear shot and he wasn’t even paying attention. Like I said, in the moment I didn’t even think it was a big deal and knowing how I am with shot selection, it probably was a doable shot for most guys. Tricky, but doable.
100% agree, if I shoot guts with a 40 dollar arrow, I’m still shooting guts. If I had to do it over again, I’d have shot a little forward.
I myself don't think you would have had any better results with that shot if you did hit further forward. You probably would have just hit bone and that flapper you were shooting would have folded like a cheap pocket knife. Just my 2 cents.
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
Yeah you might be right.
Took losing a couple for me to learn my lesson. You see blood and keep thinking that he’s laying just out of sight. You keep going. Eventually, you see where the deer laid down, but you start thinking, well he laid down so he must be near the end, he’s probably laying up ahead, just out of sight. Then maybe you find where he bedded a second time, but you’re all in at this point, he’s got to be close to the end so you press on. And then, suddenly, the blood trail ends. Lost deer. IMO you simply can’t bump a wounded deer that’s giving a thin or spotty blood trail. Shoot, don’t move for an hour, check the arrow, dark red blood, check the blood trail, thin or spotty after 50 yds, back out, wait 4 or 5 hrs minimum, same with good, dark red blood and no deer after 100 yds. Stomach content or watery blood, back out, come back in the morning. Consider that you are shooting mechanicals that will do massive damage with solid shot placement. It stands to reason if there’s no dead deer within 50 or 100yds depending on the evidence, then obviously the shot placement did not produce an immediate, lethal wound and you need to give the deer time to die in it’s first bed, which usually isn’t far away and to where the little blood there is will lead you later. Remember when it’s shot, the deer doesn’t know what happened, it just knows it suddenly feels bad and needs to lay down. But when you come stumbling along looking for it, the deer 100% knows you are a threat and that it needs to get as far away from you as possible. Any doubt, back out. Good Luck!
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Idk, I've had "flappers" exit the offside shoulder with no blade damage at all. It just depends.
Yeah I don't doubt you one bit but it seems like every single year I hear or see the very same thing play out at some point during the season with someone losing a nice buck the very same way. Iv'e also seen way to many videos with hardly any penetration from the expandables but will admit that a lot of that might be due to the arrow having poor flight due to tuning issues or just the blades being dull out of the package.
SaddleUpPartner!
Well-Known Member
I’ve had my same set up for a while now and I’ve passed through two deer that I’ve shot. Both were perfect broadside at 12-15 yards. First buck I shot I got right on the top of the heart and it shocked me how much blood there was, ran 10 yards and died. Second was a doe that I double lunged, she ran about 30-40 yards and died. Both total pass throughs and the missed buck was no different, total pass through. Made it extra confusing and frustrating.
Do you mind linking these videos? I’m kinda shocked about Zach, I’d like to see that.
you don't necessarily have to see your aim point bowhunting, the arrow does arch and where you aim isn't the arrow flight path. I know the videos he's talking about and to me they were good shots. the past 2 years I've shot at 7 bucks. 4 harvested,1 clean miss, 2 non recovered. I think that's probably about average for bowhunting whitetail. overall bowhunting thru the years I am probably a little higher at 70% recovered on shots taken if I had to think about it. Thats counting clean miss
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