I feel like I've sinned - lost deer...advice please

F

FrontSight

New member
What can I say, it's just a terrible feeling, like I really committed a sin, and I'm not even religious...

So I went bowhunting in NY on Saturday, and shot a doe. This was, mind you, the first deer I've ever shot with a bow. This was also the first deer I can say that I truly hunted instead of just saying "um, sure, this looks like an ok spot to hunt..." I mean, I read books and articles, I went scouting, I looked at maps, I looked for funnels, food sources, water sources, bedding, etc, etc.

I went a week ago, and saw these two does THREE times about 40 yards away from my stand, morning, afternoon, and evening. So I KNEW that had to be their bedding area, and decided I would move my stand closer this week, where I could get a shot. They were mine, ya know? I did the work, I was actually hunting them, not just relying on luck and hoping it was a good place to be...

So not only was I able to get a shot, I had these two does right under my tree - I couldn't get the bow in the angle I needed for 3 minutes because they were so close under the tree.

I planned my shot, drew back carefully, took perfect aim on the much bigger one (probably the mother), dropped the string on her at 11 yards, watched the arrow hit perfectly, dissappear into her, and almost bury itself in the ground behind her. Doesn't get much better than that, right?

Well, it was perfect, except for one thing. Rain. Heavy rain, actually. I couldn't see her drop because of cover, and it was raining hard, so I decided to follow the blood trail before it got washed away, rather than wait an hour and let her die.

Of course, I wound up pushing her again & again, never able to get off another shot. Last time I saw her, she was in the thickest of thickets you can imagine - 6 feet high, and even the thorns had thorns. I decided to wait an hour and then go back to try to follow where I saw her last.

After an hour of that rain, every trace of her was gone - the whole blood trail was washed away. I looked for as long and as hard as I could, but could find nothing whatsoever. Wound up ripping up my clothes, too, trying to look through those thorns.

What a terrible waste, as I know she did not survive that hit...

Advice, please - what would you have done differently? Should I have waited, even tho the blood trail would have been washed away by the rain, and I don't think I would have found her anyway?

I'm having a tough time dealing with this, strange, as I never thought a lost deer would have bothered me much. Guess I'm getting soft as I get older...
 
I think you made some good choices. One thing you might want to look at though is your search pattern. With a lost animal (I'v had plenty of practise on rabbits shot with a 22), I do a spiral search. I only walk about 2 ft wider from the last spiral. It has proven to be very effective. Another thing, you need a hunting buddy. I know how hard that is sometimes. No one I work with hunts, so I do it alone or with my kid. In this case another set of eyes and ears would have helped tremendously.
 
Trapp, I would have loved to do that, but that thicket was just insane...the kind where if you don't have a machete or a troy-bilt weed tiller you're not getting more than 5 feet in 4 minutes, which is literally what I was doing. I can't beging to imagine trying to search through 10,000 square yards of that. And it was private property, no way I could have chopped it up, let alone destroy their bedding area, so eventually I just had to give up...and yeah, so tough to find people to hunt with, especially bowhunt...
 
Tough luck man.:(

About the only advice I can offer is:

-Yes, with a solid hit like you described let it be for 45min to an hour at least even if it is raining/snowing hard. Watch the general direction she went then after you wait search very slowly & quietly. I bet she would have laid down in 50-75 yds if you hadn't pushed her, I learned this the hard way.:o

-Mark the trail with ties of some sort, I use the hunter orange marker tape. Track slowly & tie one in a tree about every 5-10 yds or wherever you find blood. They will still be there when the track is gone from the rain/snow. Also if you lose the track, just go back up through the area you just marked & line up the previous spots & they will line up & you can get a good general idea where to look for the next blood.

I think the most important thing is the wait.
Another couple of people would help the search too.
 
This is great advice, thanks to you both. I was actually thinking of never bowhunting in the rain again, now I will continue to do so, but I'll be smarter at it. You guys just changed my outlook completely, and I'll probably enjoy a lot more days because of it...
 
Hey Scrap, I feel for ya man. I've lost a few in my day and it's a gut wrenching feeling. Waste of food and life. Based upon the hunting I've done in pouring rain, if you KNOW it was a fatal shot, let the deer go. Better it runs 15 yds and lays down then 150 yds and lost. True the blood might wash away, but the deer may not run very far. Unless I actaully see the deer drop dead, I wait it out for about an hour or more. Just make sure you watch where it runs. If she's hit hard and right the blood pressure drops rapidly and she will fall or lay down and pass. Not sure if this would help or not, if it's real thick and you can't see through the brush. I either get my self climber stand, find a tree very close over the brush and climb up. You get a far better view and can usually find where the deer is from it crashing through the thick. Or I drop on my stomach, and try to look under everything, sometimes you get a better view if it's not so cluttered. Sorry to hear about the loss though!
 
Thanks, that's great advice, too!
Why is that...I mean, why is it that if left alone they lay down and die pretty quickly, but if pushed they can run for miles? Or is that just an old wives tale, and they actually die in the same amount of time, just much further because they are running?
 
It is the adrenalin that keeps them going, a bit like us but much more so. The guys saying leave it about 45 mins are dead right, the deer doesnt feel threatened and as the blood loss increases they just lay down and die. you will soon find it then with a good search pattern. If you go after it they just head for more an d thicker cover and it becomes really bad to find them if at all.
 
Damn, I wish I had waited now. I had a GPS, too, I could have used that in my search pattern to make sure I did a complete search and didn't overlook any areas. Thanks
 
Scrap don't feel too bad, I and about 8 others ended up helping this one guy search for a deer he had shot. It was full dark when we joined the search for the deer that had disappeared into thick swampy area. The hunter had done everything right #1 he had waited 1/2 hour, #2 he had clearly taped almost every drop of blood, but he couldn't find the deer and neither could all of us.

He came back with a dog the next morning and found the deer in about 10 minutes. It hadn't really gone all that far It had just wiggled it's way into a small clump of bushes we didn't think could be gotten into. . . any number of us had passed within 10 feet of the deer without even knowing it - - it was just that thick and that dark.
 
They will run for miles if you keep jumping them without waiting. Yet another thing I've learned the hard way :( .

Sometimes you can't find 'em even if they run off and aren't spooked. I've seen deer wedge themselves underneath a log, curl up in the middle of a big (thorny) bush, etc. And finding it gets even harder when it is dark, raining, snowing, the blood trail stops -- a million different ways to make it harder.

The way I see it, if you learned from the experience, it was not a "sin".
 
Sux Doesn't it? In all reality, the deer has just been wounded and doesn't know what's going on, it's been hit and instinct is to run and hide as soon as possible. So the deer runs to cover and waits, this in turn allows the deer to "bleed out". So listen to everyone telling you to just wait!! I've pushed quite a few when I first started hunting. The most humane and kind thing to do is let the deer go and lay down in peace if it runs. Now I'm not sure if you've ever killed a deer before, but a word of wisdom. When you find your deer, never come up to them from the rear legs, or head if it's a buck, always come from the back. Just in case the deer hasn't died yet and it gets a chance to kick you or gore you with an antler.
 
This is all great advice, thanks, please keep it coming, I'm learning a lot. Yep, I've killed a fair share, but always with shotgun - this was my first with a bow...first time I've heard about avoiding hooves or antlers, tho, that's great advice, thanks
 
Sorry it happened. Did you go back the next day with the right equipment to look? I have never lost an animal I hit yet (knock on wood) except for a few squirrels that ran into tree holes when I was real young(I once went back with an axe and 20" craftsman chain saw I felt so bad) a little extreme I know but it was a dead tree:o
All attempts need to be made to recover your deer. Don't give up after an afternoon.
Remember, hunting is also about patience. Apply it to your recovery, it will make this memory much better!
 
A bit of a different view here guys.

If it is raining or snowing hard and the critter isn't dead within sight I.E. a tracking job is needed.

Don't wait! You have no chance but to hit the ground running!

You take the risk of pushing the animal but if it is hit good it won't matter all that much get on fresh track and push it while you still can. It is your only option in this unusual circumstance.

Plan B

Find your self a bloodtracking dog they can push track even after a rain or a snow. My dog Kubi (may he R.I.P.:( ) once pushed a 4 day old blood trail for a half mile after it'd been snowed on. I wouldn't have belived it if I hadn't seen it myself.

In some states there are volunteer bloodtracking guys who will come and try to do a recovery for you. They just love to work their dogs!
 
Sorry it happened to you, but you have recieved some excellent advice.

I do a spiral search. I only walk about 2 ft wider from the last spiral. It has proven to be very effective.
Click to expand...

+1

Another thing, you need a hunting buddy.
Click to expand...

+1

Mark the trail with ties of some sort, I use the hunter orange marker tape. Track slowly & tie one in a tree about every 5-10 yds or wherever you find blood. They will still be there when the track is gone from the rain/snow. Also if you lose the track, just go back up through the area you just marked & line up the previous spots & they will line up & you can get a good general idea where to look for the next blood.
Click to expand...

+1

Damn, I wish I had waited now. I had a GPS, too, I could have used that in my search pattern to make sure I did a complete search and didn't overlook any areas.
Click to expand...

Excellent ideas in retrospect. I understand your feelings, just learn from your experience and get better.

Good luck.

Charles
 
Yeah, lots of good advice. However, sometimes nothing works. Sorta like Mario Andretti's comment about Indy racers: "There are two kinds of drivers at Indy. There are those who HAVE hit the wall, and there are those who WILL hit the wall."

There are two kinds of hunters...

Art
 
In the rain...is always tough. The only thing that I would have done differently...is to wait out the 1 hour in the stand....no matter how much I was worried about the blood trail. With a good hit...and no pushing on your part....I think that the chances are good that the doe would have gone down within 10-15 minutes....and within 100 yards, or so. Then, finding her would have been a matter of a simple grid search, or spiral search.

The only circumstance in which I break the 1 hour rule is if I can still see the deer after shooting (obviously, this will happen only when the animal is shot in the open)....and the animal goes down straight away....and doesn't move. Even then, I still wait 15 minutes - and approach very slowly.
 
its tough

sorry to hear that scrap i also lost my first bow harvest 10 years ago due to the rain. i even sat in the rain for an hour before getting down to add to it it was dark. but like was mentioned before dont give up the search and definitely dont give up bowhunting. i found my 10 pointer, even though it was 3 days later and there wasnt much left, i felt that i owed it that much. just mark this down as a learning experience and move on.
kw
 
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