llpaintball

Well a big doe gave me a perfect broadside opportunity tonight at about 15 yards. Everything was perfect, I was relaxed and she didnt suspect a thing. It should have been a chip shot. I put the pin on her and let it fly. It felt great but the arrow seemed to fishtail right into her guts. She ran like she was hit in the vitals so I thought maybe my eyes were deceiving me. I waited about half an hour and climbed down the tree only to find a slimy green arrow. No blood anywhere. I decided to pull out and gave her til about 3 pm. The shot was around 8 am. I looked for a bloodtrail forever and never found one. Then decided she ran for the creek so I walked up and down the creek hoping she would be there for water. No signs, no blood, no deer. I searched til dark. Im gonna head back out in the am before work to see if i can find her. Im so sick to my stomach thinking about doing that to her, and makes me wanna give up bowhunting and switch to a xbow. Sorry just felt the need to rant. If anyone wants to give me their stories of gut shot deer feel free, I need to know it doesnt just happen to me.

d80hunter

I have never gut shot a deer though I have missed with a bow and arrow a few times. I have been unable to recover a deer once with a bow, I suspect it was taken by another hunter since I tracked it to an area that looked like a blood bath and my arrow was laying it the middle of it. No gut pile and no blood trail leaving the area. I have never seen a deer bleed so much and not be finished. It always haunted me.

This year I bought a nice bolt action with a good scope and a recurve crossbow. My reasoning is I never want to miss or wound an animal, accuracy is very important to me. If I am willing to spend hours and hours waiting for game then the best shot is what myself and the game deserves, no doubts, no worries, no lost game.

Your predicament should always haunt you for good reason. I proves you care and it will drive you to improve and hopefully never find yourself in the same place again.

hatchet jack

Take it easy paintball. It does SUCK. Been there . It happens to the best of us. Your doing the right thing ! Your doing your best to find the deer. Thats all you can do. If you don't find her thats part of the hunt! IT happens and don't beat yourself up to much. Move on and get that XBow thinking out of your head! GOOD LUCK be SAFE.

Hatchet Jack

Doughboy2

As much as it pains us...it is part of bowhunting. I have gut shot a deer or two...found one and did not find the other...it makes you feel awful. The best thing you can do is get right back at it....go bowhunting!! Keep looking for her...you never know...you are doing the right thing by continuing to see if you can find her....

superstrutter

If you bow hunt long enough it's eventually going to happen. I've been hunting a long time and have gut shot three deer. Two of those I lost. I did find one of them weeks later. It does make me sick to mortally wound an animal whatever it is, especially a deer. You just have to put it behind you and keep hunting.

Western MA Hunter

happens to everyone at some point or another... sucks, but what can you do?!?!
i know the feeling

llpaintball

Thanks y'all, you're right I just need to put it behind me and hit it hard again next week. I never ended up finding her and never found the first drop of blood.

Wilcam47

First doe I shot with my bow was a gut shot...I wasn't prepared and didn't have a range finder...I tracked her a mile or so and jumped her couple times...but I was trespassing all over peoples property I didn't know and didn't want to risk getting the law called on me...so after many hours I had to call it quits...It sucks but that's hunting...it happens to the best of us...jump back in there and get one.

fastetti

It sucks but it happens to everyone. It has happened to me a couple times. I try and see what I did wrong and learn from my mistakes. You did everything right with backing out so don't kick yourself, again, it happens....

early in

It is a shame and I've been there. If you've never done this, you haven't hunted long enough. The sad part is the suffering, but that deer doesn't go to waste. It feeds many other critters that rely on carrion (dead animals) to get their eat on.