OH NO we lost one!
 

last night about dark i was headin bac to the truck when my dad called me on the radio and said that he had shot and hit a doe. So i went over there and he showed me the arrow,,which was coverd in blood,,then we started track her. she did bleed much to start,,then after about 30yrds she really started to bleed and then we ran in to her and she was bedded down. unfortunetly we ended up pushing her,,so we started trackin again this time only following spots and specks. we track for another hour,then my dad basically gave up,,and said he was goin home,,unfortunetly i did want to leave yet and kept lookin,,then he was half way to the truck i decided id better go cause i am pretty sure he would have left me there. and since my dad had to work today we werent able to look for here this morning,,and i feel terriable about leavin her out there,,but there is nothin i can do now

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

I feel your pain and know how you feel. I imagine pop is sick also, but it happens to the best of us. thats a part of bowhunting! Ive lost one since ive been bowhunting and I was sick for days, but She might have lived and if she died other wildlife benefited from it, thats how I look at it. Dont beat yourself up over it, You need to get pop back out there and try again. Wish ya luck

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YEP THAT CAN HEPPEN TO THE BEST BOWHUNTER, I EXPERIENCE SOMETHING LIKE THAT LAST YEARS SEASON, GOOD LUCK!

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

I'm not being a smart arse but if dad don't have time to track than dad shouldn't hunt. Just my opinion. The deer was bedded down and going to die when you jumped her. Right then you should have backed off and gave her time to die. Just learn something from your expierence, it will all add up to making you a better hunter. Good luck

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

he does have the time,,,he just did last night cause he had to work this morning,,i wouldnt have shoot it either being i knew he had to work and it was almost dark when he shot it,,but i think we should looked longer but hte farther we got the lest blood we found,,and he decided to give up and that was only at 8:30,,that is what sux about bein a farmer u have to work on the weekend,,,hopefully we can get out this evening,,but i think he was goin to hunt up by the farm,,,or hopefully tomarrow,,and since i don have schoolmonday we get one sunday evening i tell my mom to take me up there if we dont find it hopefully it wont happen though,,
i just feel terrible to know that she is dead and we did find her and how close we could have been to her,,,but i dont think she laid back done on our property,,course id have to agree wit smoky,,she wont go to waste

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

I can tell you from experience that those sparse drops of blood are likely from the doe running away. Lesson learned - next time back off and let her lay down.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

Well .I hope you learned not to push a deer like that.Quess some of us are more stubborn.But If itwas me I would of waited and went back a little later.And if it took till morning work would of had to wait or when I found it went to work tired.We all must totally follow thru. Lesson learned

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So many opinions, so many different thoughts, I'll throw my nickel in and be done. When my father started taking me hunting, he had a few simple rules to follow:
1. If you shoot it, you eat it. If you don't intend to eat it, DON'T SHOOT.
2. If you wound it, you stay and finish the job no matter how long it takes.
3. The only exception to rule 1 is if it shoots at you first or if a wild animal attacks you (i.e. rabid coon).
4. If you are tracking a wounded animal and have to cross onto another property, even though you have the right to track unarmed (Iowa law), still notify the landowner prior.

That's it......Now you have to decide what is right and wrong for yourself.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

AF hunter,,,,,
i have to agree with u,,just to get my dad to would be the thing,,,this is when i wish i had my licesece cause i would have been lookin for it this morning,,,,,few more months though

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I am not sure if I agree with AF Hunter on his lesson#2 stay until the job is done no matter what, My question to that is what is the definition of done, does that mean until you find her ,because you may not, I have looked literally for days and come up with squat.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

Patch, if you looked for days and did not find her, you did what you had to do. I believe what my father was telling me was to use common sense and don't have that attitude of "Oh well, I looked and can't find it" after 30 minutes or so. I have tracked a wounded animal for 10 hours to finish the job. Another time I spent two full days from sunrise to sunset tracking and then lost the trail in a gravel quarry. When I lost it, there were truck tracks everywhere and the trail was destroyed. Both times, I considered the job finished. Both of these were shots taken by someone else in my hunting party. Fortunately, the military taught me to be sure I had a good shot before I let 'er rip. I have not had to track anything I shot over 300 yards.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

My suggestion is to direct your pop to read the "What to do after the Shot" thread pinned to the top of this forum and read it together.

Lots of mistakes made here and I have a feeling there was no education gained in that animal's loss.[&o]

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

Unfortunately, The best of us get the jitters and don't always make good shots, especially with a bow. I lost a beautiful 8 point last week, it made me sick butI learned lessons. You also, as a young man, have learned some lessons. Remember what you or your dad did wrong and in future you will do a better job.

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I tend to agree that you probably should have ascertained what type of hit he had prior to beginning the tracking process. As soon as you bumped her I would have quit and come back later.

I am sorry to hear that you did not find her. I know that feeling as well.

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I feel ya on that one...it just makes me sick to the stomach when i can't find one...but u gotta just keep lookin and lookin..hopin to find it

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I bet if it was a 150 class buck he'd have looked all night and into this morning.

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Well ifI were you I wouldn't feel bad about it because your hand's were tied either keep looking or walk home ,soI definately understand .I hope your father has enough sense to return and look some more for the deer ,if he doesn't then he's the one who should feel bad .

nubo

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I agree with Matt....read "What to do after the shot" Those guidlines are asclose to the "bible" as you can get.......you won't loose deer!

Good Luck on the next hunt!

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

No doubt...............sad but true.



This hunt was a nightmare from the start.........shouldn't have been hunting late if you had no time to track. Should have known the hit wasn't great before going after her........should have waited longer no matter what the hit was.........once you jumped her the LAST thing you want to do is keep pushing after her........and the culmination of this comedy of errors is giving up basically because he didn't feel like looking any more.

Wow.

Not a single thing was done correctly.

What a great example to set for a young hunter to follow [:'(]


I feel bad for ya kid..........seems like you are shouldering all the guilt and from the sounds of it you may have had the dedication to find her.


It all boils down to either knowing what to do........or not. Standing in the woods in the dark and asking each other "Now what???" is not a good place to be. COMMON sense would have told him not to shoot that late if he didn't have time to track...........and BASIC knowledge would have kept you from chasing after a marginally shot deer. You would have let her lay for hours before going after her and most likely found her dead right where you first jumped her from.........dad would have been dog-tired at work but for good reason.

Feel bad for ya kid.

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Very well put ,my thoughts exactly!!!

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I have a few problems with what yer dad did. #1 he is a farmer and he can set his own hours NO EXCUSE. #2 common sense if you jumped it it obviously needed more time to die. #3 I know what yer dad is thinking, oh well that is one more that won't be out there eating my corn and soybeans. You always follow thru with the recovery, at least give 100% before you go and give up. You sound like a stand up fella but yer dad needs to question his hunting policies.

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It just kills me to read stuff like this. I have passed on so many deer on evening hunts because of the very reasons like this. Too dark, too late, hard to track. I know others who continue to do this time after time, almost always losing the deer (more like not finding it). I can't figure out why they feel compelled to let an arrow fly and then feel no obligation to find the deer. I guess I'd better just stop there.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

i thank yall for your feedback,,

i might be able to,,but the only thing is he thinks that i spend to much time on here and that since this is on the internet that yall can say what ever u want and it may not be true,,,,,the one reson i come on here is for help with my problem so i trust that yall tell the true,,and i thank yall for it cause this is a great place to be and discuss thing,,

your right that is what he said if it was a buck he would have been out there lookin for it

we started huntin about 4:30 but it was late when he shot,,he said that he could hardly see the outside of his sight ring,,but i dont know if it was that bad of a hit,,,course i would have had to been if we pushed her that long,,but he said that there was a good thump,as if it had gone though the chest,,but i dont know,,honestly if i could seen the outside sight ring i would not have shoot,,,even though i have practiced shooting at dusk i would not feel that i would have had the confidence to do it

he is a farmer but he work on a farm for some one else,,other wise i ampretty surehe would have been lookin for it,,,,

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

I feel bad for you, your hands were tied in this situation being with your father. Hopefully you have learned something good here from all of the posts and know what was done wrong in this situation. Please take what you have learned here and pass it on to your father, he needs the education as much as you do.
I also bet that this has happened to quite a few people on this board that don't like to admit it. It happened to me when I was younger and I learned from it.
Good luck and keep huntin'!

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

PSE, I believe you would have made every effort to retrieve the deer.

But one thing besides the hunt concern me. Why would you post this? You know the consenus is going to be against dad for giving up, and I agree with those statements. But since you had to know it was going to turn into a "Dad bashing" why post it? I mean once someone started ragging on my dad I'd get defensive and probably get booted off the board. I admire your respect for the deer, in the future give more consideration for your respect for Pops.

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

dadatta2d,,,

cause i think that he did not do the right thing in givein up so easly or early it was only 8 or 8:30 when we had givein up,,,,now if some one started for no reason than i would get deffensive,,,but i just feel that he didnot do the right thing here and ihonestly dont give him alot ofrespect for it,,,,but maybe i am wrong about that but i feel that i am right in my doin

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Wow.........that is just plain sickening.

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If it was my dad, I personally would rip up his tags and hunting license and sell his bow on EBAY. But my dad would do the same to me if I did what your dad did.

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i lost one too, ihad her guts reaching the ground and still could not find her

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Learn from this and you can teach your dad.....you just gained/learned a valuable lesson for the rest of your hunuting career!

Good Luck!

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

PSE, no matter what your father did, it appears to me that you have the ethics to become one standup hunter. Continue to hunt with your father and reiterate your thoughts, it could rub off on him. Also, in the excitement of the moment, he may have shot when if he'd thought about it for a moment, would have held off. Either way, keep hunting, keep learning, and stick to your ethics and some day when you take your own child hunting, he/she won't ever be in the same predicament you are in now. Good luck in the future.

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YUP, stick it out on these things. For one thing, you'll learn a heck of a lotif you only ever recover one of them. I take such things as a personnal challange. I'll hunt for someone elses deer long after they give up. On two occasions I found a buck that others had given up on. BOTH people were genuinely grateful and appreciative. One I found within 200 yards and the other about 600 yards. The one I found after 600 yards had been shot by a dog hunter in Georgia with buckshot. Even the dogs couldn't find him. I was especially proud of that one. You should have seen the commotion when I ran the gang of dog hunters down and delivered the 6 point to the guy. It was a lot of luck...but you have to keep trying. I don't think that some people are necessarily better at finding a wounded deer but they're more persistant and patient. You got to slow down. When you see nothing.... don't move. Don't hurry when the trail is obvious. It's not going anywhere... take your time and learn.

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Dave,
That's a great piece of advice for ANYbowhunter. Every blood trail has a story to tell, and if you read it along the way the animal at the end will help you put it all together. That's valuable experience that will help when things aren't as simple as point A and point B with a clear blood trail in between.
Well done.:)

RE: OH NO we lost one!
 

A friend of mine called me Sunday evening about 7:30 to tell me he hit a doe and was tracking it (not sure why he called while tracking). Anyway, when I got in from hunting (about 8:30) I called his cell phone to see if the doe had been found but he didn't answer the phone. About 30 minutes later he calls me back on his way home saying that he couldn't find it. I asked him if he needed me to come and help him, he said "no, I gotta work tomorrow and IT WAS JUST A DOE". Now, I've only hunted with him a couple of times and never seen how he reacted when he killed/wounded something... but I was in shock. The result of this is that 1) I lost TONS of respect for him 2) I won't hunt with him again and 3) he just lost the chance at ever getting to hunt on my land.

Now, I know its your dad and you can't react the way I did, but he must know that the way he handled the situation is a slap in the face to EVERY hunter who does the "right" thing.

BTW, this is one reason I prefer morning hunts... much more daylight with which to track...