Originally Posted by
blakefrautschi
sounds like hes dead, but lesson learned, back out if you aren't sure of a good shot.... and maybe i missed it, but how long did you wait till you started tracking?
To be honest, i didn't even question the shot at first but I still waited 3.5 hours before I came back to look for him. I found the arrow, searched about 50 yards more and decided to come back the next day. He could be dead...could be alive, but after 200 yards of all out sprinting, its hard for me to believe that he was mortally wounded.
I measured the height to the base of the stand. It was 27 feet to the base. It was almost an exact 45 degree angle shot after the math. I don't say its the best angle, but I don't believe it is a poor angle by any means.
FYI, this is the first deer I've "wounded" in my life. I shot 8 deer in the last 2 years, many from 25+ feet without a problem, so the hard part to me is determining exactly what went wrong. I firmly believe that if the arrow was 6" further back, he would have been dirt napping within 60 yards, but at the time I truly felt where I settled my pin was the right shot placement. Many of you think it was a ridiculously steep angle, but it wasn't. I bet a lot of you would not have hesitated to take that shot. It sucks, but nothing beats experiences in the field...target practice all year long helps, but isn't worth as much as a few arrows placed into a live animal