depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

well i went our for a few hours after school today with my bow and set up on a log on a know well used trail...about 5:15 i saw a doe coming down the trail and let it pass me....i hit the "lil can" doe bleat and about 30 seconds later a NICE 8 or 9 pt buck came stompin down the trail...i dropped to one knee, drew my bow, waited for him to get in the clearing, grunted and stuck it to him....it was a lil far back in the liver at 20 yards away and the arrow sunk in him (not as deep as i hoped), the deer trotted off with my arrow as if nothing happened to him....i found a few drops of blood where he was when i shot but with every frggn leaf on the ground bein red i couldnt find any more...i waited about 30 minutes and started up the trail that he took...i ran out of daylight and never found my trophy......this would have been not only the biggest deer ive shot yet but my first with a bow...im goinf back tomorrow after school to continue looking.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Don't sweat it. Go back tomorrow and find your deer. It will be cold enough tonight where he won't spoil. He may stink when you gut him but the meat will be just fine. Hose him out good when you get him home.

Good luck

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Go get him tomorrow. If you hit the liver he probably won't go far.
Keep us posted
Good luck

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Good luck on your search tomorrow

You'll find him

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Don't have to go too deep to hit liver, and if it was a liver shot he'll die within a couple hours and if you didn't jump him up he's not far from where you were..
Follow blood (on hands and knees if ya have too) until you just can't find anymore.. Then start a zig-zag pattern of walking back and forth for several hundred yards, will take a while but if he's down and you hit him where you think then you'll find him..

Good Luck..

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

I liver shot a buck 3 years ago....take your time tomorrow, mark every area you find blood( you may have to look 400-600 yards, be prepared to look for awhile)....you will start noticing a pattern. Mine ran its rub line..then started to go downhill towards water...found him 3 yards from a creek/tangled in a mess of thicket.

vashadow

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

im going to go to the thickest nastiest stuff i can find in the area i think he is and hope i find him trying to take cover in that stuff.....if that dosnt work ill go to the nearest water source....man i hope i find this buck.....and i want my arrow back god dernit.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

let us know how you do...good luck

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

i was trudging through almost evey square foot of that land from 3:00PM till dark (approx 6:30) and all i found were 4 drops of blood and some hair within 100 yards of the shot....never found my arrow, never seen the deer again.....i guess this one just got away....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

no dont settle for that, that deer WILL die with a liver shot, no doubt about it, keep looking for a couple days even if you find it and the meat is bad you would still want the head

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

bad part is i covered all the land that is huntable.....the rest of it is neighborhoods......

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

I'm sorry that you haven't found him, but what makes you sure that you hit him in the liver?

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

because i watched the arrow hit him right where his liver is....apperantly i didnt hit him in the actual liver but it was right in that area.....but for only finding about 4 small drops of blood then no more blood trail for all i know the arrow got wedged between the ribs or soemthing...i guess this is my fault for not upgrading my bow like i should have...i wanted to squeeze one more season out of this one (set at 45 LBS) and i guess it just dosnt have the veolcity i need to be shooting expandables.......im definately retiring this outh model bow after this season and upgrading to like a hoyt trykon or something.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Keep looking
Do not give up

on a side note, you are right, your bow probably doesn't have the KE to be shooting expandable broadheads

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

BS, that is NOT hunting, its called being lazy and unprepared to finish what you started.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

if you did hit the liver, then it should have let it bed over night....hit a doe last year, gave her 30 minutes and went to look...she had bedded 60 yards from where I shot just out of sight....i jumped her from the bed and almost did not recover her because from her bed she ran 200 yards without a drop of blood.....started grid searching and I found her.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

well w ehad 8 prople including myself grid searching this land....he is in the residential neighborhoods and is no longer bleeding....track over.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Sorry to here that. I was hoping for a pic. I wish you luck for the rest of the season.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

deerslayer,
Come on buddy....You can find him. I shot one in the liver 2 weeks ago and it went 100yds, little blood too, and it was raining. Maybe you pushed him a little.. The typical wait for a liver shot is 4 hrs.

Sit back, relax and give it your all...You'll find him

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

we waited 24 hours before trying to really track him..we looked for a little blood that night and found some at the shot area. and the next day afterschool is when we started to really follow his trail....we literally followed the small blood drops up to the road, we found no more after that....none on the road, or anywhere on the other side of the road....we have no idea which way he went.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

I'm guessing you didn't hit him in the liver. Sometimes your eyes play tricks on you.
Also just a comment about blaming the bow and the heads....YOU knowingly chose to use an ill advised set up. Take the blame yourself and learn from it.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

You sure you didn't hit him in the paunch? I've done that in the past and found a little blood and hair, but I kept looking and eventually found her. I left her overnight and found her after about 4 hrs of grid searching the area the next day.
45lbs and mechanicals are a bad combo, but I'm sure that you know that now. Find a decent head for your setup and good luck the rest of the year.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

this is definately a bad setup..ive had it since i was 12 (im 16 now) and like i said wanted just one more season out of it because it shoots sooo nice...im now usin a 75 grain muzzy fixed blade broadhead for the rest of this season.....afetr this season im going down to kevins archery shop down in greene county(dont know if any of you shop there but he is a great guy) and gonna get me a nice used bow setup.....last year my dad got a nice hoyt reflex lefty with all the fixins, drop away rest, adjustable sight, new string and release for like $300 and he has great success with it....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

So a doe came down the trail and didn't notice you. That part is good. Then you decided to make noise and all that. WHY???? You're on a well used trail. It's the time of year for bucks to be wandering. Just let nature take it's course. No need to go making artificial noises without seeing a deer. That doe passing by was the best thing that could happen. That buck wasn't following your call. And then you put him on alert after he shows(on his own) and you feel a need to grunt at him. He was following the does scent. don't put him on alert at 20 yards... just shoot him.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

yeah well i got a little excited and maybe did a few things wrong but either way the deer came and gave me a diecent shot.....i just didnt hit him where it counted...

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Youll have that....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Well your eyes can play tricks on you!! Last year I shot a REALLY nice 11 point! I told everybody it was a great shot. We found very little blood and looked for days. On opening day of shotgun season a guy that hunt with me shot him. We found my broadhead in the backstrap!! So I looked a little dumb but I still remember hitting him in the kill zone. I thought!!!

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

your right...jus because thats where it LOOKED like it landed dosnt mean i hit him there.....i still got alot of archery season left im sure ill get at least one more chance....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

My advice to you is to relax and get back out there. Your set up isfine.I is more then the minimum allowed in your state. You just didn'thit where you thought maybe. Next time take your time, think of the shot and good luck.I wish I was bow hunting at 16. I was only interested in the girls at that age.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

i been bow hunting since i was 12......i have never gotten a deer with a bow thats why i was so excited about this one....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Deerslayer270...I feel your pain. I made a poor shot on a huge buck last year, hitting the right side behind the ribs. The arrow hung out half way until he jumped a fence (I could still see him), then fell out and left a nice blood trail. He walked very slowly, laid down a couple times within my sight, then dissapeared. I gave the deer an hour then pursued the blood that ended about 50 yards later. This was at 10AM, I searched the remainder of the day with no luck.
I learned two very important lessons from this expierence. 1. Don't pursue until the next day unless your 100% confident it was a perfect pass through shot in the lungs. It's just not worth it. 2. If your confident that it was alethal shot keep looking. For me it was the first day of a 7 day rut hunt, I convinced myself that I shouldn't wreck the woods searching all over for days. Truth be told, I think of it all the time and wish I had just kept looking, asked friends to help look and done everything I could to not loose this deer. Its not the trophy that counts, but you have to have more respect for such a beautiful animal. I'm sure I made a lethal shot, and a bad decision in the end.
So the moral of the story...your not alone, but learn from the expierence and don't make the same mistake again!

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

no pass through on the liver!!!you sure thats where you hit?good luck

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

i probaly hit a rib or got the arrow wedged between a ribs or something like that.....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

Deffently expandables with that draw weight arnt good, I know you got some muzzys but i really would get a cut on contact tip such as the montecs or something similar.
That will really help in penatration.
Also get back out there and shoot another one, also dont be afraid to shoot a doe. I think it will be better to get a doe for your first in stead of a buck. Just because you dont have to get extra excited over the rack.
Just get one under your belt and it will be alot easier after that!!

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

yeah im definately goin back out ASAP....now when you say cut on contact. you mean just the regular broadheads with 3 blades that dont move?

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

No a cut on contact is one where the tip IS the blades like a steel force or magnus stinger type head.

Exactly how slow was your setup? I would think even a muzzy would be fine penetration wise. I knew a small framed girl barely pulling our state minimun weight who got pass thrus on rib cage shot deer.

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

my setup is at 45lbs and i was using a 100 grain expandable....im thinking i did hti a rib because there is no reason it shouldnt have passed through...i was still able to see 90% of my arrow that had not penetrated the deeras he ran away....

RE: depressing.......but thats just hunting.....
 

A deer rib is NOT going to stop your arrow.