Hey guys just wanted some opinions here, im feeling awful and very depressed. I was out turkey hunting today with my bow and had a tom in range around 25 yards, took the shot and hear a hollow thump, went up to where the bird was standing and found one bloody feather, with 2 other feathers that were dry, found the arrow with the shaft completely dry. The broadhead had a little red in it and that was it. the bird flew off and landed about 100 in which i lost site of him, i went to the area where he landed and searched for blood, nothing. My question is. Is it ethically correct to continue hunting, or do i go with the draw blood pay use the tag idea?
Thanks guys [:' (]

if you did not get the bird,you didn' t (" kill" ) him,so you can' t tag him.
that is the same as shooting a deer and not killing him.you don' t throw your tag away,do you?

I say try again and mark it to a missed shot.
just my 2 cents,there are 98 more[8D]

I agree with Tree Climber, you can' t dwell on your misses, just suck it up, learn from your mistakes and go on. Even though you drew some blood, you may not have killed the bird, turkeys are tough, chances are he may have lived through it.

I agree with the others, sounds like you probably only grazed the bird. If you didn' t hit any vitals, he will be there to hunt another day. Try to learn from your mistake, what ever that is, mis-judged distance, out of your effective bow range for a turkey, did ya have " buck" fever and maybe didn' t follow through with good shooting form, or what ever the reason, learn from the mistake and go get it right.

I also agree with the above posts
I also know that its tough to suck up but it is something that you have to do!
You know from reading about your concern it just proves to me that you are an ethical hunter and you deserve another shot!
I know that it is a sickning feeling but you cannot dwell on it
Unfortunatly sometimes this happens But don' t feel that you should stop hunting
Like said in the above posts learn from your mistake and next time you will be sure to be successful

That is EXACTLY the reason I wont bowhunt turkeys. They are too hard to come by to risk losing one to an errant shot.
And Brian4X4WTZ I LOVE YOUR SIG! As a logger, that is pretty much words that I live by! [8D]

.dude , you are ok in my book[8D][:-]...........just the fact that you are worried about it in the first place gets you lots of kudo' s from me.......learn from your mistakes......dont repeat them and you' ll do just fine

Here' s how I look at your situation. First of all I give you 1 million pats on the back for attempting to take a turkey with a bow. Turkeys are the hardest animals to hunt all together not to mention with a bow. Kudos to you.
Secondly it sounds as if you just missed the bird and what they hey, we all miss sometimes, even the pros. Dont let it get to you. And yo udid the right thing by taking a look around after the shot for blood to see if you did in deed get a good shot off. I wouldnt spend too much time worrying about the tom that got away or the one you missed just go back and try again, and be patient, an arrow doesnt make as much sound as a 12 gauge he may have come back for a second lethal shot and he may have kept going, well never know till you get him, hes still out there. good luck to you in the future and dont get discouraged with a bad shot, again, we all make them.

I just want to thank all of you for your support. Im going to head up wednesday afternoon, will post pictures if i get a bird! Thanks again guys

Did I ever tell you about " Gimpy" ? I had him dead to rights. He stepped behind a bush and I brought the muzzle to bear. When he stepped out... just as I was squeezing off the shot... he made a sharp left turn uphill and I ended up crippling him. I felt terrible about it the rest of the season. But guess who showed up during deer season!? Alive and well -- except for the limp. I had a ball hunting that bird the next couple of years! He was real cagie after that, even brazen at times. One morning I looked over at a clump of honeysuckle about 20 - 25 yards away and saw a head SLOOOOWLY duck behind the top leaves, then SLOOOOWLY reappear, and then SLOOOOWLY duck back down. I didn' t know if it was a jake or not, so I just watched. Then about 2 minutes later, guess who stepped out of the obscured deer trail into the logging road --JUST OUT OF RANGE!!!?? You got it! My old pal Gimpy. He just stood there - out of range - broadside so I could get a good look at his beard and spurs-- laughing at me ( snickering really)! You' d think he took it personal or somethin' . Then he turned and limped away... Never saw that bird again. I miss him.

Don' t worry about that turkey. Just try to make a better shot next time. We owe them a clean, humane kill, but that doesn' t always hapen. Turkey season is WAAAAY too short to dwell on it too much. Just relax and have fun.