dmbeard

Let me start bye saying that i'm new to the forums and bowhunting. I have killed more than my fair share of deer with a gun but none with a bow. I attempted a shot on two different deertoday and i'm not sure about the shots. The first shot i thought was low, but i never heard the arrow hit the ground. I've missed shots before and always heard the arrow hit the ground but this time i heard no sound. The deer ran in astraight lineuntil i couldn'thear or see him anymore(which was about sixty yards.)
On the next shot(different deer form the first shot), ithinki hit the deer. The sound it made kinda sounded like what i imagine a watermelon would sound like being hit by an arrow. (I've hit a tree before and it sounded nothing like this)hit a treeThis deer also ran in a straight line out of sight(50 yards.)
It is now dark with no moon. I couldn't findeither arrow. I walked about 25 yards for the first deer and found no blood. For the second deer i walked about 50 yards and found no blood but heard a sound that sounded like an animal struggling to stand and having a hard time breathing and then a something that sounded like a racoon mixed with a deer grunt. Kinda sounded like a growl. Never heard this sound from a deer before. I want to say that it had to be an injured deer because me and my roommate had been in the are for a good 30 minutes, talking andmaking a lot of noise. Am i wrong?
We stopped the tracking efforts to give the deer time to die(assuming thats what made that sound.)We will start again at first light.Does it sound like i hit either of these deer?


Sorry about the long read. and please don't flame me for being a bad shot. i have two inch groups at thirty yards on the range.It's a different story with a deer in front of me.

buckmaster

How far were the deer when you shot at them? just curious....[&:]

dmbeard

I judged the first at about twenty yards(used my twenty yard pin)and the second at twenty five to thirty(used thiry yard pin.) I'm not experienced at judge that little difference in yardage since i'm new to bow hunting, but i'm pretty sure they are right

Tribal

Uh well, Where were you aiming? I thought you said the second shot was 60 yards because the deer ran that after you hit him with the first? Were talking the same deer here right both shots? I hate to say it but your going to get some heat from some of these guys. Do you feel you were even close to a lethal hit?

dmbeard

the second shot was a completely different deer. sorry didnt clarify that. will edit.

buckmaster

I dont know if you hit the deer or not, Next time, Dont take a shot at another deer, unless your 110% sure you missed the first one. For all you know, you may have 2 wounded/dead deer out there.

Best thing to do is, Get back out there in the morning, and even if you dont find blood, cover the area with a fine toothed comb. look near water sources look for anything that might be an indication of a wounded animal. If you spend all day looking for those deer, your doing the right thing.

First thing in the morning, go right to where you herd the noises, that will be a good place to start. If you do find one, be sure to keep looking for the other just in case. And wouldnt be a bad idea to do some more practicing yardages before you attempt it again.

Good Luck. And let us know if you find anything.

Schultzy

I got to ask one thing here- Were you 100% positive you missed the 1st deer you shot at when you took a shot at the 2nd deer?

dmbeard

On the stand i was sure that i missed the first deer. I was bummed because it was a 110, 120 class buck. biggest i've killed is 126 1/8. But when i got home, i heard that if you gut shoot a deer the arrow impact might not make any noise at all, which it didn't. So i want some more experienced bowhunters advice it. i would hate to gut shoot that deer and then never find it.
What about the actions of the deer. I've killed 40 some odd deer with a rifle and not one of them just ran after being hit. Most just dropped but the ones that did run either fell first or kickedbefore they started running.Bowhunting is different so i don't if a flat out run means a missed shot.
And what about the growl sound i hear? Could it have come from a wounded deer? Would any animal capable of leaving still be in the area after us making so much noise?

Washington Hunter

A deer hit in the ribs will make a solid WHACK sound.

A gut shot deer will make that hollow watermelonimpact sound.

My guess you missed the first deer and you gut shot the second.

As far as a deer's reaction to the shot, you'll have to teach yourself to pay closer attention to how they react than you did while you were rifle hunting. Watch their tails,is the deerhunched over, are they at a dead sprint or are they only half running away or walking, are they bounding erratically from side to side as they run, etc... How the act at the shot and immediately after can give you a good indication as to where you hit the deer.

A good book for you to pick up and read multiple times would be Finding Wounded Deer by John Trout Jr.

Tribal

SO you are sure you missed because you didn't hear any impact noise? Well here's the deal you need to get out there tomorrow look the whole area over to see if you find one drop of blood. Gut shot deer usually hunch when they get shot they don't kick. Blood could be very little of because many times the guts plug the hole. And my advice is don't shoot another deer until you either inspect your arrow or see the deer is not hurt. But tomorrow the right thing to do is spend a good amount of time to look for any sign of a wounded deer. Good luck to you. And limit your shots closer until you can trust yourself. What I don't get is you say you shot 40 deer with rifle but your getting buck fever and can't hold it together for a clean shot. Keep us updated! Work Hard you may find that buck and learn what happened.

Oh yeah, welcome to the forum.