I hate to say it, but you are right fingerz.

Well as many have said, the fact that you posted this tells me your sick to your stomach and wish you had a doo-over, and the you may genuinely be feeling guilty. All I can say is that if you hunt hard and long enough every hunter is going to have that "why did i do that " to mull over. I know I'm guilty, When I was 14 I shot at a doe, and it ran and stopped, 100 yards open sight, low light, it stood there with 4 or 5 other does, they ran out to 150 yards, and I shot again, then at 200 yards or so they stopped again, I shot again, and then again, at about 400 yards they stood there until they started feeding again, I wanted to get a deer so bad to impress my dad that i completely lost my mind. I learned from that and felt i didn't deserve to hunt. I was shooting in low light with open sights, what a dumb$$$ thing to do. I learned from as you can learn from this. I am just thankful i didnt wound a any of the animals. One thing I always do is that I don't leave my stand after shooting an animal until I have a blood trail to follow, and it's properly marked. I don't leave the area until I know that I need help, ie... losing the blood trail or finding the animal. Shake it off, double and triple check your rifle sights and look good and hard for that deer....

I went back the next day and could not find any good blood trail...i was on one for 40 yards and it just went dry.
I looked all over for fur or maybe even some bone from the jaw...but there was nothing to be seen.
I'm starting to think i hit her behind the jaw a little bit and i was maybe just seeing blood from an odd neck shot.

i'm planing on keeping a trail cam out the rest of the winter and see if anything shows...i'll post a pic is she shows up.

first off it was not a head shot i was aiming for her chest.

i had forgotten my flash light (i droped it when i was leaving the house) so i had to run back to the house some 250 yards and grab it. got someone to come with me in case i had a tracking issue.
and what is wrong with getting help?
i always like to have two sets of eyes when i have to track a deer.
i'm still somewhat new to hunting...4th year

Yakuza, I'll gladly come and shoot the top of your skull off. After all, you deserve it.

In your first post you said she was walking straight at you and now you say you aimed at her chest. I'll assume you mean her brisket was what you refer to as her chest?? If so either your gun is way off or you were!! Either way the shot angle was poor, I think you realize that now and hopefully will take that knowledge tothe future.If you hit the jaw she'll most likely die of starvation or min. infection.

Classic example of why some of usdon't advocate lower percentage shots to the masses.[&:]

Good example of why to check your gun, practice and shoot for the lungs.

Give the kid a break.
Some people dont have the privalege of learning about hunting from expierenced hunters, some people have to learn from expierence.

is that a threat?


Okay i made a mistake.
i checked the gun and it was sighted in.

it was an offhand shot and 60 yards...it was something I thought i could do.
i mean, I never had an issue this season with the other two deer I shot. (both were shot in the chest) I am not a supporter of head shots and i have never taken one in my life.

i got buck fever with this being the last day of the season.


its been a week and a half or so and I've walked ever bedding area and feeding area and trail on my hunting land and have found nothing.
I'm starting to think she didn't die.


I was not aiming for her head i was aiming fore her chest.
And the main reason I left was I had no flashlight and I also never start tracking for 30 minutes after the shot. It's kinda hard to track in the dark ya know.

I'm pretty sure everyone that hunts is not perfect. If we have a late evening deer down, we always check in with buddies and see if they would like help, and we all pitch in. I've seem to remember a few posts on here where folks forgot thier weapon, so no biggy on forgetting the light. At least you made the effort the next day to look again. I know a lot of people who just chalk it up as a loss and go on. You can be an experienced hunter and make a bad shot....just like the pros.