The Agony of Defeat!.....Maybe!

[kabic]

Just take the dog for a walk ;), but in all seriousness hope you find that buck. Sometimes those Rage's can make up for a mistake.

I was going to say the same thing. Take a dog for a walk, it only becomes an issue if you are also carrying your bow. When is the last time you saw someone from the DNR on your land? I haven't hunted nearly long as some of you guys but I have never seen a Warden on the private land I hunt.

 

[Daydreamer]

What a horse. Hope you find him. Good luck and put that bad boy on a scale when you find him.

 

[BJE80]

There is no such thing as no man's land between the lungs and spine. If you are below the spine it is a dead deer. Good luck finding him.

 

[OkieKubota]

I hate losing deer I have connected on but if you hunt long enough with archery gear it is bound to happen unless you never shoot at a deer... Hope you find him but if you don't remember you won't be the only one in this boat this fall. Deer can take a lot of hit and survive... at least the initial encounter... sometimes wounded deer get pulled down by predators or can't survive the winter but are plenty healthy long enough to evade your initial contacts on a trailing job.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Nothing so far, not a drop of blood anywhere. But rain off and on again this morning again has not helped. Going into the neighbors woods to the east now Since that was the direction he was headed if he crossed the road. I don't have a good feeling now.

 

[tooln]

Good luck. Get yourself some bloodglow it works even in rain, it's cheap insurance.

 

[bwoods11]

There is no such thing as no man's land between the lungs and spine. If you are below the spine it is a dead deer. Good luck finding him.

My experiences have been the same. If you zip it through him it is very likely he is dead. However, they can live a long time and make it pretty far unfortunately. Don't give up

 

[foggy]

Not many grouse down here art.

Could always be on a rabbit hunt. :) Hope you find him.

 

[BJE80]

My experiences have been the same. If you zip it through him it is very likely he is dead. However, they can live a long time and make it pretty far unfortunately. Don't give up

The spine is a lot lower than most people think. He is a cut away crossing section of a deer. There is no gap between the spine and the lungs. In fact, they overlap. Most people that say they were under the spine think the spine is higher than it is.

 

[BJE80]

MO Buck. Are using tracking dogs legal in your state? Getting a dog on it might be the way to go.

 

[j-bird]

High hits tend to be difficult tracking jobs becaue the blood tends to pool up inside the deer and not much will run out and down the side of the animal to drop on the ground. Hope you find him MO. Like was said several times get adog if you can. Some dogs are better than others, but any dog is better than none at all. Also try to get downwind of where you think he may have gone. I often can smell my deer once I am within 100 yards of them, and I know a dog will smell them.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Best of luck! I hate the feeling of not recovering an animal, makes me nauseous everytime. I have only had 2 bow shot deer that I could not locate. The worst was last year, 15 yd shot, slight quartering away from a treestand. Tight behind the left front leg about mid body (probably too tight) not a pass through, weak blood trail. Trailed him for several hundred yards the next day until we finally lost the blood trail. Only thing that I could think is that I missed the close side lung and buried it in the sternum.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Well, hate to say it but I have to cry uncle. If that deer is dead, it ain't dead in the square mile I just cris-crossed or we just plain missed it walking. My buddies dog was of no help.

It must have been a poor shot and that deer is still alive is all I can say. It sure did not look like a real high shot, just higher than normal. Don't know what to say!

 

[LessRice]

Dang that sucks. Never know he may have survived, hopefully you can get some pictures of him later.

 

[bwoods11]

Is it possible you grazed the back, sounded a bit like that when you described what was on the arrow. I've done it before...when they duck it can happen and it often looks like you drilled him high (just saying it's possible)....sorry you didn't find him.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Thanks! It must have been higher than it looked.

The part that pisses me off is all the work a guy does to get a 5 year old buck, in front of you and you don't get the deal done. These older bucks just don't keep walking out in front of a guy even down here to get a shot with a bow. It may be a month or 2 of hunting before it happens again if ever this year.

Well I have the sore legs to remind to make a better shot next time!

Edit!

And the other part that really pisses me off! is I had the camera on record when I thought I had shut it off. I clipped on my release and hit the record button and that shut it off when I thought I just turned it on, Right before I shot! :mad:

Just plain stupid!

 

[gwm]

Crap! Sorry Mo.

 

[chummer]

That sucks, I wish I could say it never happened to me. Best of luck on the next one.

 

[bueller]

Not much for details. He was quartering away slightly, looking away. Used my 30 yard pin for a 27 yard shot. Had plenty of time. It was a good shot other than the arrow looked like it kicked up slightly on impact. May have hit a waterhemp weed right before impact. Little blood on the arrow, brown hair and white grease.

Damnit I knew that weeds in foodplots were bad! You guys keep saying that a weedless plot is overrated but this proves otherwise. :confused::confused:;)

 

[tooln]

Sorry you could find him. Lets just hope he lived to give you another chance. I sat this AM after work till 10 & kept think of you. Looked at the forum a few times while in the blind to get up dates & was pulling for you. I never did see anything this AM.