Shot a buck, opinions....
 

I finally connected on a buck tonight, just want some thoughts from you guys.

Despite the wind and rain, I decided to hunt this evening. On Monday I was hunting grouse and on the way out saw two nice bucks feeding in a cut cornfield. I hiked in there tonight and climbed a maple tree in a point that looked like a good spot for deer to enter the field.

At 6:00, I saw the side of a deer walking my way at about 60 yards, so I stood up for the shot. Immediately I saw he was a buck, and a good one at that. As he walked closer I saw that he had brow tines and was a legal buck. At 40 yards he looked in my direction, then went back to feeding, edging closer. He passed behind a tree, giving me an oppurtunity to draw. When he emerged he was walking right to me, so I continued to wait on him. He passed another tree and stopped broadside at 20 steps. I settled the pin on his side, and all of the sudden, he noticed me. I cut the shot, and he exploded downward. As he ran off, I could see my arrow sticking out of him pretty high in the neck/shoulder area. The arrow had penetrated to my cresting, so I got 20+ inches of shaft in him. I' m just not sure where. I said a little prayer and climbed down. I couldn' t find any blood where he stood, so I marked the spot and snuck out.

I' ve already decided to wait ' til tommorow to follow up the shot. Wish me luck.

Tyler

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Is this the area you hit him?

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

TOUGH BREAK PABEARDBUSTER. HOPE YOU FIND HIM.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

He is a dead deer.

Good Luck tommorrow - give it all you got:D:D

And bring the camera;)

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Good luck tomorrow. Make sure you let us know the results.

Massbowhunter

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

hmm, i shot a buck tuesday, in the high neck area and looked for a couple hours tuesday evening, and several hours this afternoon to no avail. no blood where i shot him, but lots for about 100 yrds then nothing. I don' t know what happened, but I thought he was hit hard. maybe not good enough. i don' t know. but you could have a bad experience with this.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Sitter, the problem is I' m not positive where I hit him... I am pretty sure it was somewhere in that region.

Rack, thanks for the positive reply.

Tyler

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

well, i wasn' t trying to be un-positive, but it is goin to be a tough track. or atleast my experience with hitting them around that area was. goodluck.

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RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

best of luck on your search. I Wish I were closer to help out. Sounds like you it might be difficult tracking with the rain. Anyways, hope all works out well...

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Yo Beard, many moons ago I hit a buck in what sounds like a similar spot. No blood to be found. Only a dead deer. Keep looking hard. You' ll find him! Good Luck!

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Be positive, find that rascal, he' s out there waiting for you. Good luck.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Yep, he' s out there. Hope to hear all works out well. Keep us posted.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Grab a couple of buddies and comb the area...hard! Make sure to be thorough...and once you think you' ve exhausted all the places that this deer could be...do it again. Check near water, known bedding areas, etc....just don' t give up!

First deer I ever got w/ a bow was a gut shot at 30 yards out. 30 minutes after the shot, it started raining. Quickly called my two best friends to help me locate it...just in case I needed a couple extra set of eyes. Found some blood, but had to wait until the next day to pick up the chase. Was just raining too hard and we kicked it up a couple of times. So, I marked the last place we saw blood and had a very bad night' s sleep. When we went back the next day, we combed the area again and found him about 150 yards away from my stand curled up under an overhang in the hill. Must have covered that area a half dozen times already (in the dark), but we found him.

I hope you find your deer. Good luck...your hunt isn' t over yet.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Good Luck in finding him :)

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

With the arrow still in him every step he takes will cause more internal damage.Go slow and good luck.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

good call on leaving him id say.....if hes hit and hurtin at all hes going to be within a few hundred yards being you didnt spook him or anything...he will bed and over night die hopefully.....try to find the trail...walk in the direction he went and look good and hard....he should be close if hes hit hard at all....you could hit a major artery or wind pipe or something important.........good luck.....hope you come home with a good story!!!

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Make sure you tell us the results i want to know!!!

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Your description is to vague or uncertain to really say. I mean how high is HIGH? It' s possible you shot right above everything and just got some back muscles or whatever from your description. It' s possible you hit high on the shoulder plate which slowed it down but never got into the vitals. It' s also possible you got a good hit. We' ll find out today I guess. I always take the trail at least a few yards right off to see what kind or trail we' re talking. Rarely do you find much blood if any right at the spot of the shot.... even with a blow through of both lungs. It takes a hop or two to get something flowing. How high were you, what angle(broadside, quartering, steep etc). How far could you see him run? Did you mentally mark his route as he took off? Too many questions to give you a thumbs up or down. Even if I' m going to let the deer be for a while I will very quietly walk it out for 40 or 50 yards to gain more fresh info. If you should jump him in that short distance it' s no problem as he' s a hurtin' puppy if he only went that far before bedding.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

You said you wanted opinions, so...

You bowhunted in the rain.

By doing this, you eliminate the one way to follow a shot deer (the blood trail). So now you have to wander around blindly and hope you stumble upon it. As it wasn' t a perfect shot, the deer is likely to have gone a decent distance, and holed up in some thick cover where it' s hard to see. You might find it, and you might not.

Had you shot this deer on a dry day, your odds would be far, far greater of recovering this deer. And if you hunted this spot a day or several days later, there is a good chance the deer would have given you a shot eventually- so hunting in the rain *may* have cost you this deer, and may have caused the deer to be raccoon and fox food instead of gracing your table. I don' t blame your shot- no one makes a perfect shot every time. I haven' t, and anyone who hunts long enough has been there. This is why many won' t hunt in the rain.

It is your responsibility as a hunter to search as hard and long as you possibly can. Do that, and you may be rewarded by finding this deer in fine shape. I hope you do, and I hope you draw a lesson from the experience no matter what happens.

Good luck.

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Cripes.... I didn' t even pick up on the rain.[:o]

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Did you find the deer? I hope so, it would be a real shame if you didn' t.
Good luck!

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

I SAY YOU MADE A GOOD CALL ON LEAVEING HIM OVER NIGHT. MAYBE HE WILL LAY DOWN AND GIVE UP. I SEEN A BUDDY OF MINE MAKE THE SAME SHOT ON A BUCK. HE SHOT HIM AROUND 7:00AM WE DID' NT FIND HIM UNTILL 12:00 THE NEXT DAY. LUCKLY IT WAS SNOWING AND COLD AND THE MEAT WAS STILL GOOD.
LOOK IN LOW SPOTS AROUND WHERE YOU SHOT HIM. CAUSE HE WONT BE GOING UP HILL, HIS NECK WILL BE SO STOVED UP HE CANT LOOK UP TO SEE WHERE HE IS GOING. MORE THEN LIKELY I WOULD SAY YOU WILL FIND HIM. JUST KEEP LOOKING.

IF YOU DONT COME ACROSS HIM, WAIT A DAY OR TWO AND SEE IF YOU HEAR ANY COYOTES. YOU MAY FIND YOUR RACK AT LEAST. GOOD LUCK

" DONT GIVE UP, YOU' LL GET YOUR BUCK"

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RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Well............................??

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

Well..................?????

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

must still be out lookin.....

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

any luck?

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

No good news or hero photos, only some weight lifted off my shoulders because the buck is still alive. I followed a tough blood trail for close to 600 yards to no avail, over the course of 9 hours yesterday. This morning my Dad was at it again and found a bed from last night with 3 small drops of blood in it.

I' m going back in there next week, maybe I' ll get another crack at him. This is a good example of why to aim for a deers heart. I aimed for a double lung, his reaction to the shot allowed him to almost dodge the arrow. I wish he would' ve [:' (].

Tyler

RE: Shot a buck, opinions....
 

if you want to see a great video on a deer jumping the string go to www.bowsite .com and check it out. Super slow mo it' s very interesting.