Well I ****ed up today gents. It was a great Morning hunt everything went great. Doe walked in to 20 had no idea I was there. I took the shot. Felt pretty good, heard the thwack and saw it was a pass through. Not much blood, meat and tallow on the arrow.
Deer crashed within sight, so I packed my stuff and went to my truck. Got back to the spot the doe crashed and nothing…
Tracked blood for about 200 yds and then it just stopped. It’s my second year hunting and the first deer I’ve not recovered.
Not a good day.
Don't get down on yourself, s**t happens. Lets dig into it a bit since you are relatively new to hunting.
Did she move before the arrow made impact? How did she react when the arrow hit her? Mule kick, jump or not even move till she heard the thwack"? After the hit did she walk away or take off like a rocket?
You said the doe crashed in sight. Was it indeed an out of control crash or did she intentionally lay down? What was her head position when she was down? Injured deer lay down but keep their head up.
How far did she run before going down? How long did you wait before getting down?
I don't know all of the logistics, but It is possible that you bumped her when you got down.
Some things to remember:
Unless you are 100% certain the deer is dead, meaning you visually see a lifeless body (head on ground and no visible chest movement), stay in the tree for at least a half hour. Longer is better. Marginal hits need time to bleed out. If you're not certain where the arrow hit, then stay put for at least a few hours. Use this time to replay the sequence of events in your mind. Take note of her body language, where she was standing, where the arrow entered, her reaction, and the direction she ran off.
It doesn't matter if a dead deer lays on the ground for a few extra hours while you wait in the tree because you aren't sure of the hit. It will be there for you to find. Now, get down and track an injured deer before giving it a chance to expire and you risk bumping the deer, losing the blood trail, and increasing the odds that you'll never recover it.
Once you do get down, go to the spot she was standing when you took the shot. Search for clues like blood, hair, and hoof prints. Your arrow can give you an idea of the hit. Completely covered in bright red blood - good hit. Dark red blood may be liver, back out for at least 4 - 6 hours or longer. Brown/green/food on arrow is a gut hit, deer will die but it could take 24 hours or more. Blood trail will suck too. Tracking too soon will push her into next county. No blood, or minimal blood and greasy/tallow could have hit muscle only or was a grazing shot. Most likely not fatal but do a quick search of the area to prove the assumption correct.
Learn from every encounter you have, good or bad, and enjoy being a bowhunter! If it was easy, all the gun hunters would do it! HAHA!!
Now get out there and put one on the ground,
Good luck brother!