I shot another doe on Saturday. Got down and found my arrow and saw it was covered with green slime; gut shot. No blood trail at all. It was getting dark fast so I walked in a little to see if she went down in sight but no such luck. Didn't want to push her so I backed out and came back in the morning. Fortunately, it was a narrow strip of woods so I just walked up the middle and found her maybe 60 yards from where I shot her. She was still warm and had no rigor mortis so she had only just died an hour or two before I found her. Poor thing likely died of sepsis. The ground was all torn up around her from her kicking in pain. I felt terrible. No blood even on the outside of her fur though, which explained the lack of a blood trail. The arrow went through the very tip of one lobe of her liver about 4 or 5" in back of the diaphram (sp?).

Congratulations. The good thing is you found her and a deer didn't go to waste.

Why did you shoot her in the gut?

I'll assume you aren't being facetious here. Just a bad shot I guess.

I had to lean a little to make the shot as a large branch was in the way. Maybe I torqued the bow a little or something.

At least you found her. Congrats on that. Was she quartering toward you?

That's a tought hit. Don't beat youself up though. You did the right things and as a result you were able to recover your animal. On occasion a bad shot will happen and what you do afterward makes all the diffrence in the world.

Congrats on your kill

No, broadside but walking at a fast clip. I tried to whistle to stop her but my lips were too dry and I couldn't. I sighted in front of her and let her walk into the window and released. I just hit 4 or 5" in back of where I wanted to.

hey hornbow, it happens, you tourqe the bow, hit your sleeve whatever, but you followed up, way to go

Every shot can't be perfect. I know that feeling of anguish that overcomes you when you realize you haven't gotten a good hit and the animal is going to live longer than you'd have wanted. It's part of hunting. It happens to all of us, so don't worry about it. We all want to make a good shot and don't want the animal to suffer, that's why we practice and wait for the best opportunity. You showed great knowledge by reading the sign on your arrow and the lack of a blood trail, great patients by backing out when you needed to, and great determination by going back to collect your doe. You deserve to be commended for that. Good job.

You mentioned that you may have torqued the bow, but now that we know the deer was moving when you shot, that was clearly the reason for the gutshot.

Not that you're looking for advice or anything, but I don't recommend shooting at moving deer. This is a shot that nobody practices. Even if you do, your practice is likely shooting at a target moving at a different speed than the actual deer that you shoot at. We can argue how far is too far all day long, but moving versus stationary is not really an argument. Unless you have the resources to properly practice shooting at moving targets, I don't feel that it's an acceptable shot to take in the field.

You posted about a gutshot, so expect some criticism. All suffering aside, I'm glad you recovered the animal.