Bowhunting
#22

If you put almost any of todays broadheads through the right spot then you "will" recover that deer. Sure there are times where you screw up or some factor goes in to hitting a deer bad but thats part of hunting period whether it be with a bow or firearm. Just learn and adapt and move on!
#23

I stand by my comments very Firm...Alot more deer are shot and run off and are not found than most bowhunters will admit! You included wayles,if a true bowhunter just has to accept the fact that you are going to lose a deer while bowhunting,then i want no part of it..And yes a bowhunter does have to accept that as a fact of bowhunting.
#24

another thing, we all know that when that deer does come, all of our heats start to pound like they are going to explode... being 20 yards from a deer with a bow, your heart would pound a ton more than if you were 100 yards away (or more) from a deer with a shotgun or rifle (at least thats how it is with me). if your heart is pound like crazy it is going to affect how accurate your shot is because it will be harder to hold your bow steady versus if your heart isnt pounding as much then it will be a lot easier to hold your gun steady. so i agree with all the people who say that you "think" you made a good broadside shot, when you really probably didnt.
my 2 cents.
my 2 cents.
#25

I watch these hunting shows and see these deer run after being shot with a high power rifle and in my years of hunting and of all the deer I have shot with a high power rifle,I have never had a deer take more than a few steps after being shot.But now with a ML I have had some run,but not far..
#27
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,358

I'll bite and give you some answers:
- I've shot more game with a bow than a rifle. I've taken 8 deer and an elk with a bow, lost 1 deer, tracked it for 4 hours, over a mile, pretty sure it dind't die.
- I've shot 4 deer with my rifle, lost one.
I just like bowhunting more.
You say you hit it perfect, wrong. You may have aimed perfect, but a perfect hit will put the deer down quickly. My elk was hit "perfect" and was on the ground in 40 yards, I know, it never left my sight.
When you lost your deer, how far did you track them, or did you? You don't sound like you've got much tracking experience since you say your gun kills go down immediately. Well it's a rare bow shot animal that goes down in sight, it happens, but you usually have to track 50-200 yards.
Did you track? How far? For how long?
It isn't the weapon, studies have shown approximately the same wound and not recovered rate for both gun and bow.
It's the operator, not the tool.
- I've shot more game with a bow than a rifle. I've taken 8 deer and an elk with a bow, lost 1 deer, tracked it for 4 hours, over a mile, pretty sure it dind't die.
- I've shot 4 deer with my rifle, lost one.
I just like bowhunting more.
You say you hit it perfect, wrong. You may have aimed perfect, but a perfect hit will put the deer down quickly. My elk was hit "perfect" and was on the ground in 40 yards, I know, it never left my sight.
When you lost your deer, how far did you track them, or did you? You don't sound like you've got much tracking experience since you say your gun kills go down immediately. Well it's a rare bow shot animal that goes down in sight, it happens, but you usually have to track 50-200 yards.
Did you track? How far? For how long?
It isn't the weapon, studies have shown approximately the same wound and not recovered rate for both gun and bow.
It's the operator, not the tool.
#28

Hes right. you guys are very lucky as always on the internet, everyone guns shoot under an inch, deer are alway recovered with a bow.
I know better I have a lot of friends, a lot, we all gun hunt and bow hunt and with out a doubt deer are lost bowhunting. Its a fact. It just seems that things go wrong way to easy with a bow.
If your just a little off with a bow hes gone, shure hes dead but where.
A little off with a gun, doesnt matter he dieing quick.
I have killed quite a few with a bow and when that shot is perfect they dont go far at all, but be a tad low or a tad back and your going to have trouble.
Then theres equipment failure, I had some mechanicals that worked some times and sometime they crumpled on impact giving very little penetration. Then theres the deer that jump the string and the shot ends up being placed poorly.
I have lost 7 deer in 20 years with a bow and have recovered about 14. and in 25+ years with a gun and over 200 big game kills zero lost
Put a newbie behind a bow and odds are hes wounding one.
I know better I have a lot of friends, a lot, we all gun hunt and bow hunt and with out a doubt deer are lost bowhunting. Its a fact. It just seems that things go wrong way to easy with a bow.
If your just a little off with a bow hes gone, shure hes dead but where.
A little off with a gun, doesnt matter he dieing quick.
I have killed quite a few with a bow and when that shot is perfect they dont go far at all, but be a tad low or a tad back and your going to have trouble.
Then theres equipment failure, I had some mechanicals that worked some times and sometime they crumpled on impact giving very little penetration. Then theres the deer that jump the string and the shot ends up being placed poorly.
I have lost 7 deer in 20 years with a bow and have recovered about 14. and in 25+ years with a gun and over 200 big game kills zero lost
Put a newbie behind a bow and odds are hes wounding one.
#30

Me and my buddy's have been bowhunting for about 4 years now we have taken about 10 deer and everyone has been found you just have to know where the deer was hit and how long to wait before you go look for it. If we don't see the deer go down we back out and go back in a few hours look for blood or the arrow, then judging by the arrow or the blood weather or not we proceed on the track. Just this last week my brother liver shot a doe and we knew it was a bad shot due to the arrow and blood we found waited about 4 or 5 hours tracked it and i didn't go 100 yds same with a gun.....thats how we do it and haven't lost one yet and that's th e truth