Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

Ok first off I had a really nice buck come out and as he was walking towards me I drew back my bow. It happened so fast I dont know if my released slipped or if my finger hit the trigger but my arrow flew straight into the throat of the buck. I was devastated, this has NEVER happened. I tried to replay what happened in my mind but I dont know what I did wrong. We found awesome blood, the best blood trail Ive ever seen. It was pitch black out and you could see the blood on the leaves in the dark without the flashlight on it. This isa map of the area. The deer bedded down 3 times and the last time we kicked it up, then called off the search till morning.

purple= where I shot the deer
red= blood trail
green= deer bedded
blue= last found blood
I calculated a distance of roughly 4000 feet that this deer ran. Ill get pics of the blood trail and post. this deer must make blood faster than he looses it.

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

Man, after jumping him once you didn't know to not push him any more! GOOD LUCK FINDING THAT BUCK!

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

Some advice for you next time. I have learned this the hard way. Any time you think you hadeven the slighestmarginal shot, ALWAYS back off until the next morning.Often the first time you bump them can be the last time you see them.With a blood he will most likely die but definitely the more time the better. Best of luck to you.

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

I have had mesh gloves get caught in my release trigger and set it off on the draw.


Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson.


Anytime you have less than a perfect shot,BACK OUT IMMEDIATELY,but I am not going to beat up on you(you are probably taking care of that);),get back in there in the morning and find him.

good luck

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

Thanks for the input. As for the first two times he bedded we didnt know till looking closer (after we called off the search) that he had actually bedded. It looked more like he just stopped fora couple mins and a big pool of blood gathered. I believe thats the case for the first "bedded" spot. The second he diffinately laid down, unfortunatly we thought he had just stood there as well and ended up pushing him till he went into the draw. I hope I find him. He has alot of character. Hisleft side has 4, possibly 5 pts with some kickers and pretty good mass. Hisright side is a ginormous spike with 4 to 7 serious kickers. If he were semetrical and hada "full" rack he'd easily score 160+ but with the big spike I think it'll only be around 100 inches of bone.

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

Good luck with your buck.... and yes if you see that he bedded down once you should definitely get out of there!

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

He didn't go south to the road. my guess is he turned west along that tree line and then turned north up the finger to what looks like a lower land area. You will probly find him down back in there. I would find someone with adog and let him lead you.
Good Luck!
Let me know.
Eric

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

If you thought he was just standing there,then that is even more reason to back out.

Let the deer lay down and bed up,then that is where you will find them the next day.


My daughter shot a buck 2 years ago with a gun.Bad shot butI thought it was better than it was(good blood).Waited 45 minutes,went into the woods and started tracking,found a puddle where it was obvious he stood there for a minute.I realized then that the hit was less than perfect but looked up the trail andthe buck got up and lookedback at us,he bolted.


We backed out right there and came back in the morning and found him 200 yards later.


If I had realized the hit was bad earlier,the buck would have been laying right where I saw him.

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

ugh. good luck.

when in doubt, back out!

RE: Shot a BIG ONE!! but havent recovered it.
 

that kind of blood and that much distance i'dsay he's somewhere very close to the last spot you found blood, BTW is that water just to the south of the last blood;), i know its been mentioned but the only time i'll stay on a deer with a questionable shot is if rain is in the forcast, which for me is worst case scenario..

hope you find him;)