Number 1!! And Number 83!!

[johnny2]

#4212

Steve Sr., I apologize before I even get started cause this is gonna sound like I plegarized most of your story.

Yesterday afternoon I shot my 83rd whitetail with a bow, however IT WAS MY FIRST WITH A TRAD BOW!! WOOHOO!!!:D Over the years I have even managed to kill a few nice, mature bucks but I don’t think any of them pushed my buttons like that 100 lb doe standing broadside at all of 5 steps witha stick in my hand!

I did’nt know if this story would have a happy ending last night because, like Steve, I thought I made a bad shot. No, scratch that, I knew I had made a bad shot. I saw the arrow hit her mid-ship and had the green slime on my arrow to prove it. Also unlike Steve I did’nt have the cojones to share this with you guys till I knew the end. Steve your a better man, no doubt. Anyway, the bottom line was I completly melted down and broke the cardinal rule, I didn’t pick a spot I just wanted to get an arrow in her. To add insult not 2 minutes later while I sat there kicking myself I saw the reason for her haste, a 3 1/2 year old 8 point with about a 17 inch spread. There I was 12 steps from a grunting, heaving buck anyone would be proud of…..without an arrow on the string. He didn’t hang around long, so I went back to moping about my shot. As everyone knows gut shots require a long wait so I headed to the truck, disgusted with myself, thinking about how I was ever gonna sleep tonight. Well, this morning I found her without much effort. Knowing the terrain I hunt and knowing gut shot deer usually head for water and thick cover, I found her about 150 yards from where I last saw her. She was laying under a blowdown mere inches from the creek. Whew.

I considered putting this thread on the Trailhead forum because there are a couple of nuggets in this story for new hunters. First, concentrate on a HAIR when shooting at an animal. Aim small, miss small. Also, concentrating on a hair takes your mind off the fact that your shooting at an animal, well, it helps a little in this aspect. Second, anytime, and I MEAN ANYTIME you question your shot you need to leave as quietly as you can and give that critter some time. There was little in the way of bodily fluids on the ground in this case, I mainly followed scuffed leaves and concentrated on searching the creek. Had I taken off willy nilly last night I would have likely spooked that deer into another county or at least into some less hospitable terrain and perhaps have lost her.

Pick a spot. Be patient.

[MontanaFord]

#28612

johnny2,

Congratulations on your first traditional harvest! You aren’t the first person to make a bad shot, for certain. You’re fortunate to know the ground you were hunting and were able to find your animal in a timely manner. My first deer, also a whitetail doe, was also a paunch shot. Like you, I didn’t concentrate on picking a spot, and my arrow found its way to a place too far back for a good, quick, clean kill. And, it was a long shot to boot. A shot that, at this point in my archery career, I would not take. My height up the body was fine, but for whatever reason, I was too far back. Anyway, long story short, I shot her about 45 minutes before dark, and it was starting to rain. Rather than wait for the next day, we started doing a grid search. My uncle found her bedded down, got me over there, and I circled her to make a second (ineffective) shot. She bolted downhill. We started searching everything from where we were above the road, down to the road, and for 100 yards each side of her path down the hill. We eventually made it to the creek across the road and found her laying up under the brush on the other side of the creek. Certainly not the optimum way to begin a successful traditional hunting career. But, it worked out that we were able to find her before it got dark. I dressed her out in the dark by the light of a Mini-Mag. My second deer with my recurve (also a whitetail doe), was a neat, clean kill at about 23 yards. Complete pass-through, liver, one lung, and a completely severed rib on the exit. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know you’re not alone in the world of poor hits.

Michael.

[johnny2]

#29675

Thanks Montana.

Johnny

[Steve Sr.]

#29963

Excellent job all the way around. No “mistake” is a really horrible one unless you don’t know what you did and don’t know how or care enough to “fix” it.

“Picking a hair and splitting it” is indeed something pretty tough for me sometimes too and have done exactly the same on deer, normally when too close and “I can’t miss” har har har. I’ve been visualizing an orange dot on the area I want to hit. Easier for these old eyes to “see” these days.

Since McDonald’s is 2 miles away I seem to have a bunch of orange dots laying around to help with visualizations. When I start seeing and “M” on them on the deer, I’ll know I have visualization down to a fine art. :lol::lol::lol:

83rd deer! Wow! Bet that’s tough to recall em all, 😀 Having that “first deer” feeling all over again is pretty cool at this point in your life and I’m quite tickled for you!

➡ I’da shish-ka-bobbed that buck though 8)

Glad you found her and she went down fairly fast.

Sorry for those that find it repetition but I’m going to add an “Ashby” plug here. I think a LOT of shots are too far back that I have seen over the decades, even those recently. Almost on an average too.

Staying off that shoulder has been ground and ground and ground into bowhunter’s heads. With my Ashby assembled arrows, I don’t fear that shoulder now so I moved my “M” forward about 6-8 inches because I DO fear a paunch shot. I just gotta get a shot at something. 🙄

Now go shoot that buck. I think I forgot what they look like.

God Bless
Steve Sr.

[johnny2]

#31311

Make no mistake Steve I would have arrowed the buck(well, shot at him) if I’d have had an arrow on the string. Never in my wildest dreams expected to see hardcore chasing on Oct 15. Chase phase usually hits here after Halloween.

I want to let everyone know my number of deer isn’t meant as a boast. I’m 38 years old and have been bowhunting since I was 15 in a state with liberal bag limits and have been blessed to have access to good areas(and some good mentors)along with some out of state hunts. I put the the number in there to let everyone know that even after all those deer I still have brain farts in the heat of the moment and that the fire is still burning, just fanned a little hotter by the use of simple stick and string.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#31375

Johnny,

Congrats on turning a bad situation into a recovered animal. We can’t unring the bell, but we can decide how to proceed afterwards. Well done.

Steve,

I’m not sure if hits too far back on deer are a product of fearing the shoulder as much as a result of there being more real estate behind the diaphragm than in front of the lungs—kind of an odds thing. The abdominal area is the largest part of the deer immediately outside the thorax, and animals tend to move forward instead of backward, so it stands to reason that more bad shots would hit there than anywhere else on the animal.

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