Just saw something very disturbing!!
 

I work about 5 minutes away from the area I hunt. Its a bow only state park. At lunch several times a week, i take a drive to get away from the office and also to check things out. Today (about 20 mins ago) I was driving and see a lone deer out in the open next to a small access rd. He/She was unalarmed and I noticed that something was not right, but not sure what it was. As I drove up a bit closer, the deer was about 10-15 yd away, it non-chalantly turned and headed back to the woods. That is when I noticed about 6-8 inches of arrow/bolt sticking out of its face!!! Unfortunately, i couldn't get my phone ready to take a picture. The deer did not seem affected, but it really p*****d me off. My thoughts are that someone took a headshot and it did not go off correctly. Also, my opinion, that it was an x-bow hunter, although I cannot be sure, but it sure looked like a bolt rather than a regular arrow. I definately see more x-bow hunters in this area than compound hunters. Jeff (early in) can attest to this.

Maybe a WCO can do something. Sucks but hey that's what your fellow PA sportsman is out there doing.

Ryan.

WTF - head / face shot......WTF?? some sorry sorry SOBs out there...................very sorry to hear the news!

i would think a xbow would of went through, as i have shot hogs in the head with a compound bow and they just stick....never a good idea to take a head shot at a animal with a bow in any situation...cause that hog ran over 500 yards befor layin down, and when the dog (blood traker) took us upon it he was wayyyy still alive, but a good boiler room shot put him down.

as a favor to the community, sounds like you need to get a bunch of buddies together and go hunt that deer, let em all go but that one...remember it cant see so when yall are walkin through keep a few people together and drop people off as you walk through bein very quiet...poor deer....and makin sure than at least 1 person walks back outta the woods..as all it can do is hear ya walkin..


will ya do the world a favor and go get that deer?


<scratches hunters from pa off the list>

Well, there is a learning curve with any archery. I can suspect you will see more and more of this with the new arrow-guns being legal now in PA. I did in MD. Kinda like a whole new batch of teenage newbie compounders coming out.

ridiculous how you see something and come to all those conclusions. Quite the CSI candidate I guess.

Why is it that we always think the worst of fellow hunters without knowing what happened? And to try and make it a Xbow thing. Like that makes it worse because "it's one of those xbow shooters".

Deer comes in form the wrong side, hunter turns in his tree stand akwardly and forgets his jacket has a top button undone, he catches the next button when he turns, doesn't realize it because his attention is on the deer. he's thinking "make a good clean shot" he raises the xbow and never relaizes the now open jacket is caught on his string. He waits pationtely for the perfect shot as he doesn't want to wound the animal. Patience. Takes careful aim. he shoots and the jacket caught on the string yanks the bow and the arrow flys a foot off target!

Happened to me but thankfully the bolt flew high over the deers back. Could of went the other way and nailed it in the head.

It was a warm day and I had my jacket undone too much. The way i raised the bow my jacket caught on the string. Innocent mistake that I've never let happen again but it sure doesn't make me some ignorant, unethical, don't give a crap hunter does it?

Support your fellow hunters in the face of doubt!

Experience

Is this Pennsylvania?
 

Maybe it's part of a campaign to get those new crossbow hunters, new to PA, into prison.

Can you imagine a dastardly crossbower invading archery territory. That must be like Sheep herders invading cattle country?

Ive got a buddy who actually ACCIDENTALLY arrowed a deer in the face. He was lucky enough to drop her on the spot, but it was a total accident none the less... It was his first archery deer about 4 years ago. Buck fever etc accounted for a bad shot that resulted in an arrow to the noggin...

He wasnt proud that he shot it in the face or any of the sort. Just glad she went down instantly.

Sometimes stuff does happen, but I imagine like the others said, it was some idiot being just that...

experience with what? Having visions like that show "Medium". Experience nothing my man. You weren't there and so you DO NOT know how the incident happened. You can puff up and talk about how many years you been...blah blah blah.

If you do have experience then you know hunting in the wild is a an extremely dynamic sitaution. Experience means you've seen and done many things over time. Both good and bad. Experience means you know that sometimes stuff happens even to qualified, seasoned, experienced hunters. Heck the explosion of hunting shows and channnels dedicted to airing them has shown us all that. Many an "experienced" pro has looked up in bewilderment at a camera lens and said "I don't what happened?!"

Experience nothing. You might have a theory or a guess based on experience but don't let that experience become arrogance at the expense of discrediting a hunter you don't know and in a situation you know nothing about.

That's kind of my point. You have direct experience and yet still would imagie it was an idiot. Given your experience with your buddy why not imagine it was the same thing?

It just burns me that all the non-hunters who may see this deer will be disgusted. They are non-hunters on there way to being anti-hunters. Instead of defending our fraternity we would assume the worst and throw this hunter to the wolves. That will certaintly help our sport.

hey don't get me wrong. we would all love for this NOT to EVER happen. Be nice to see us rally around instead of rally against. I also completley agree with hangin someone upside down with thier boot laces and sayin "I will not take that shot" a thousand times, if they were in fact making some assinine shot. We just don't know that's the case.......

It could have been an accident. I shot at a deer and hit a brush branch, and it was deflected below its head. But it goes both ways, could have been intentional or nonintentional.

Not surprised.. this is what the xbow will bring into PA.. the weekend warriors that gun only hunt are now using scoped bows. YEEHAW.. slobs

I'm seeing more "less than experienced" hunters (I use that word loosly) in there than in the past. The GOOD thing is they're affraid to hunt in the thick stuff, which is where those deer are most of the time. Except during the rut of course!:barmy:

And yes, anything is possible regarding that deer you saw. You just never REALLY know what took place. Either way, that sucks to see something like that!

Taking this rather personal aren't you? Must be a arrow gun hunter.

lol. I do it all my friend. Bang, Thwack, thunk, patow! I however prefer to make love to my wife and not my traditional archery equipment like you. lol

The future of hunting is shaky at best thanks to anti-hunters like bigcountry and fingerzd. Yes, that's right. Anti-hunters! Just because you accept one form of hunting doesn't mean you can't be an anti hunter.

Well done boys!

It could have been a missed shot. Heck my first day out i shot a doe in the rear leg and i was holding on herheart. Just a mix of shakeing and a little limb. I could see a head shot with a rifle or muzzleloader. But not a bow. When i shot the doe in the leg i moved in to take her out but it was a head shot only.Even on a wounded deer laying down i would not take that shot

I have a friend at work that also head shot a doe, it wasn't his intentions, but she turned right underneath him and he let it fly and thats the outcome. This deer however did get found and finished off.

Well, bad things do happen. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fellows who don't want to hear that. It's too much fun for them to automatically assume that it was some idiot that took an intentional head shot (with a crossbow:s13:) so that they can fire up the "holier than thou" train and go for a ride.

Next someone will magically deduce that it was a mechanical broadhead on the arrow. I mean SURELY a cut-on-contact fixed blade would have passed thru......:bash:

I disagree. Future of hunting is probably shakey due to lack of habitat in most parts of the US. This has to due with urban sprawn and the explosion of development in the past 10 years.

I too shot a deer in the back leg once. Hit a piece of fence wire that I couldn't see that was right in front of the deer. The wire made one heck of a noise, like a twang. Weird things do happen.

Have you never seen a deer duck an arrow ,turn from the string snap?? You dont seem to have to much experience. In my experience anything can happen. Hitting bow on your stand. Not seeing a limb and having the arrow deflect. The original poster didn't say if the arrow was across the face, straight on. just said it had an arrow in its face.

A buddy shot this buck at our place and he had been shot in the face, it was an obvious triangle wound from a three blade broadhead. I don't know what happened, but that deer said he hated xbowers!!! :s2:

says the guy from Maryland :eek2: Isn't that state basically the city of Baltimore and it's urban sprawl? lol I guess I have more "experience" than you hunting some beautiful, vast rural parts of the US. Outside of the big bush of northern Ontario my favorite place in the world to hunt is SE Ohio. Mostly because there is no urban sprawl to be found. Just another ridge and holler with another gobbler or big buck running around. :s4:

It's the yahoo anti-hunters influencing politicians in those urban centres that is the problem. They love how guys like you divide the hunting community.

i shot one in the back of the head by accident last year...she was broadside at 55 yards...when i shot she turned straight away from me and bolted...when she came backup it stuck her right in the back of the skull and the broadhead was in her mouth...purely by accident but was pretty cool...im not demoralizing the deer but what are the odds of that happening

LMAO!!!!!!:lolabove:

But seriously we are hurting ourselves when we criticize other hunters methods. (I don't like head shots or high fence hunting). But when we get all hot and bothered with the things other hunters do we are digging ourselves in a hole that the (PETA, SPCA, ANTI hunter extremists) will bury us in. So what I'm trying to say is don't look at your fellow hunter and go nuts on him for his way of doing things, maybe show him your way and see what he thinks and band together, we cant outlast the anti hunter storm if we dont. But that's just a 16yr old hunters opinion.