Look forward to it!

Good read. Very humbling experience. I think a lot of us have been there.

That's a great story. I too had one of these stories, I felt bad about it, much like you did. Way to hang in there.

Great story!

VA, great story. I think if you bowhunt long enough we all will have an incident that tests our perseverence. At some point in time we all mess up, no matter how good we are and our passion and love for the animals we hunt will make us question if we are willing to take the chance of doing that again. Ultimately most of us will choose to carry on as our love of the hunt keeps us going and those mistakes will make us better hunters.

Great thread Vab and a great buck! That was your turning point in bow hunting, everyone has them I believe. One quick quesion though. Why were you tracking him so early if you knew he was gut shot right away?

I was thinking the same thing, Steve. I think his story kinda explains that though. At that point in his bowhunting "career" he was young. We all know young=impatient! Plus, he wasn't a member of HNI and hadn't read Rob's "What do do after the shot" thread.

VA-I had a VERY similar story happen to me as well. I know exactly what you went through. Kudos to you brother. Great story.

I seen he said that in another post that he's became a more patient hunter. I was just curious.

Good question Steve and I actually meant to address that when writing it. I was not sure at the time where I hit him to be honest. I waited 40 min before going down and I thought that since he never came out the other side that he was dead (inexperienced) .. And finally, lack of patience got the best of me. That was almost 8 yrs ago now and boy have I grown into a much better bowhunter. See, I think bowhunting is a never ending growing experience. I have learned a lot from things on this site in last 3 months. I remember at one point I said I had never been influenced by anyone when it comes to hunting, that has since changed. You guys helped greatly!!