Sickening confession.
10-07-2004, 08:40 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,555
Sickening confession.
Yesterday morning (10/5/04) I decided to get out for a morning hunt before work. Sunrise was just after 6:00am and I had to be out of the woods by quater of 8:00am to get to work on time. The morning dawned cold and the air was still. I was 22 feet above the ground in my honey hole overlooking the creek bottom that wanders through our property. About 7:00am I grabbed my rattle horns and started to "tickle the tines together", I wasn't working them hard but was trying to produce more of a playful sparing sound. I worked the antlers for about a minute and a half and almost as quickly as I hung up my horns I had two skippers come racing in. This was new for me as I've never gotten a responce from a doe before.
They came in so quickly that they were through my first shooting lane before I could draw and get a pin on either of them. I had to let down and since they were behind me I had to manuver my arrow around the tree my stand is hung in. I was able to get around the tree by but this time the first deer had passed through all my shooting lanes and was beyond any shots. I could clearly see her but any shot was out of the question because of obstruction between us. The other deer however stopped directly behind my tree. Both appeared to be looking for the source of the comotion but neither could pinpoint it.
As the second deer started to move again I drew and immediatly she stopped. She looked a little fidgety so I was expecting her to move again quickly. It never happened, she stood still for the better part of two minutes. I held at full draw as long as I possibly could before letting down for a second time. Within 10 seconds of letting down she took the two steps I was waiting for and stepped right into my lane. I drew, settled my pin and let it fly. By the sound of the hit and the way the shot felt I was pumped. I was certain of a boilerroom hit but she bounded off and and disappeared and I never heard her crash. At this point I only had about 45 minutes until I had to leave for work so I gave about 20 minutes and got down to look for my arrow.
When I got down and got to the point of impact I found my arrow with about 6 inches of it driven into the soil. The arrow was covered end to end with a green slimy film
, my heart sank. It explained why I never heard her crash, instead of boiler room I blew my arrow right through the sewer factory.
At this point I only had about 10 minutes before I'd have to leave for work. I flagged the spot of the hit and snuck out of the woods as quitely as possible. I knew she needed time and I had to get to work. Yesterday I sat at my desk disheartened all day. I got a splitting headach (which I never get) which I attribute the stress of the situation.
At 5:00pm I got out of work and speed all the way to my spot. I got dressed as quickly as I could and was out in the woods and had about an hour and a half of light left in the day. I immediatly went to the spot of the hit. I could see some guts on a branch and tried to track her but to no avail. The area was heavily tracked up so I started working my way in the direction the deer fled. A half hour of searching turned up no leads or indications as tho where she had gone. At this point I was feeling pretty bummed. I pride myself on making ethical decision in the woods and being a better then average shot and I was starting to have my doubts. Since I could find no sign of her I decided to walk along the high edge of the creek bottom. I started from the spot of the hit and followed it along in the direction of where she ran to. About 70 yards from my stand low and behold there was my deer, dead right along the creek.
I can honestly say that I'm pretty disgusted with my proformance in the morning. If I did one thing right it was getting out of the woods without pushing the deer. An autopsy revealed my hit was about 4 inches behind the diaphram. I was lucky and caught a pretty good artery and she bleed massively internally but never put a spot of blood on the ground.
My advise to those who have a less then stellar hit on a deer, Head to Rob's advised in what to do after the shot post. I could mean the diffrence between a might have been and a disapointing hunt and meat in the freezer. Thank's for the tips Rob. Your advise has lead to a recovered deer.
<<<<message edited to remove pic from post, Wow that pic was big
>>>>
They came in so quickly that they were through my first shooting lane before I could draw and get a pin on either of them. I had to let down and since they were behind me I had to manuver my arrow around the tree my stand is hung in. I was able to get around the tree by but this time the first deer had passed through all my shooting lanes and was beyond any shots. I could clearly see her but any shot was out of the question because of obstruction between us. The other deer however stopped directly behind my tree. Both appeared to be looking for the source of the comotion but neither could pinpoint it.
As the second deer started to move again I drew and immediatly she stopped. She looked a little fidgety so I was expecting her to move again quickly. It never happened, she stood still for the better part of two minutes. I held at full draw as long as I possibly could before letting down for a second time. Within 10 seconds of letting down she took the two steps I was waiting for and stepped right into my lane. I drew, settled my pin and let it fly. By the sound of the hit and the way the shot felt I was pumped. I was certain of a boilerroom hit but she bounded off and and disappeared and I never heard her crash. At this point I only had about 45 minutes until I had to leave for work so I gave about 20 minutes and got down to look for my arrow.
When I got down and got to the point of impact I found my arrow with about 6 inches of it driven into the soil. The arrow was covered end to end with a green slimy film
, my heart sank. It explained why I never heard her crash, instead of boiler room I blew my arrow right through the sewer factory. At this point I only had about 10 minutes before I'd have to leave for work. I flagged the spot of the hit and snuck out of the woods as quitely as possible. I knew she needed time and I had to get to work. Yesterday I sat at my desk disheartened all day. I got a splitting headach (which I never get) which I attribute the stress of the situation.
At 5:00pm I got out of work and speed all the way to my spot. I got dressed as quickly as I could and was out in the woods and had about an hour and a half of light left in the day. I immediatly went to the spot of the hit. I could see some guts on a branch and tried to track her but to no avail. The area was heavily tracked up so I started working my way in the direction the deer fled. A half hour of searching turned up no leads or indications as tho where she had gone. At this point I was feeling pretty bummed. I pride myself on making ethical decision in the woods and being a better then average shot and I was starting to have my doubts. Since I could find no sign of her I decided to walk along the high edge of the creek bottom. I started from the spot of the hit and followed it along in the direction of where she ran to. About 70 yards from my stand low and behold there was my deer, dead right along the creek.
I can honestly say that I'm pretty disgusted with my proformance in the morning. If I did one thing right it was getting out of the woods without pushing the deer. An autopsy revealed my hit was about 4 inches behind the diaphram. I was lucky and caught a pretty good artery and she bleed massively internally but never put a spot of blood on the ground.
My advise to those who have a less then stellar hit on a deer, Head to Rob's advised in what to do after the shot post. I could mean the diffrence between a might have been and a disapointing hunt and meat in the freezer. Thank's for the tips Rob. Your advise has lead to a recovered deer.
<<<<message edited to remove pic from post, Wow that pic was big
>>>>
10-07-2004, 08:55 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 15,452
RE: Sickening confession.
Yes that sick feeling is never forgotten. thanks for your effort to find her.and dont be tp hard on yourself you dont look like God to me.We all make mistakes. If we learn from our mistakes ,thats what counts
10-07-2004, 09:11 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: ne bama
Posts: 6,340
RE: Sickening confession.
yea man don't beat yourself up to bad, i can tell by all of your post your not the kind of person that takes a marginal shot, holding your bow for 2 minutes could have attributed to the errant shot, or your sleeve getting into the string, the main thing is you put in the effort to make a recovery, bad shots are going to happen, they'll always be a little limb or vine that you may never see till you let it fly......keep your chin up and have a great rest of the season
10-07-2004, 09:16 AM
#6
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blossvale, New York
Posts: 21,199
RE: Sickening confession.
You must have hit something other than guts if she only went 70 yards??? What did the autopsy show? Good deal on finding her and following up. I've told this story before.... the short version I once had an arrow covered with green slime. Never found more than a tablespoon of blood. The deer was hit squarely through both lungs/ center of ribcage. The arrow passed through her food pipe picking up the slime. A baseball size of chewed up greenery followed the arrow down the hole and plugged the exit wound behind and under the off side front leg. He went about 90 yard
10-07-2004, 09:28 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Heaven IA USA
Posts: 2,597
RE: Sickening confession.
No one wants to lose a deer. Things can go wrong on the easiest and most ethical of shots. I think the difference maker is how one approaches bow hunting and the attitude concerning the situation.
If a person hunts long enough and has enough shot exposures, eventually old Murphy will show up and present a real challenge.
Kudos to you on finding her.
If a person hunts long enough and has enough shot exposures, eventually old Murphy will show up and present a real challenge.
Kudos to you on finding her.
