ORIGINAL: uncle matt
Find it!
It is only ethical to take shots at distances, and in situations that you whole-heartedly believe you can successfully make. I believe that each and every shot made should be final, wait or let it walk if need be.
Right now, I can see uncle matt sticking his chest out while looking down at you saying this feeling real good about himself from the keyboard.
Anyway, If you havn't lost a deer ever, you havn't hunted much.I dont' know why webpages brings this arrogance out in hunters.Alot of things can work against you in the woods, maybe a twig you didn't see, maybe the deerjumped the arrow, maybe you are way too excited on the shot. Only time and experience can help you with excitement.
But, I will tell you this. Most of deer recovery is pure confidence and determination. Before tracking, really go over it in your head. Where was the hit? did you see the arrow sticking out? Did you recover the arrow? What did the blood look like on the arrow? dark red? light red? etc. If you think you gut shot it, not all is lost. Just retreat out of the arear (or stay in your tree), opposite the deer went, come back 8 hours later. No kidding, 8 hours later. If the blood has air bubbles in it, or your confident you hit the lungs/heart, come back hour later.
Also if you have trouble tracking deer, stay away from wet days or rainy days. They can be troublesome. Pick days where the leaves are pretty dry. Also stay away from hunting grounds with high reeds.
All you need now is confidense. Lastly, don't get too many buddies out there. One is all you need, two maybe if the guy is a good tracker. Everyone likes to think of themselves as a good tracker, but most are not. I am not. But I have confidense thru some bad experiences.