Swat confession

[longbow joe]

I'm gonna come clean...just showing how even veteran bow hunters do stupid things.
Last year when l shot my big swamp buck darkness was closing in after the shot so I immediately crept down very quietly to the 30 yard shot took place.
I just wanted to find my bolt and mark the spot.
I was greeted with a giant blowout of blood and basically a red road of blood.
I assume 5 minutes went by so I was looking for my "dead " deer basically he went 20 yards and dropped but my stupid hasty decision jumped him up making him go another 25 yards before expiration.
If l would have just waited another 5 minutes l wouldn't have had to drag him through the freaking nastiness stuff on earth.
I have gotten so accustomed to a dead deer with the swat inside twenty yards I took if for granted his death was complete.
I'm not blaming the broadhead at all I'm basically embarrassed and mad at myself for being so seasoned and impatient making a stupid mistake like that.
I do believe had it been a doe or younger animal it probably would have expired already.
My reason for telling this is be patient and recovery will be a little easier...its easy to forget some of the simple rules of bowhunting when you think you know better...and think you saw everything hunting and fishing has something to show you that you don't expect and will humble you

[gerald strine]

Good Reminder I like to give an hour after a bow shot even if I feel it was a great hit.

[papabear1]

I like the one,s that go down in sight,
Great advice, i learned that years ago
when i started hunting with a recurve,

Dave

[DuckHunt]

Good advice. The only thing I hate worse than tracking a deer in total darkness is jumping up a wounded deer in total darkness. It makes for a longer and/or restless night.

[janesy]

You never know. Buddy of mine hunts coyotes daily all winter over dogs. Hit one with a 243 and left it for a couple hours. Went to get it later and as he was dragging it back through the snow, he started feeling resistance and his dog looked back and went ape shat.

The 'yote had woke up and was sitting up dragging it's ass across the snow with a length of rope tied around its top jaw being dragged through the snow with its feet sticking out like it didn't want to go to the vet! He said he wasn't sure which if the three were more scared when they all looked at each other.

[Boo]

When I take a shot and knows it was a good shot, I pack up all of my gear, climb down and reload my bow and then look for the deer. All this take 15 minutes on average. All the deer in that scenario have been stone dead. Several years ago I made a shot that I knew was good but wasn’t perfect (a bit further back than I like). I packed up, went to my truck and by the time I arrived at my stand and started looking, it was almost 45 minutes. I sat around for a bit and the crows told me where it was.

[wheelsquad]

Yep, lessons can be learned even when the end outcome was still ok

[xcaliber]

I pack up, pray to thank the animal and our Lord, then after settling down I eat my lunch and go look for my deer. If I’m with the kid, I text him and ask if he’s good, then the work starts.

[AJ01]

Yeppers, I love to see them keel over in sight, but as we ALL know, sometimes that just don't happen.

I'm was kinda like Boo. I'd pack all my gear back into my pack, tether everything and lower it to the ground. Once I climbed down, then I'd usually walked back to the truck and put stuff away. Once that was done, then I'd go look for my deer.
Total time elapsed was usually about 30-45 minutes.

Made this a habit until I was hunting a new piece of property that had "no fences". Shot a decent buck, watched him run off into some thick underbrush, and even heard him "crash". I was taking my sweet time gathering up my gear when I heard a 4-wheeler start up, and then a second one.
I thought "what the hell??" Heard some folks yelling, the revving of motors, and the sounds of speeding off 4-wheelers. then saw the 4-wheelers heading up over a ridge on the pipeline right-of-way about 200 yards away with a deer on the back of one of them!!
I quickly pulled out the old binos and stood there in the stand watching my deer ride off into the sunset with some other fellows.

I went and checked the area where the buck went down. Sure enough, lots of blood, tire tracks and boot tracks but no deer.
Needless to say, I don't hunt that place anymore, and I don't wait but about 15 minutes anymore to go find my deer.