Wind changed up on me so I abandoned my stand mid-late afternoon. Hiked up to a better location given the wind direction. I was about 15 yards from the new stand and I spotted a buck upwind about 25 yards. Wind was really blowing at this point. I crouched and hung tight for ten minutes.

The buck edged closer...following a crop line. About 18 yards off he passed behind a bush. I was able to draw back on him and when he cleared the bush I let the shot rip. He spooked for a minute and jogged off about 5 yards. I really thought I tagged him good. I stayed low and watched him walk gingerly while he grazed a few times on the soybeans. A doe approached and they socialized for 30 seconds. The doe bounced off and the buck walked off very very slowly (and a bit woozily.) He entered the woods.

I was shocked. I didn't think I could have possibly missed this shot. I waited about 15 minutes and pressed quietly fwd looking for the arrow. I found the arrow immediately. It was covered in blood from tip to tail. A complete pass thru. There was hair lodged in the broadhead as well.

I went back and climbed into the stand for 45 minutes to think about what just happened. I decided my shot may have been further behind the shoulder than I thought. A gut shot I decided...which disappointed me. By now darkness settled in. I backed out of my stand and exited the area far from where I saw the buck enter the woods after the shot. I'll have to give this animal a full 6 hours to hopefully expire.

I'll be up early tomorrow morning with my pop tracking this deer. If I didn't see the arrow I'd say maybe the shot missed high due to the behavior exhibited by the animal immediately after the shot. I'm just taken back after seeing the evidence of the shot.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?