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Why ain't he dead? (Archers only)

What do you attribute your last unretrieved archery kill/shot to?


  • Total voters
    120
You can post yours in the No Shame thread if you would like...

Oh I am ashamed on the one I missed...buck fever is still a thing after couple dozen total archery deer kills...I lost my battery cap on my Nikon rangefinder(another story that stings) but I thought what the crap I’ll keep it 25ish and in...well this heck of a soybean trashing Midwest Buck stood up from bedding he did his thing for 40 mins or so...just enough time to get the fever and sakes going...he started my direction AND that’s when I shot clean under him...he was a tank and thought he was closer BUT he didn’t react at all just looked behind him...i was trying to nock another arrow and dropped the said arrow...that’s when he turn inside out and ripped through that field 100 mph...easily been top 2 for me...I bought a range finder the following week and now it doesn’t leave me when I have a bow in hand...
 
But I am keeping my head held high...2 for 3 this year and I’ll take that...those old nanny does got to go
 
Probably 20yrs experience. Had a doe and two fawns come in. 20'high in the tree but maybe 10' above the deer. Shot and killed the doe at 20 yds, fawns bolted so I started calling. The fawn came in to about the same spot I just killed the mom. She ducked so fast and so far that you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. She dropped and turned and the arrow went through the top of her neck. Tracked bad blood for 300 yds and then lost it in a goldenrod field. The lesson learned is a deer called and that comes in looking is wired, and on alert.
 
2nd week of bow season this year I was sitting in a tree inside of a bedding area when a buck came thru in the grass and was just feeding broadside at 30 yards. Thought I had enough of the vitals clear to send it so I did, arrows hit the thick grass right below the sweet spot and sent the arrow straight into the dirt. Buck didn't even realize what happened, tried to get a second shot but he just fed into the thicker stuff. Ended up double lunging a doe 20 mins later at 35 yards.
 
~25 years of bow hunting experience
About 20 feet up in a group of 3-4 smallish trees. Heard a buck grunt across the opening from me (80ish yards away). Look up and mature buck is standing in the edge, and starts slowly moving from my left to right. Lose him in the woods until he pops out about 60 yards away at my 2 o'clock. I grunted at him until I got his attention, and then shut up. He stopped, looked around for a minute, then started coming right toward me. NOTHING between us and I'm feeling a little exposed. He stops at 26 yards when some deer start running around in the woods at about my 5 o'clock. I come to full draw and range him with my Garmin Xero at 26 yards. Only shot I have is a frontal, but I've killed deer with that shot, so I put the pin on his chest and let it fly. Goes right under him. He trots off to about 35-40 yards, looks around for a second and then disappears. Turns out self-tuning your bow isn't for everyone... In hindsight, I probably rushed the shot too. No doubt I would have gotten a better shot, if I'd been a little more patient.
 
Got another one...

About 25 feet up in a homemade 2x2 platform with my daughter. I got her into saddle-hunting this year, so she wanted to do a hunt together. Couple of does start coming down the trail at my 3 o'clock. She wants me to shoot one, so she can video it on her phone. The lead doe catches movement when I draw and runs a couple of yards. The doe in the back is broadside about 15 yards away, but on high alert. I've only got a small window as there is a branch to my right, forcing me to lean into the tree to squeeze it by. (I'm shooting left-handed). I aim about halfway up the body and release the arrow. I could tell the hit was a little back, but I thought it was still good. She runs back up the hill, then I can hear her turn back downhill and head toward the thickety, swampy stuff. We wait until dark, then get down to check the arrow. Stinky stomach contents on the arrow. No blood at the shot. We find a little dark red blood and follow it about 20 yards or so. I decide we should probably just back out, and give her some time. Go back to the cabin, eat dinner, hang out for while. About 4-5 hours later, I go back out with my uncle, nephew, and daughter. Find a few pinhead sized spots of blood and stomach matter before the trail peters out. I knew I heard her run downhill toward this giant thicket where a big creek is. Makes sense, right? Gut shot deer go toward water. We grid-searched the thicket for a couple of hours with no sign of her. Walked the creek and every little puddle of water around. Gave up about 11:00 that night. The next afternoon, the buzzards helped us find her. She had made ANOTHER s-turn and headed back uphill away from the thicket and water. She was within 150 yards of where I shot her. I'm guessing a caught some liver. We had probably walked within 50 yards.
FYI- they don't always do what they're supposed to.
 
Three years ago I shot an eight point in the shoulder and the penetration was about an inch and one half as I could see most of the shaft sticking out. Honestly don't know what happened. Poor shot placement, it was cold and I've been having trouble drawing in the cold (I now switch to the crossbow when it is going to be below 35 F), and first time using mechanical broadhead (also the last). Above all, it was a missed aim point which was a good thing in a way as it made me evaluate my process and led to more practice and fine tuning.
 
I pulled the shot and hit in front of the shoulder on a quartering away shot. Jumped her a while later after tracking a good ways, she seemed fine.


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Last night was hunting off the ground had a deer start blowing close and heard her run a little. She didn't get my wind and came back a blew again. Decided to move 20 yards closer to where she blew and then heard her stomping which was close. Went ahead and drew back and then seen her pop up facing me what I thought was 30 yards ended up being 35 yards. I believe I nicked her in the leg and I regretted taking the shot but it was exciting but at the same time wish I would have waited a bit longer to see if she would have came closer or gave me a different angle shot.
 
This situation was 3 years ago on Nov 13. I had been bow hunting for 5 years and this was just the second arrow I had released on an animal in that time. The deer was at 20 yards and the shot was from a tree stand about 15 feet up in the air. Deer was hard quartering too. I was shooting Rage 2 blade expandable heads with 55# draw weight with 28” arrow and TOW only about 400gn. It was 30 minutes before last light when I spotted him coming my way about 80 yards out through some pretty thick cover. He worked in to 20 yards when he pegged me in the stand but I was already at full draw with the pin settled on the brisket for a frontal shot. I was sure he was going to bolt out of there any second. This was the largest buck I had ever seen live on the hoof by a long shot. I released the arrow and the shot felt good but the light was a little low and I wasn’t using a lighted nock. He tore off back in the direction he came from for about 50 yards and then slowed to a steady walk. there was Grey hair at the shot site when I got down but no arrow. Found blood within 15 yards of the shot. Decided to back out and pick up the trail in the morning. Tracked him on decent blood for 400 yards the next day to a river crossing where he took a swim over to private. He hadn’t bedded down at all for that first 400 yards. After getting permission to continue the search on the private, we found blood where he shook off after coming on-shore and found the broadhead end of the arrow broke off about 12” from the head. Never did find the fletching end. Could not find a drop of blood from there. The blades of the rage were not deployed and were wound up with what looked like a solid ball of fat, flesh and cartilage.

Several regrets. 1. Shooting an expandable head. 2. Taking that shot in the first place with a light arrow and expandable head. 3. Not waiting for him to take 2 more steps

we searched for another couple of hours on the private with no blood, sightings or clear signof We surmised that the shot went from brisket through the opposite front shoulder and was not lethal given what the head of the arrow looked like and the fact that he didn’t bed down.

4. In hindsight, I should have brought in a dog on the private.
5. I didn’t know enough to pay attention to the sharpness of my broadhead blades (was shooting them right out of the package).
 
welp, had to change my vote due to this evening...missed the biggest buck of my life (...so far, in the wise words of Homer Simpson) due a branch...at 15 yards from the ground. On the plus side it was a clean miss and he thought it was the turkeys that startled him.
 
Other:

Adjacent private property owner would not allow passage for recovery.
 
Last and only unrecovered archery deer was mature doe at 40 yards. She was leading a big group of does and fawns past me at a unhurried walk at the 9 o'clock position as I sat in the stand, I had ample time to turn and range the gap she was in as she approached though. Simply put I pulled the shot left into the front shoulder, where my two inch expander failed to penetrate. Recovered my broken arrow missing around 4 inches of shaft plus broached. Draw weight was somewhere between 65 and 70# with a 30" draw. Watched her run off and clear the fence on to the neighbors property. Went back the next day and tracked her to a cedar thicket she bedded in, never found any evidence of a wounded deer leaving that thicket. Had snow cover so tracking the deer with the bloody foot was pretty easy, until she left the last bed that had blood in it. I'm confident that the wound itself was not fatal.

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  • Yardage 20
  • Experience Level 15 years
  • Height 15 feet up in a tree but the deer was 15 feet below the base of my tree on a hill side
  • Deer O'clock Angle 1 o clcok
  • aim point heart
  • rough indication of entrance/exit hit shoulder
  • whether deer was calm/alert calm
  • whether deer was still/moving still
  • post shot recovery plan zero penetration so pretty much no plan needed
  • any other details you feel are relevant or that you learned from It was the second deer in as many days i missed and the exact same location (first was a doe and she was a clean miss the shoulder hit was a 130 to 140 8 pointer) bend at the hips and both would have been dead. The doe was first and I aimed in the pocket and it went over her back but never even thought about the fact that I didn't bend and from was off from the get go. As soon as a drew on the buck i mental said heart shot to comp for the shot I had the day before. This was from a tree stand and since went to a saddle zero issue with remembering to bend at the hip it comes natural. To be honest I don't really get nervous. When they are coming in I am nervous but as soon as I start my draw I feel like its just practice and the nervous go away. The problem with my 2 misses were I don't practice that shot. Things have changed now. I went with a much heavier arrow now hopping the shoulder wont be an issue and the saddle is way more natural to bend at the hip.
 
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