SmokinVFT

I got up in my stand(20 feet) about 5:00. Got everything situated and ready to go by 5:15. I hunt beside this creek bed and the deer travel by it frequently. This is my "go to stand". Well about 6:15 i had a spike come in so i stood up grabbed my bow and got ready but he never came in and gave me a shot. I haven't harvested a buck with a bow yet and i have been seeing him while i have been hunting this stand 2 outta my three sits.

Well i noticed that he kept looking behind him and i looked and i had a doe coming straight towards me working her way towards me eating. Well the adrenaline started going at this point. She finally got into range and she was just on the other side of the bank at 22 yards. Perfect Slightly quartering away broadside shot. It was picture perfect. Her leg was forward. I drew back and had the whole shot played out in my head. I settled the pin right behind her shoulder where her vitals are.(and yes i have shot out of my treestand with my bow so this wasn't the first time i shot my bow out of a tree stand because i know its totally different then shooting on the ground. I always practice 2 or three weeks solely in a tree stand right before the season starts)

I clicked my release and let the arrow fly. Wow... this is where everything went wrong. The arrow entered about 3 to 4 inches below its back so obviously the shot was high.(it was right behind the shoulder though, If it would have been down then it would have been a double lung.. i forgot to mention this i dunno if it matters but i thought i would add this) I got full penetration on both sides but no pass through. She took off like a bat out of hell. I went and looked for blood where i shot her at and couldn't find anything but some hair. I backed out because i knew i made a bad shot and i plan on going back first thing tommorow morning to look for her. I'm hoping she bedded down and expired not to far from where i shot her. I figured backing out would be the best thing i could do given the circumstances. I just dont know what happened. Everything was just perfect she was compleltly unaware of me being there. Im still trying to figure out why i din't get a pass through because if it hit the spine i figured she would of dropped. I just thought i was holding so steady and i was so sure i was going to make a perfect shot on that deer.

It just looked to me like a spine shot but she didn't fall. Im so upset with myself right now. I practice year around for archery to make sure that i am ready when the moment of truth comes and then i go and screw it up. I can shoot very well with a bow because i have shot one since i was young but this doesn't matter if i can't put the arrow where it needs to go when the moment of truth presents itself. I'm only 16 and have been hunting since i was very little. I have a very strong set of ethics just like some of you guys on here. This just tears me up inside. The whole shot just keeps playing over and over in my head and i can't figure out what i did wrong...

Im just looking for some input on what some of you guys think about the situation and how i should go about looking for the deer. Did i make a shot that would evan bring the deer down? What should i do when i wake up in the morning and start looking for her? Sorry for the long read i just need some advice...
Thanks, Josh

Carpmaster

If you look hard in the am you should be rewarded, sounds like you made a good decision...look hard and on hands and knees, I will guarantee you find some more to the story!

GMMAT

Let me just say this.......

Those two quotes don't go together too often. You've done NOTHING wrong and everything right.

What's your temp supposed to be, tonight?

Kanga

Sorry to hear that.

Did you bend at the waist?

Or just lower your bow arm?

stabnslab_WI

Hopefullyshe dead, you didn't find blood because the arrow is blocking the hole. I have been there and done that before shooting below the spine, when I did it I hit the artery that runs under the spinal cord and had a pass through. Blood two feet on both sides of the trail. If I was you I would wait and not jump her. Good luck and Im sure you'll find her.

SmokinVFT

Thanks GMAT, I try to do everything as ethical as possible and i want to thank you guys on here for that. I have really learned alot.. Its supposed to be around mid to lower 50's tonight. Why do you guys think i didn't get a pass through? Thats what i really couldn't figure out?

GMMAT

No rhyme or reason on the passthru....or lack, thereof. No idea.

Your temps should be fine for a morning recovery.....but I wouldn't waste any time.....and I'd go at first light. I shot a doe at 7:30PM a couple weeks ago......and the temos were in the high 70's. I recovered her at about 8:30AM the next morning.....when our temps dipped into the low 50's. She hadn't gone 50-60 yds......but I thought the hit was "back" (it was....but it took out the liver on the off-side).

If you hit below the spine......I'm saying your deer's BEEN dead. But the light of day will give her time and you added confidence in your tracking.

Good luck in the morning.

SmokinVFT

Is there any way i could have hit above the spine? Is that possible? i have been looking at some deer anatomy pics and some are different then others? So do you guys believe i hit below the spine? I know exactly where i hit the deer ( the Tracer nocks by easton work great) I will let you guys know what happens after i go tommorow. I was planning on going at first light.

GMMAT

Anything's possible.....and you're the only one who saw it.

I think things will begin to clear up when you locate your arrow.

buckmaster

I hit one kind of high this week also, But when I seen her hit, I knew she wouldnt go far. I still got both lungs, However I did not get a pass thru either, but also got penetration on both sides. It lodged in her skin/hide on the other side. My heighth and shot angle made my shot perfect, I was about 25ft. at 25yrds. the exit hole in her cavity would have been right in her heart, if it had been on level ground. You mentioned 20ft @ 22 yards.

I'd say you have a dead deer. Good luck.