Monday morning I was off work because of my Saturday schedule this week. I was in the tree bright and early and waiting on the first rays of daylight. As light increased I didn't see anything for quite a while. Around 7:15 I caught a tail at the other end of the field and I started glassing the high golden rod but found nothing. Several minutes passed and I saw a deer flick it's tail at the edge of the bean field. I looked up and immediately saw antlers. I glassed him and he was a good buck. I assumed he was the 3.5 year old 8 I saw a week or so ago. I grabbed my River Valley Deer Flute and hit him with a short grunt....nothing. He was walking away so I grunted louder....nothing. Okay, this time I hit him with a loud, deep bellow and he stopped, looked back over his shoulder and pinned his ears my directions. Mind you, he was 200 yards away at this time.

Okay, now I have your attention so I toned it down with a short, softer grunt and he turned to face me with his ears at attention. I quickly slid the brass along the reed and gave him a contact call, slid the brass and a soft grunt. That did it, he walked the 200 yards to me on a string only pausing shortly to look as he came. At 22 yards I was at full draw and stopped him with a short bleet from my vocals and sent an Easton ACC tipped with a Rocky Mountain Snyper on it's way. I heard the hit and he immediately turned and high tailed it the way he came. I bleated loud with my mouth and it stopped him which disturbed me and I was thinking the whole time, fall, fall....darn it fall....I could see my arrow sticking out the far side only held in by the fletch. I could see blood dripping down the entrance side. I grabbed my binoculars which is a major suggestion as outlined in the recovery thread and glassed him. Again, arrow looked good, possibly a little forward as I witnessed him drop and turn at the shot. As he turned, hunching and tucking his tail I saw the gapping entrance hole. It was a little higher than I would have liked it to be and I quickly realized as he ducked and turned to run, the arrow hit high and angled forward. I watched him walk slowly, hunched and holdhing his tail tight the entire distance he came from and enter the high golden rod CRP field. I figured he'd be bedding there or just inside the small woodlot adjacent.

I got down, snuck out into the field and found a spot of blood, backed out and left. I figured I'd go home and relax for 5 hours and come back to collect him, if.....if I was able to catch a bit of the lungs.....

I made a phone call to my friend Kurt(Q2inwhitetails) out in Altoona, 2 hours away and told him the story...he was excited about it and enthusiastic about the whole situation...I however had my doubts. I replayed and replayed the situation and was thinking it was nothing more than a flesh wound and if I jumped him when I went back...I'd be able to hunt him another day. Ten minutes after we hung up, the phone rang...it was Kurt again. He said, "my brother just walked in and we can be there by 1:00, wait on us"...so I did. By the time we got out there it'd been 6 hours and rain had been steady. I was able to glass this buck until he entered the high weeds and that's where we started....there was no blood in the begining and I was only able to find a small spot about 2 ft off the ground on a weed....no more and we spread out and followed the defined trails through the brush and weeds. We scowered around for quite awhile when Kurt came to me and said a huge 8 pt just jumped up, leaped twice and was out of site in the weeds....I followed him to the spot and found a bed...no blood. A well defined trail from that back towards the only blood we found yielded a couple specks which told me, that was the same buck and that he's healthy. I firmly believe no vital shot would allow this buck to do what he did. Even a gut shot would have found this buck worse off that he was. It's evident I didn't catch the lungs that I was hoping for and it turned out I was correct with my glassing which indicated this was a flesh wound and he survived.

The only consultation is that I will be able to hunt this buck again and anticipate seeing him as the rut picks up.

Yes, I am thoroughly disappointed but I know I did everything right before, during and after the shot. The whitetail being a resiliant animal won this battle. I didn't want to make a wounded, now what thread but posting this hoping someone will learn and take tips from it....

Read the recovery thread and get ideas from everyone.
Use binoculars.
Back out and give an animal time.
Take friends or someone to help.
Don't pressure an animal.
Call to them after the shot to calm them.
Recall the last place you saw them and mentally mark it.