Bob, broadside to slightly quartering away, he dropped and turned upon the release of the arrow. You bring up a good point about pushing a muscle hit to bleed an animal out. In this case I gave this animal 6 hours and had I caught the lungs in any way I firmly believe this animal would have been expired. Also, the bed we found the animal in was about 50 yards inside the weeks from where I last saw him walk in which is typical of a hit animal. He traveled the 200 yards from the shot impact plus the 50 into the bed site, it's no coincedence that we jumped a buck there. I badgered my friend to describe the animal, the reaction, the what's and hows...no doubt, the right buck.

With the heavy rain and high weeds I have no doubt that the buck we jumped was the same buck I shot thusly showing me he survived the hit and I firmly believe I will see him again the next 2 weeks off work that I am hunting. Personally I can't wait to see him and let the naysayers know...I told you so.[&:]

I didn't recover the arrow which wasn't for the lack of looking by the 3 of us, trust me, we looked but I did mention I studied the entrance and exit wounds with my bino's as the deer stood in the field not 150 yards away and as he walked off. The entrance hole would be on top of his shoulder with the exit hole just lower and forward of that which is consistant with him dropping and turning to bolt. The shot distance was 22 yards with my 20 yard pin picking a hair at the top half of his heart. The arrow replaced my pin on the shot so had he not dropped I am confident the shot would have been in the top of the heart but again, as he dropped and turned, that wasn't the case. Knowing that I didn't get his heart or both lungs while glassing him I realized I had a long wait still filling fairly confident that I might have caught on lung.

On the way to the recovery I mentioned to my friend and his brother that if we jump this deer, I missed the vitals and it would be nothing more than a flesh wound. That is what happened, and I will be redundant in saying that if you where to see the situation, the landscape and the site, you too would have no doubt that we jumped the same animal. I have no doubt and I won't be guided into a doubt as well.

I welcome advice, I welcome suggestions but and had I messed up I am big enough to welcome citicism but in this case with a well executed shot, a correct wait, good follow up and jumping the animal which I know is the same animal, the end result is, the whitetail won.

AND,

to those whom read this thread for what it is and understanding the underlying message that this is not a "I hit one know what thread"....THANK YOU.

I can picture the scerio exactly, and I had the exact same shot happen to me with a doequite a fewyears back. And it left me with a felling of "Whoa, what just happened", everything was executed correctly. Unfortunately I didn't find the animal either. I didn't have any lung blood, only muscle blood. I don't believe you were at fault at all. It was just one of those things that happen sometimes when you are shooting a living creatures.

Actually, if nothing elseis hit,it is possible for adeerto survive a one lung hit.

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Rob, that stinks. It happens though, keep you chin up.

One thing that I didnt see you state is whether you found any hair where you shot him. That might have helped determine where you hit the deer. It woulda been really tough to find in the high grass of a field though.

I killed a nice buck a few yearsthat I shot broadside at 30yards. I watched the arrow disapear right behind the shoulder. He ran about 50 yards, stopped and laid down, got up and pranced a while, then laid back down. He eventually got up about an hour later and went an additional 200 or so yards before dying. I found him the next morning. The shot was perfect, hitting both lungs. To this day, I don't know what kept that deer alive as long as it did.

They are a tough animal, tougher than I think some of us give them credit for.

You hunt long enough and take enough shots, sooner or later something strange will happen. If it hasn't, you're either god, or a liar.

You know my friend I know you did everything possible to recover this animal because I was with you, and of all the hunters out there today I would choose you to help locate my animal. Critisim is fine , opinions are fine ,outlandish digs from so called " sure shot "lip slinging jokers that would'nt have the guts nore the self respect to post there story as you did,well, there not worth the breath they take let alone yours...To say your a know it all or self absorbed individual? Only about the love for the animals you pursue and the sport you love and if that is being self absorbed I'm in..The TRUE archers and fellow sportsman that have been there understand this post,and the other individuals well let them live in there fantasy world..That whitetail is alive and well and will be back for a rematch this year.. Stay focused my friend, the only chip on our shoulders are the ones from others wishing they were us..

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Back off man, whats the deal?!?

Rob, what I hope people will get from this thread is how something can go wrong with even a perfect scenerio. Broadside to slightly quartered away at 22 yards. The margin for error was about as big as it could get. But, we are not shooting at targets.

When I hear about guys shooting at deer over 40 yards, taking head/neck shots, or trying to thread the needle at a quartering to deer, I really wonder what is going on in their heads.A person can be the best archer in world, however, a good hunter still has to take into account variables that he/she can not control.

It's bowhunting guys...things happen...all part of the deal. Even the best archers/hunters miss or wound an animal. If you haven't, then either you're lying, have a very bad memory or haven't been hunting that long.

I know it's easier said than done, but all of you who have ever taken that "Holier Than Thou" attitude suck, and you know who you are. Criticism is good...advice is good. But check the attitude at the door. You're no better than anyone else on here.

Rob, sorry you didn't get your buck...hopefully, you'll have another crack at him during the rut.

Rob,

Sorry to hear about that. But, unfortunately it happens to everyone at some time or another. Which is precisely the reason that I am buying a new pup to start training as a tracking dog. Sometimes you can do everything right and stuff still happens. I have been there and it isn't a pleasant feeling. You did everything you could in trying to retrieve the animal so all you can do is move on. Good luck on the rest of the season.

PS: I have talked to Rob for the last 5 years both as a poster and asa moderator and I think he is a stand up guy. The mere fact that he would make a post such as this says alot about his character IMO and anyone that acts as if the same thing couldn't have happened to them is fooling themselves.

Now all that being said there is no need for any personal attacks in this thread. I would like to let this post run it's course but I will lock it if it continues to get personal.