Discouragement

[firehawk47]

#3859

Hi Guys, Thats my first post and english is not my first language, so…

Thats my second season in hunting and I didn’t harvest anything yet. Last year I’ve seen plety of whitetail but always too far. This year I hunt from the ground and i have only three deers where i am. Last week I have been spotted two mornings and i move my spot. Yesterday, I heard noise, I didn’t at all. 1 hour later, I hear something, a doe is eating my apples. I raise behind a tree, draw my custom Rodney Wright Firehawk 47# longbow, get out slowly of behind the tree, the doe see me, I release my arrow. Right in the shoulder blade. The doe ran away, i’ve never seen a derr running that fast before. I called my wife to tell her the news and waited 20 minutes. I trailed the doe. NO BLOOD AT ALL! I fond my arrow (Carbon express heritage 150 with Zwikey broadhead 125 gr.)broken in two pieces. I searched for 7 hours in every deer trail i found. No dead deer. I have no experience in hunting, no rifle, no crossbow, no compound, two seasons in tradbow, only this year on my own. Can you tell me what mistake i made? Thanks

[David Coulter]

#25298

Hi Firehawk, congratulations on your new endeavor and for working on your English to start this thread. Its pretty cool that you were successful enough on a ground hunt to get off a shot. The only thing I would suggest is to be more patient after the shot. That’s the hardest part for me is to not rush into tracking. I think it’s fine to check for blood where the deer was standing but then back out for a couple of hours at least, especially if there is little sign of blood. It’s easy to chase a wounded deer out of your area if you are not patient. Better to wait for a while and let her lie down and pass away in her bed.

You might still find her and probably not on a trail. Grid search the area she went off to and keep looking. You might have overlooked her. That’s easy to do. Just move slowly and keep searching in places you would not expect to find her.

I’m sure other more than experienced trackers will offer their ideas too. All the best to you. Thank you for your post. Dwc

[firehawk47]

#29295

Thank you. I was pretty sure to have rush in my track. I was so exited because other hunters (crossbow and gunpowder) told me that it is impossible to kill a deer from the ground with traditional bow because they never were succesful. And now I have shot a deer from the ground at 9 yards and I couldn’t find it! And where I am (Quebec) it’s still pretty hot for fall maybe 66 degrees F. So maybe i rushed to get the deer as soon as possible to keep the meat fresh. But thank you for yours advice.

[Stephen Graf]

#29570

Sometimes what we see and what really happened are different. The excitement is so great, and the time is so short that it is often hard to know exactly what happened.

But… If you hit the deer in the shoulder as you say, and you found the arrow in 2 pieces, then the broadhead and arrow likely passed through the deer. If this is true, the deer is dead.

Shoulder hits often do not bleed much. So as David said, search in a grid pattern. Look for water like creeks and look along and in the creeks. Look for thick area’s like briar patches and blown down trees. They get into those too.

Note where the deer was when you shot it, and where you found the arrow. This will give you a general line of travel.

Did the arrow have bright blood on it? Dark blood? Was the entire arrow covered in blood? Or only a little bit? Did the arrow feel greasy? Did the arrow smell like blood, or guts?

When the deer ran away, did it hold its tail high up, or spin the tail? Did it hold it’s head up or down?

No matter what happens, don’t be discouraged. We’ve all been there. Good luck!

[David Coulter]

#29604

Yes, the fact that you were able to get a shot at 9 yards is cause for celebration. If you keep looking you’ll likely be rewarded. Keep at it and it will make you a better tracker. You and the deer deserve that. Even if you don’t find the deer until it’s too late for the meat you will learn a lot by continuing your search. Let us know how you make out. All the best to you, dwc

[Mark Turton]

#44431

I think your questions have been answered but don’t get discouraged

Only thing I can add is take it slow and when your heart stops pumping and the adrenaline dilutes listen carefully for breaking brush, or stones being scattered any sound that will indicate direction.

Bonne chance mon ami, Mark.

[paleoman]

#48453

I have not had the need, but there are blood tracker dogs out there that might help. You might find someone in your area with these specialized dogs. A person in our area has some kind of little rug burners from Germany that know their business and routinely recover wounded deer.

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#50746

HELLO FIREHAWK

Nice to see another French guy here! Maybe your arrow did not penetrate as much as you thought. How much blood was there on the arrow and on what part of it? Also, you might have bumped her, because waiting 20 minutes might not have been enough time. En tout cas, bonne chance dans le futur, et n’hesite pas a m’envoyer un message en Francais si tu preferes! 😀

PS: As DWC said, the fact that you were able to have a 9 yard shot from the ground alone causes for celebration!

[grumpy]

#14146

Doing better than I am. Hunted 2 years and didn’t get a shot. Saw deer, was close to deer, but too much cover for a shot.

This is going to be my year, know far more about the deer due to the two trail cams I keep moving around. They have tought me more than all of the books and videos.

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