Really botched my buck search...
 

I'm a new hunter and new member here. Shot a doe so far this season.

Wednesday evening, just after sunset, I shot a buck from my stand from about 30 yrds with buckshot, chest shot. My stand is on an incline just below a ridge. The buck tore up the ridge and disappeared out of sight. The way it took off I thought I missed. I searched where I thought it went, didnt see any blood so I thought I missed.

Get in my stand yesterday and I see vultures and foxes about 100 yrds from where I was searching. I was really upset. It was a nice 6 pointer too. Can't believe I didn't search more.

I know I messed up big time and I've been real hard on myself ever since for screwing it up and fear I lost my last chance at a buck this season. Let this be a lesson!

I aint gonna ride ya hard, but you should put your tag on that deer!
Then it will be more of a lesson learned, instead of someone unsure about his shooting skills, or lack of going to every extent to recover game, but is out there anyway makin swiss cheese outta everything, cause he cant find a deer to tag it, because they are layin down dead every where!using the same tag to kill 20 deer and not recovering it.
By all means i aint sayin that is you, you just need to pick a side.
**** happens....we've lost deer too.
I made my daughter tag one she shot, never recovered, and was taken by another hunter the following year. Shouldn't take that shot unless your absolutely sure!!!
Go find your head, make a skull mount, thats tagged!!! Be proud of that 6 point, he gave his life so you could...(i usually say eat here)....have a nice skull mount.

agree,
should tag that deer,
not the greatest feeling using a tag on a deer cant consume,
but the right thing to do nonetheless,
i know people who have spent weeks//entire seasons trying to recover a deer to tag

I'm am not familiar with buckshot, but if it's like regular shot but bigger 30yrds is a long shot. Why are you not using slugs?

on your way to becoming a better hunter, all this will happen to you and more....i leave you with this quote:
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field. ~Niels Bohr

Don't tag the deer. You do need to use it as a serious lesson though. Always assume the deer is hit and exhaust every possibility before you give up on it. Don't let anyone make you feel too bad though because there isn't one person on here that hasn't "missed" a deer and possibly had the same thing happen to them.

i have extra copies of beyond fair chase which summarizes the right thing to do in such situations,
gladly mail you a copy,

Unfortunately I know how you feel. I shot my best buck, a 6 ptr, at about 40 yards with a 30-06. I didn't get a pass through and there was no hair or blood. My father-in-law and I didn't search much because we thought I missed. We found it a few days later. I have since switched to Noster Partitions and get pass throughs. I also don't get deer running out of site with my rifle either.

The only other deer I have had to search for was one I hit with a bow. It took my brother and I an hour and a half to find it but I wasn't about to lose it.

Think of this as a lesson and just remember it from now on. Also, don't feel too bad, while you didn't get to eat it, other critters did so it isn't going to waste.

I use buckshoot but I got a buckshoot tube and I shoot up to 80 yards with it but I shoot them till they fall down most the time 1 will do but somtimes 2 or 3 is needed. I never shot with buckshot unless I know I have time to get anouther shot off because it is really hard to find blood when you are useing buckshoot.

Terasec, I hope you tear up your tag when you "miss" a deer.

on a miss?
no
on a hit thats unrecoverable
i intend to write unrecovered on it as i know others that do the same.

if you shoot a deer and KILL it you should tag it know matter if you find it 2hrs later or 2weeks becuse YOU killed it but whatever happens its a hard and vauleable lesson learn good luck in the future and never assume u missed

Thanks for the advice. This is a lesson I won't forget; always assume you hit the deer and always thoroughly search for it. Too bad it took a buck to get that lesson across.

Bummer man..so much for buck shot..you'd think at 30 yds that deer would be dead.

As far as the tag..let your conscience be your guide.I don't have that problem in Florida as we are allowed 2 bucks per day or 4 in freezer possession at one time.

I once hit a 90 pound sow at 10 yds..with 00 Buck..she ran 50 yds and stopped to turn around and look at me..I finished her off with a slug.When I cleaned her..the buck shot had put a softball hole in her rib cage..it wasn't enough.

From that day on..I stopped using Buck shot..Inow use a 270..stops them in thier tracks.

When you say "Chest shot", are you saying the deer was standing with his head lookng in your direction?

Yeah buckshot can be tricky. I misspoke before....it wasn't a chest shot but a broadside shot. I was surprised it didn't fall right there but perhaps some small trees caught a bit of the spray.

wtd..i think you are mis-understanding, this wasnt a missed shot, the guy found the deer the next day. no-one is saying, "everytime you miss, you should burn a tag"
which would not be a bad idea actually...i'd be out a few tags myself, but i bet it would make a few people think twice before takin a less than good shot.

in my opinion it should be made illegal. Buck shot that is. There are more deer lost with it than anything else due to the same reasons you thaught you missed. They dont bleed much with it because you rarley get and exit. Plus your range is limited.

:jaw:80 yards is deffinetly well beyong buckshots affective range.

"80 yards is deffinetly well beyong buckshots affective range. "
Bambeklr


The man did not say 80 yds..he said in his first post it was 30 yds..that is very reasonable..I have a bunch of buck shot ,I won't use it either..

As far as the tag issue..I'd be willing to gamble that every hunter has probably done some illegal activity in his life..either intentional or unintentional..I'd say on the tag issue..let the hunter decide..We are only to judge our own actions in a situation like this.

Let you conscience be your guide. We all have been there. We know the terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. This will make you a better hunter. And a better tracker. If it doesn't you shouldn't be hunting.

buck shot is 3 thirty cal rounds...aint it?

Seriously? He shot the deer. He killed the deer. He found the deer. It has to be tagged or he's no better than a poacher.

If he were to do this every year then I could see everyone's point. But mistakes are part of hunting. He did not intentionally shoot the deer and leave it. He made a mistake, so now he's a poacher. Wow!

not if he tags the deer.

What is the bag limit where you are hunting? I have been reading posts where some people are shooting unbelievable numbers of deer.
If you are in one of those states, heck, I wouldn't worry about it, learn for it!!!! but I wouldn't tag it, it was a mistake, unfortunate, but a mistake, Good Luck, (and get some slugs) Doc

I am not aware of ANY state that has a regulation that says if you shoot a deer and you don't find it until the next day, don't worry about it, you are not required to tag the deer. That is absurd. If you shoot it, and you find it, you have to tag it. That is the law. Everywhere. If you don't tag it, you are violating the law.

If you were a poacher because you hit a deer and lost it, 50% of the bowhunters out there would be guilty. If you find that deer and it is junk, you did not get that deer. I don't care if it is a 20 pointer. In Pa. if you kill a deer and it is not fit for consumption, the Game Warden will give you another tag. (arrow hit in early season usually) Sounds like most of the people here are rack hunting, not deer hunting.
On the side, buckshot is 15 .32 caliber balls.

Does that law apply when the deer isn't fit for consumption because the hunter didn't find it until the next day? The way I read the rule, it says unfit for human consumption "at the time of killing," not unfit for human consumption "at the time of finding."

If so, I stand corrected. We don't have such a rule in Texas. If you kill it, and find it a day later or a week later, you've burned one of your tags...

I am really confused. So, did you end up actually finding it and putting your hands on it?

Shooting a deer and losing it is not a crime,
Not tagging a deer because you want to save the tag for a better deer is poaching

Terasec I could not agree more! But this is not what this thread is about. It is about a new hunter who made a mistake.

IPCShooter, that is the PA law, if you tag a deer regardless if you just shot it or found it a week later and it is unfit for consumption, you can turn in the whole deer (rack and all) and they will issue you a new tag.

exactly, cause you're supposed to tag that deer with the tag you have.

I shot a deer two years ago that was no good. After a long drag, I got it home and started to cut it up and it was poisoned. It was the late season and I already had killed two deer, so I just threw it out. I think the kid did the right thing. It was just a bad turn of events, and he did think he missed. The story does not sound as if he has this type of thing happen twice a year every year, and there is plenty of that going on.

"On the side, buckshot is 15 .32 caliber balls."
Halfbaked

Depends..if it's
2 3/4 OO Buck
3 inch OO Buck
31/2 OO Buck
2 3/4 is 9 balls and 3 inch is 15 balls..and 3 1/2 " magnum is 18 balls
I still won't use buck..too risky

However,
2 3/4 delivers 1300 FPS

3 inch is 1200 FPS

3 1/2 is 1100 FPS

IpscShooter, sorry but i got to throw this in there.... My last trip to Texas, that i didnt hunt on, i was askin guys how the deer were around there since Texas deer as SOOOOO big.... anyway after a bit of talkin, they told me that they would just go out and shoot bucks all day untill they killed the one they liked most, so instead of tryin to "teach" this new hunter something that has learned already before we all told him, go out in ur own back yard and try teach some of the hunters there..... So i guess im agreeing with White-Tail-Deer on this one.
This guy is a new hunter, he makes a mistake, he learned from it before everyone even told him what to do. Mistakes happen... its life
And sorry if i sounded harsh, but reading some of the post bout telling him to do this and that, kinda makes me a lil mad since he already LEARNED his mistake, if it didnt get across to u yet...

happens... i would tag it though..

I wouldn't hang on it to much, there is nothing u can do now. If u want to tag it then tag it if you don't then don't its only up to you. on a plus side you helped feed a family of foxes

There's not anybody "in my back yard" doing any such thing. If I knew of someone doing it, you can bet I'd be on the phone to the game warden.

I killed a good buck a couple years ago and it got dark. Coyotes got him before I did. I went to a warden and he gave me the option of giving up the head or using my tag on it. If I gave him the head I would have got to keep my tag. I used my tag but if it had been a small rack I would have kept the tag. YMMV

Seems to me that the way it works in both PA and OK, in the instances described above, is that you HAVE TO tag the deer. If the deer is inedible, you can take it to the warden and receive a new tag, if you turn in the entire deer (i.e. you can't keep the antlers). You don't get to just "not tag the deer."

birds of a feather flock together, so im not surprised by your comment
if i was in your back yard, i would have been tellin them nit wits what was up!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Mrez7ahZA