Full Disclosure - Bad Shots - Lost Deer

[SEW]

I must be the luckiest deer hunter alive: 182 recoveries out of 187 hits. 2 gun losses, 3 arrow.
1st) Arrow loss - late 80s or early 90s. Pearson Flame, 28" draw, 29" 2219/Bear Super Razorhead(145g), bow 85#(only year I shot that high of #age). Large 12-pt, still hunting, got to w/i 25 yds as it was feeding on acorns, intentional shoulder shot. Was sure I had the energy to go thru. Wrong! Solid hit, low penetration, never recovered.
2nd) Arrow loss. Darton /Browning Cams. 27" 2013s(overdraw), 2-blade SF(100g). Hit in chest. Never recovered.??
3rd) Arrow loss. 3 years ago. Stupid me! Strykeforce(has a lot of force!). Red Hot arrow. 125 g Thunderhead. 33yds. Small doe. Intentional shoulder shot. Was sure that arrow with that blade and energy would go thru that deer. Wrong!
Knocked the deer down. Got up, took off, with my arrow, no blood, never recovered.

My son: never a loss with SFs(>30), nor FOCs(6-8), multiple losses with Rages! He's tried each new version. They look so impressive! Maybe he's a slow learner. Now just uses FOCs.

[nyexhunter]

Been hunting for over 35 years, compound bow, rifle, muzzleloader and now crossbow as well. Usually get at least one and sometimes as many as four each year. Have lost count of the ones that I have taken; however, I will never forget the ones that were lost - there were three. All were with my compound bow, shots were from 20 to 30 yards. Initially I thought the hits were good. Good blood trails, bright red and easy to follow for the first 75 yards or more, then nothing. Got help looking on each one and spent hours over the course of a few days searching for each.

In retrospect, if the shots were a little lower, instead of one lung and no pass through, I may have had pass throughs and recovery.

Losing a deer is something that is really sickening and is not something I easily let go. After each time I would run it back in my mind each night for several weeks before going to sleep.

Lessons learned. Shot placement is the key. Things sometimes go bad in spite of best efforts and deer are incredibly tough.

[nchunterkw]

Losing a deer is something that is really sickening and is not something I easily let go. After each time I would run it back in my mind each night for several weeks before going to sleep.

Lessons learned. Shot placement is the key. Things sometimes go bad in spite of best efforts and deer are incredibly tough.

Totally agree, and been there done that. Started this thread in hopes of helping prevent this a little more. Thanks for the help.

[DuckHunt]

Two seasons ago I shot a doe with my Exomax that still bugs me. I was hunting from a stand on the side of a mountain. I was about 20 feet up, but since I was on the side of a hill the doe that was about 20 yards away was less than 10 feet below me. She had no idea I was there. With a very slightly quartering shot I placed the arrow just behind the shoulder about six inches up from the bottom. She turned downhill and stumbled past not ten steps in front of me. She was so close I swore could see the 3-blade broadhead mark on her ribs. Based on the hit, I didn't expect her to get out of sight. She was stumbling as if she wouldn't make it 30 yards. Well, she kept going out of sight and sound which had to be almost 100 yards. After a half hour, I took up the trail. The arrow was buried right behind where she was standing covered in blood. I must have hit a little higher up than I thought, because I found only a few drops of blood in the first 20 yards. Then nothing at all. I followed the stumbling tracks in the leaves more than 100 yards. I made big circles out in the direction of her travel and found nothing. I brought my dogs back the next morning and found a few drops of blood more than 250 yards away. I never found her, and I never smelled anything dead in the area afterwards.

My only guess is that my eyes had to be lying to me. If I had actually hit where I thought I saw the entrance hole, there is no way the deer would have made it 100 yards. And the woods would have been painted red all the way to the carcass. Its one thing to not find one when you suspect a poor hit. But it really bothers me to not find one when I was certain the shot resulted in a fatal hit.

DuckHunt

[Doe Master]

I think you hunt long enough you will lose a deer or two . It hurts and sucks . Anyone who says different has no respect for the animal they are hunting .
I have lost deer to coyotes that got on the trail before you . Almost lost a deer because I thought I had a perfect shot . ( boy can they move fast in an instant )
I think the deer that hurt the most to lose was my first . It was a windy day on a hay field . I shot and missed . The deer still approached but I was so wound up I was only looking at the deer . I did not pick a spot . She ran away with my arrow sticking out of her . We followed that trail of sparse blood for a 1/4 mile . We found the arrow within 100-200 yards but no deer . The blood dried up on the snow .
My deer this year ran 40-50 yards with absolutely no heart . It just goes to prove the willpower these animals have .