You should have waited for a better shot.The buck may have offered it. You could have aimed between the shoulder blades however,this is also a low percentage shot. Finding this buck will be difficult. The bottom hole will most likely clog up. Leave him be for a day(weather permiting) and look tomorrow. Good luck in the search.

Be careful with your next shot ruff. Make sure it is a broadside or quartering away shot.

Wow, the ethics police are out in full force!

ruffhunter, obviously it is one of those shots you'd like to have over, just like any other human bowhunter has at times. I have had deer under me and too hastily touched one off with the thought that I have him, there is no way he can get away. Guess what, he DID get away! It is easy for armchair archers to condemn your shot, but in the excitement of the hunt, you are as human as they themselves are. It is learned behavior to be patient and pick a hair, etc. I'm sure you are hard enough on yourself for not having that buck and don't need a bunch of critics throw rocks at you. Thanks for posting your story and telling it like it happened. Most of all, I hope you find that buck! Be sure to tell us what happens, and shrug off all the criticisms. Something similar happens to us all at one point or another.

Edited by - DougMd on 11/19/2002 15:19:55

He is gone. Sa lavie. When I have only a shot down on a deer I either wait for a broad side shot or I put it on the spine between the shoulder blades. This way I ensure that my arrow will at least hit a lung. I have seen a deer with a nasty green uzzing arrow wond on its rump years ago. We shot it and burried it. It was obvious it had been shot at least week or so before we saw it. So most likley your deer is well gone.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" Martin Luther King Jr.

Doug,Ethics Police? You have got to be kidding. If ever there was a post where someone needs to question someones ethics this is it.
Go back and read the post.Here I'll make it easy for you.
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>He started under my stand and I put my pin on his spine, just before and/or at the rump. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

He knowingly took a shot at the spine toward the rump.Maybe you know of some kill zone back there.

I've helped people look for an animal for over two days,when they made a shot where something went wrong.Nothing went wrong here except he missed the spine. Ecxitement BS!! He meant to hit the animal back out of the kill zone.There is a BIG difference between making a bad hit and intentionally shooting an animal where your chance for a clean kill are Zero.Even if he hit the animal back in the spine it wouldn't have killed it.At best it would have maimed the buck and another arrow would be needed, don't you think.

Like I said before I have helped track many badly hit deer in the past.Giving up my own time in the woods to help someone out.People make mistakes and bad hits happen,but this story stinks.If someone called me and told me this story I wouldn't help them try and find it.

Is this your idea of a shot that should ever be taken? Have you ever taken a shot when you know it doesn't have a snowflakes chance in a very hot place of being lethal?

What is the best case scenario with this shot? A crippled deer under your stand dragging itself around with it's front legs is all I can picture.What about you?

Ethics police my butt.




Edited by - Charlie P on 11/19/2002 16:25:40

Learn from the experience, patience is usually rewarded. Take a roll of toilet paper with you to mark the trail sign you can find. When you can’t find any more sign, use the direction of the trail to start your search and watch for buzzards.

Mike

Today I followed the track and started finding good patches of blood about 150 yards away and hair on a fence. The blood trail led into chest high, mix grass/weeds. A prime bedding area. The trail lasted 40 yards and I lost it. And it was down to dark droplets. This area is along a winding creekbed. Ok maybe it was not a good shot, but it was a split second now or never shot. I aimed for the best vital I had. Thanks to the very few who had been there as I offered the honest truth. The others, some more than others went well overboard with this, to qoute&quot; Monday morning quarterback&quot;. I have been deer hunting for 17 years and dealt with what God presented to me!! I search many forums on this site for many different experiences/situations/equipment etc. I have always found the people here the best and never this negative(and/or rude). I am witholding my negative comments as it does not belong on this site. I hear enough as a cop!!

ruffhunter, Dont worry about it other animals will eat the deer. It helps the food chain out also. So dont get bent on this one. For the rest suck it up. There pissed because they did not get a shot at one. Suck it up boys at least he came forward and asked for help. So stop the BS about the poor deer. Oh well. Cyotes and foxes, birds will eat it. So let it be. Better luck next time. I lost a huge buck this year also. Not due to shot placement due to rain. Could not track it for nothing. Found it two day ago. Shot it back in October. Horns still good. Meat gone. Its part of hunting gents. And its not like there is a shortage of deer in the US.

You said yo aimed for the only vitals you had, well where you shot there was no vitals!! Terrible shot that you should have never even attempted, sorry bud.

I really don't know what is worse, his shot selection or the yahoos defending it. Utterly amazing.

Ruff, sorry you lost the deer, but that shot was not a good choice. You didn't have anything vital to hit there except the spine. You had to know that the slightest error and you were sending this buck to a long painful death. For those of you who think this is alright, thats a shame, those animals deserve more respect. I am not the ethics police, and I assume Ruff will learn from this shot AS WE ALL TRY TO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES. He took a bad shot and then began trailing too quickly, I have done both, and learned from both. And huntingbgbucks, I am not 'pissed cause I didn't get a shot at one', in fact I killed a nice buck this year, 15 YARDS BROADSIDE.

And Jred, thanks for the insight into the meat!!!!

&quot;We do not inherit our wildlife from our fathers, we only borrow it from our children.&quot;