rogerstv

You are incorrect about the ability of archery tackle to kill an animal. A well placed arrow will kill as quick or quicker than a bullet. If you shot one "perfectly" and didn't recover it, it is because you didn't shoot one perfectly!

I can't stand it when someone says "I made a great shot" then you track the deer for miles. Bottom line is you didn't make a great shot, dumba$$. You just wish you did.

lawson0207

what type of broadheads did you use? fixed or expandable? Did you tune your bow with broadheads?

rogerstv

To answer your questions;

I've been bowhunting for 25 years. I've lost plenty of deer both gun and bow. If I had to count, probably between 10 - 15. More have been lost from bow shots than gun. The two biggest bucks I have ever shot at were crippled by me with a shotgun. I get sick just like most people. It is not why I am there. I hate it.

I have killed way more than crippled. I have seen a lot of my arrow shot animals run as fast as they can for 20 - 60 yards, stop, waggle, and die. It lasts all of 20 - 30 seconds!

I try to be very conscience as to my shot placement and patient with both weapons. That is a result of lost animals and that sinking feeling in my gut.

The point I want to make is a bad shot is usually the result of the shooter and not the equipment. All of my deer were lost by my sh1tty shooting. No fault of the gun or bow! Cut vanes at 40 yards all you want. That shows your equipment is fine and that you can hit a stationary target. That animal is not sitting still like a target and does not have a bullseye on its hide. Big difference. Touchy subject for me. I agree with others and am glad you are giving up the sport! TRUST ME IT IS YOUR SH1TTY SHOOTING TOO!

turkey guide

If there were a problem with a deer shortage I have confidence that the biologist who set the seasons and limits would handle it by changing the seasons methods and limits. Until then who cares how many deer are killed by say cars, or bobcats or bad shots? If you can't stand the thought of wounding a deer and imagining it suffering, don't shoot, and don't drive! Maybe you should stay indoors to lessen your impact on the world. I used to worry about such things too, and I don't go around trying to cause undue suffering, and I do believe you should know your weapon and how to use it. But once I was upset about losing a doe that I knew I made a good shot on but couldn't find and someone said, well coyotes gotta eat too.
I had never thought of it that way before, but it's true. Nothing in nature goes to waste that deer that you didn't find will be a welcome find for all kinds of creatures who could use an easy meal once in a while. Think of it as feeding bobcats. It's not wasted at all, it's just lost to you. Oh well, too bad, try and kill another one. The conservation dept. will let us all know if there is a negative impact, and until then don't feel bad about it. Sometimes top predators only wound and lose their prey, it's a fact of life , and something hunters can live with.
Besides there are a ton of nonhunters out there wounding and killing deer with sports cars and shutting down hunting seasons causing untold animal death from overpopulation and disease, and human deaths by car vs animal crashes and they probably think they are doing something good for the cuddly critters.

turkey guide

If you started last year and quit already you will never be a hunter anyway, you might try hugging bunnies. I am not a bowhunter, but a rifle hunter. I saw more terrible rifle shooting and poor tracking result in lost deer, last year, than ever before. I found 6 doe's with bullet wounds on my lease. All in a fairly small area. It turns out that the family that owns that farm and leases to me, hunts with guns passed down from grandpa and dad that they don't know how to sight in. The female I talked to I know was using a 30-30 with the sights missing! She says she thinks they used to be on there when she hunted as a little girl but they were always loose. One of the boys uses a 223/410 over and under that he admits he tries to hold two feet to the left to hit his target. These are not bad kids (in their 20's) or bad people and they need the meat to live. Their father died when they were young from a bloodclot after breaking his leg falling off an icy ladder, while trying to de-ice his satellite dish on the roof. So like predators do, they use the weapons and experience they have, to try and kill game to eat. They retain about 60 acres of their farm for this purpose and I lease the rest, where ethical hunters pay me to produce big bucks. The family won't shoot at bucks because doe's taste better to them, so they are no competition, and even if they were, there are plenty of deer. More doe's still have to be taken every year to manage the herd. I offer to help them fix and sight in their guns but they kill enough to eat and don't care. They also kill enough for several others to eat and I'm sure the animals who clean up these kills appreciate it. I have little problem with this as it is the way nature works. Human nature is a part of it, and the impact is positive for the management of the deer herd and the survival of other animals who use the so called wasted deer meat. If the deer herd were declining and there was a negative impact I would take more action because it would matter. But right now there is no need to be over sensitive about nature taking it's coarse.
Anyway, people who don't know what they are doing are the main problem, if you believe there is a problem, I don't.
And oh, by the way! Most of the farmers around here rank deer right up there with rats! They shoot all they see all year long, legally to protect crops, which they have a right to do. But by law these animals must be left where they are killed, and not used for human food. And we still have a huge hunting industry here. People from all over the country come here to hunt the big bucks that we have an abundance of! I bet that makes you sad.

Hoyt_shooter02

Well said!!! The first time I shot a doe with my bow, I did not harvest her. I looked that evening from app. 6pm until 1am, and the next day from app. 7am till 4pm. I almost gave up bow hunting I felt so terribly. Then, a buddy of mine took a road kill deer, drug it in the woods a bit, and put up a trail cam. He listened to me **** and moan about how bad I felt, then he sent me a power point of all of the pics. of the deer. Within 3 days all that remained was some fur, the skull, and the tail. I saw pics. of coyotes, bobcats, turkey vultures, possum, and a ton of other animals feasting off the easy meal. So, in the end, like you said....nothing goes to waste in nature. I lost one more deer the following season, and I felt a bit of remorse, but I knew it would be consumed. In all I have lost 2 deer bow hunting and one with my rifle (scope got bumped pulling it in to the tree and my dumb ass thought nothing of it.)
JC-

jklink

I didn't read all the pages of replies, but read enough to chime in. I rifle and bow hunt. Been rifle hunting for 9 years and bow hunting for 4. I have shot 11 deer with a rifle and have yet to lose one. I have shot 4 deer with a bow and lost one. I have been hunting (videotaping) with my son and brother in law while they were rifle hunting and they both lost deer while rifle hunting, and being that it was on video, the shots were great. Those are the only two deer that they lost rifle hunting and they have shot several, but from my personal experience, Ive seen more lost with rifle than bow. I am also just fine with people quitting something that they are not comfortable with. to each his own. just my .02

Stonewall308

That says it all right there. If you don't like something, don't partake.

That being said, I do think loosing deer is more common with bow hunting. I have had land owners tell me that they won't allow bow hunting because they have found too many lost deer. This doesn't mean that bow hunting can't be done effectively, or that it shouldn't be done, it is just an observation.

I personally prefer hunting with my .3006. I bow hunt only to extend my season; if rifle season and bow season ran concurrently I would not bow hunt. Using a rifle that size, it is virtually impossible to lose a deer if I do my job on shot placement.

Super G Force

If you "do your job with shot placement" with a bow it is impossible to lose a deer also. It is all a never ending battle!!

remmy123

ive killed 30 plus deer with a bow and i have lost only one of that number. I will not take a shot unless im sure that all the variables in my control are covered, i practice and i make sure my equipment is up to the task and although bad things out of my control can and do happen,i have to take the good with the bad. i am far from the only bow hunter with this same game plan... by the way the one that i lost the arrow went right were it was supposed to go but for some reason the arrow didnt penatrate in this case it was not like throwing an axe threw an animal so i bought diffrent broadheads because if it fails once that is once to many. as long as we as bowhunters do everthing within reason and our ability there is nothing to be ashamed of. dont hate the sport because of a bad set of events learn from them and get back in the woods