Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Shot a nice doe tonight about an hour before dark had really good blood but lost the trail. It is going to get down to around 50 tonight do you think it will still be good in the morning?? I am going to get out at daylight to look for it marked it on the gps so shouldn't have to much trouble finding where I left off. I think we were pushing it so we back off instead of circle searching.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

I'd say the meat will be good. You'll know it when you find it and do the autopsy.

Couple questions if we may? You say you thought you were pushing her. What time did you shoot her? What time did you start on her?

Did you visually see the impact point?

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

i think its gonna get colder then that at 9 o'clock it was only 51 here and i thought i heard lows in the 40s for most of pa. its hard to do but if your pushing the deer get out and wait at least 6 hrs. that extra jump can make a dying deer run amazing distances sometimes. just find her before it gets to the hot part of the day and i think you should be fine.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

actually i thought you were a pa guy so i dont know what your temp will be, sorry.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

bc25, what state are you in?

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Go back in the A.m. My first 2 bow harvests were gut shots i wasnt to good at seeing the impact and all that good stuff, needless to say i bumped both of them an hour after the shot, and decided to come back 4 hours later (about 11 p.m.) bumped both again with flashlights and saw them running through the woods (this is 2 seperate years and i made the same mistake twice). Temps were around low 50's one year and mid 40's the other. Backed out after the second bump both years and got back on it the following morning, the first year the deer was 300-400 yards from where i bumped him not much blood(had to look good on hands and knee's) he stayed on a deer trail and went up a hill into thick pines. the other was 100 yards from where i lost the blood, saw him plain as day in the light.

Bothate fine:)

Rich

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

I couldn't see the impact point don't know why but I usually can. I waited about 1 to 1.5 hours to begin tracking. Must not have been the best of shots. By the looks of the blood it was a liver hit blood was very hard to find the first 50 yrds then it opened up to where you could walk at a slow pace following it, the deer stopped a few times and there was alot of blood but it never bedded down that we could see and this is why I think we pushed it and when we lost the blood trail we thought we would just back off and come back in the morning. It is going to be a long night as you can see by me still being up.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Hope you got some sleep and are after her now. Best of luck.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Sounds like you should be able to find her. Let us know.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

updates?

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Did you find her? I know you learned a lot from this experience. It's always best to err on the side of caution to avoid bumping them and the tell tale sign here was the fact that you identified the blood as probably liver or a muscle hit. In these situations you have no choice but to back out early and wait the6-12 hrs. it might take for her to expire. How did your arrow look, maybe you didn't find it, which in itself is a real important part of the puzzle. This is a perfect scenario for an organization like Deersearch, inc. (N.Y. and some surrounding states) or United Blood Trackers-check their website and click on the "find a tracker" link to see if there's one available in your state/area. Most of us work for gratis and we just want to get out and work our dogs. BTW-What type of BH do you shoot? Pls. let us know what happened. We'll all learn something.

Dan



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RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Sorry to hear that, I hope you find her!:)

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Find him as soon as you can! I already let a nice buck go over night, and the next morning the only thing I found was the gut pile, and the persons hat.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

TAKE YOUR WIFE OR GIRLFRIEND OUT WITH YA.WOMEN MAKE THE BEST TRACKERS BECAUSE OF THIER ATTENTION TO DETAIL...REALLY THEY DO.
HOPE YOU FIND YOUR DEER....gutt shot Hmmm.....It happens...

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Well I found her about 8am and it wasn't good. The varmits beat me to her. I hate it so much it makes me sick. I feel I have let everyone down including myself and the deer. Next time I will wait alot longer before tracking. I have learn a very hard lesson.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

bigcountry25, the good news is you did find her, the sad news is the critters will eat good, nothing will go to waste and you learned a little something along the way. If I may, there is some good reading at the top of the page regarding recovery and what to do after the shot. With in that entire thread there is great advice from many of your fellow bowhunters here. You might pick up a couple things that may aid you in the future. I know after 26 seasons every year I pick up some tidbits of information too. I try to learn all I can to aid in this passion.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

BC25, Don't beat yourself up over it. You actually did very well to find her. Critters and esp. coyotes always enter the decision making process we all use after we make a shot and the ensuing decision to track or not. The next time a coyote sneaks by your stand "shoot the SOB" and get even. lol Any chance you might add a lighted nock to your setup? Get back on that horse and go shoot another one!!!

Dan



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RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

I am gettin' back on the horse this evening a little smarter than I was yesterday and a big bonus for me this evening is that I get to take my 14 year old son bowhunting for the first time!! Pretty pumped about that!

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Learning to track properly and wait after the shot is a hard learning experience for everyone. I think it takes everyone a experience like yours to learn from and become better trackers in the end. I had my experience with a nice eight I shot a few years back. Spent alot of time the next day trying to find him. If I had just gave him a little more time it would have been a easy track, but because I was anxious and pushed it took about four hours the next day to find him. As long as you gained from this you had a successful hunt IMO!

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

You did all you could so dont feel to bad it happens

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

it happens to the best of them. Good luck. Hope your son gets one.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Good luck tonight with the hunt tonight. Hope all goes well. Don't let the bad fortune of yesterday ruin today.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Varmints have to eat too. You did all you could do by going back and looking until you found her. Many would have shrugged their shoulders and forgot about it. Better luck with the next one.

RE: Shot a doe tonight but Had to stop tracking do you think...
 

Well how did you and your boy do? me and my Daughter went out this weekend and got skunked the only thing we saw were a couple of turkeys and they were too far away. Now the weather is supposed to get hot so I am glad our season goes into Jan.