I hunted with a friend on his lease in south florida this weekend and he ended up making a bad shot and was not able to recover the deer. I don' t know all the details but he shot it at 25 yds from the ground (on Friday morning before i arrived on Saturday). He said the shot was a quartering away and one he has practiced but buck fever took over and he missed the mark. The shot hit high and back. If it was lower, it might have been a gut shot but it hit high and the arrow did not exit, nor did he think penetration was very deep. When hit, he said the deer ran 20 feet, looked at the injury and then ran off. My friend looked for the deer (after waiting 2 1/2 hours) for several hours on friday and when i arrived on Saturday, we searched again for 1 1/2 hours. No luck. We also look for buzzards late Sat and Sunday morning but none circling to suggest a dead deer.

My friend is terribly upset for having wounded his first buck with a bow and second, screwing up a shot he has been practicing extensively. I told him deer are pretty tough and he will probably be able to survive the wound. However, I really have no idea whether this is a survivable wound. What typically happens in situations like this? Since there were no buzzards Friday afternoon, sat and sunday, I feel pretty certain the deer is not dead but maybe it will die. Just curious if any of you have any experience or knowledge related to wounded deer.

It happens to the best.

Did you find the arrow or any blood trail/dropping at all?

The fact that the loss bothers you and your friend, and you and he spent as much time looking for the deer as you did, is indicative that both of you are good sportsmen.

C903 hit it on the head. I hit one the same way and it was the bigges buck I have ever shot at. Boy was I sick to my stomach for a while. We took a dog after him the next day and ended up kicking him out of a cedar swamp and he was doing fine. Weather he made it through winter or not I do not know but he was moving very well and I heard nothing from the locals about anyone getting a deer with about 8 inches of arrow in him and a spitfire. You made a good effort and that gets respect from other hunters. It happens to the best of us.

guys here have shot elk and deer in rifle season and skinned them out to find 5 or 6 inches of shaft and a broadhead. i know of at least 4 cases within the last 4 years here. this year one hunter shot an elk in the head and put the bull down then walked up to it and the old boy got up and took off. a day later another hunter who was camped close by shot the same elk and dicovered a bullet wound on the bulls face. aweful but at least he was put out of his misery