RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

I've never had a "hit" deer "blow" at me after it was hit. I think you scared the hell out of her with a clean miss.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Sounds to me like a direct hit. The arrow however did not exit. It maybe found after some tracking and you will then find a large blood trail right up to it.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the open and honest feedback. I would agree GMMAT. Finding it quickly would have been best. I did not expect the rain to move in as quickly as it did. That helped goof things up pretty quickly. Davidmil, I found the arrow piece about 20-30 yards directly behind where she was standing. Regardless, I will head our again this weekend to see if I can find the other half lodged in a tree or wherever.

nodog, if it were a direct hit, do you think she would have snapped it off somehow? Or that it bone or something so hard that it shattered?

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Clean miss... and you may never find the other part of the arrow. You don't have the fletchings to help you locate it.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

id say clean miss

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Yes. The reaction of the deer is what I'm going on. When a deer jumps and kicks at impact it's a hit. If it just hunches up and goes off slowly it would be a gut shot. If it just goes off after being startled it's a miss. The reaction of the deer is a very important factor in evaluating the shot.

Daughter found an arrow for me that I could not, this spring from a very similar situation. The bucks reaction though kept me looking and after about125 yards the blood trail opened up. The arrow that I could not find was about 100 yards down the trail. It had not gone clean through but hung up. The shot was steep and the arrow must have impacted the ground before going all the way through.It was on the money. The blood trail up untill the arrow had exited consisted of a few drops. It was a faucet after it fell out. The deer was about 300 yards out. Tough old boy considering the size of the hole in his chest.

It's easy toget all turned around when getting down from a stand. Sometimes it's good to get back up and use a radioand directanother guy through where you last saw thedeer. My brother and I have had good success this way, but you have to take note of as much info as you can. I've carried a junk arrow, painted brightjust for slinging at the last spot.

I would do what I could to recover the deer up to a point. After that I would *not* do anymore. No reason to ruin future hunting. 24 hours in warm weather would be past that point.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Yeah, it's called blowing. Odds are it was a clean miss. Never seen even a slightly wounded deer come back and blow and stomp.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

i thought it was a clean miss when i added it all up and then thought of the story i had to back up it being a miss but.................ive had deer come back in and had deer act like nothing happend just spooked to then have them fall over dead a few minutes later. these have been center heart shots but then i rememberd i had one i shot in the heart run away blowing like crazy and ran in circles back to me a few times before jumping up and flipping completely over and when she hit the ground she didnt even twitch it was like she died in the air. anyway i thought that i never had one blow when hit but then i rememberd that one time. but if the other half of the arrow was past were you shot the deer (and not near its travel path after the shot) i really dont see have the other half didnt pass the deer too.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Every heart shot deer I've ever seen ran hard after the impact. Most will keep going 'til the lights go out, but rarely one will stop after a hard sprint. One thing about a true heart shot is that the deer is not going to live over a minute or two, and usually less than that.

RE: A missed shot - or a recovery operation?
 

Update. It was a clean miss or at least I'm 99 percent sure it was. I've got her on trail cam a few timessince then. She has some distinct black markings on one of her back haunches. I've also noticed my sights were off/moved and most likely contributed. I didn't notice since I wasn't able to practice until this weekend. Must have been from an outing from two days before I missed on her when I knew my bow got stuck on the ladder in the pre-morning darkness while pulling it up. All good now though. Thanks for all the replies guys. Appreciate the input.