doetrain

I was fortunate to track my Doe down and not loose her Friday morning after a very poor and unwise shot. Not having many shots after 3 1/2 weeks of hunting put some pressure on me to take a shot at a deer which was so very close to me. I was waiting for her to pass by me and give me a broadside or quartering away shot the 2 best to take. She stoped about 5 feet before being broadside steped back turned right and was geting ready to jump a fence an return to a horse pasture that is not property I am allowed to hunt. I made a quick decission to aim just to the rear of her rib cage and try for the spine or vitals. I shot short and hit her in the left hine quarter and must have hit a main artery as the arrow blew through her because she bled out quickly but still went 400 yards away. I felt guilty for that poor shot and wish I had not taken it. The only thing that made me feel better was the fact that I found her and she did not lay rotting somewhere. I hope to be more patient next time and wait for a good shot or pass so that the suffering will not be needlessly prolonged. Has anyone else had a simular expierence on a hunt? A shot you wish you had not taken? Is this type of shot one many of you have taken with a relatively quick recovery? Get after me if you think I deserve it for such a shot,it will help me to not do it again I hope.

dpv

You were hunting and made a decision to shoot. You shot, and you tracked down the deer and recovered it. I say a successful hunt. A shot you wish you hadn't taken...I understand that.
On Opening day of bow season this year, in the last light of the day a buck came in. I had been sitting watching 2 does and a fawn. The buck came in but was behind some brush...and I waited and waited and could actually see the darkness coming on in stages. One of the other deer was nearby when he stepped half way out of the brush. I squeezed off. I missed. I rushed the shot, was only paying attention to the deer I wanted and not to the other deer that was right behind it......the one I shot. I wasn't even sure which deer it was....I thought it was the doe. I didn't even know where I hit it....so I waited an hour, then went to check...my youngest son went with me. I told him what happened and he said "Dad, why would you shoot at a deer with another one standing right behind it?"
And he was right, and I new it. We went thru some really thick stuff tracking the blood before it dumped out. There was my deer. Not sure how he ran so fat cause it went right thru the lungs. A nubby little buck fawn that still had spots on its backside. I felt like a jerk. But I tagged it and gutted it and skinned it out. Cut off the straps, the shoulders and the rumps.
Learn from it. discipline yourself from the experience. And keep on hunting.......and enjoy the Venison.