My First Doe! :(
#61
RE: My First Doe! :(
Badger,
You did well young man! Congrats on your very first deer!
Let me tell you a story.
I shot a huge bull elk one time. I put one right in his boiler room while he was broadside. He trotted off and stopped in an opening. Eighty yards seperated him from me. I watched him for 20 minutes through my binoculars. His entire left side was blood soaked. I was confident he was going down for the count. He eventually walked slowly out of sight. I waited another twenty minutes and began my pursuit.
Long story short, my, what I thought was a dead, elk got up and ran away never to be seen again. A blood clout the size of a loaf of bread was the only thing I foundafter the bull crash away from his resting place. Sadly, I failed to place a second, a third, and a fourtharrow into this elk when I could have.
That experience taught me a couple of things:1) If given the chance for another shot,TAKE IT!2) Be prepared for the worst. Shoot every arrow you have if necessary (and make sure you have the necessary equipment when you take to the feild! We owe the animals we hunt that much.
There is nothing glamorous about watching an animal die.But, it happens and you need tobe readyfor it.Had a game wardenbeen watching your event unfold,he may have cited you for killing and abandoning wildlife, failing to tag your animal immediately upon kill,etc, etc.Youwould not have been able touse your age as an excuse.
I salute you for asking questions. I tip my hat to you for hanging tough and going back. You nowhave a foot hold to continue your journey. Make sure youput this experience to good use. I wish you the very best...You did well!
By the way, how old are you?
You did well young man! Congrats on your very first deer!
Let me tell you a story.
I shot a huge bull elk one time. I put one right in his boiler room while he was broadside. He trotted off and stopped in an opening. Eighty yards seperated him from me. I watched him for 20 minutes through my binoculars. His entire left side was blood soaked. I was confident he was going down for the count. He eventually walked slowly out of sight. I waited another twenty minutes and began my pursuit.
Long story short, my, what I thought was a dead, elk got up and ran away never to be seen again. A blood clout the size of a loaf of bread was the only thing I foundafter the bull crash away from his resting place. Sadly, I failed to place a second, a third, and a fourtharrow into this elk when I could have.
That experience taught me a couple of things:1) If given the chance for another shot,TAKE IT!2) Be prepared for the worst. Shoot every arrow you have if necessary (and make sure you have the necessary equipment when you take to the feild! We owe the animals we hunt that much.
There is nothing glamorous about watching an animal die.But, it happens and you need tobe readyfor it.Had a game wardenbeen watching your event unfold,he may have cited you for killing and abandoning wildlife, failing to tag your animal immediately upon kill,etc, etc.Youwould not have been able touse your age as an excuse.
I salute you for asking questions. I tip my hat to you for hanging tough and going back. You nowhave a foot hold to continue your journey. Make sure youput this experience to good use. I wish you the very best...You did well!
By the way, how old are you?
#62
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Western NY
Posts: 148
RE: My First Doe! :(
badger109 you did fine I think. If I heard gurgling blood I would think that deer is down for the count, and fast, you obviously hit some lungs, so the shot (2nd)was lethal. Apparently some people think you are morally obligated to shoot an entire quiver of arrows in your deer so you had a pincushion to look at, but I think you did ok.
Spine shots are horrible to experience, every hunter I know who has made a spinal shot never feels good about it. I've made 2 with a gun, and it is not fun knowing that the animal is suffering, and scared. You just try and do the best that you can, and prevent mistakes in the future. Part of being human unfortunately.
Now about that quick shot. I practice quick shots, and lots of them. I didn't when I first started bowhunting, but then I learned that things happen pretty quick, and there isn't time to take a 30 second shot, at least not for me. Especially when I am in thick nasty crap that I like to hunt. For me, everything is pretty fast, except for when I pull the trigger on the release, I try and do that somewhat slow, really helps with my accuracy tremendously. But you do what works for you. Next year, you may wait a little longer, and then miss a shot at a huge buck because you took too long, just part of hunting :-)
Spine shots are horrible to experience, every hunter I know who has made a spinal shot never feels good about it. I've made 2 with a gun, and it is not fun knowing that the animal is suffering, and scared. You just try and do the best that you can, and prevent mistakes in the future. Part of being human unfortunately.
Now about that quick shot. I practice quick shots, and lots of them. I didn't when I first started bowhunting, but then I learned that things happen pretty quick, and there isn't time to take a 30 second shot, at least not for me. Especially when I am in thick nasty crap that I like to hunt. For me, everything is pretty fast, except for when I pull the trigger on the release, I try and do that somewhat slow, really helps with my accuracy tremendously. But you do what works for you. Next year, you may wait a little longer, and then miss a shot at a huge buck because you took too long, just part of hunting :-)
#63
RE: My First Doe! :(
C str,
I think your are morally obligated to kill quickly whatever you wound. If it means shooting ever arrow in your quiver to accomplish that task, then so be it. I personally would rather have a pin cushion than a wayward animal-beyond recovery.
Badger states "I really dont want to have to slit it's throat". Had he taken additional arrows with the proper heads, this would not have been consider.
The young man is learning...I'm all for that!
I think your are morally obligated to kill quickly whatever you wound. If it means shooting ever arrow in your quiver to accomplish that task, then so be it. I personally would rather have a pin cushion than a wayward animal-beyond recovery.
Badger states "I really dont want to have to slit it's throat". Had he taken additional arrows with the proper heads, this would not have been consider.
The young man is learning...I'm all for that!