# last night



## hunter121390 (Nov 7, 2006)

Well last night I was hunting on an edge of a woods that had a standing corn field next to it. i was tarting to get relaxed when a doe popped out of the corn about 70 yards away. after about 5 minutes, she ran across the opening between the corn field and the woods. i whistled and she stopped. i shot and thought i missed, but when i got to where she was standing, I found greenish blood, and brown and white hair. The blood trail was weak, and after about 50 yards the blood trail ended. I spent about an hour after dark last night trying to find her and about 2 hours this morning, and still couldn't find her. This is the first deer I've lost. Gotta say it sucks. I wish it would have been like the nubber I shot a couple weeks ago, where I hit it in the heart and a lung, and it only went about 20 yards before piling up. I'm going back out tomorrow morning to look again, but idk. Anyone got any advice.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Low gut shot. She'll be dead for sure. Just a matter of how far she made it before she died. If theres water nearby, id look around that first. Gut/liver hits will go for water.

And did you shoot her at 70 yards? If you did I would call that a very unethical shot with a bow.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Yep, green = smelly gut job. You may be able to find her just start walkin!

It always makes you sick when one gets away.


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## brdhntr11 (Feb 19, 2008)

i'd say 75 yrds would be unethical for me and most ppl but who knows what this person can shoot like with a bow, no one else can say it was or wasnt ethical to shoot that far you dont know them and you weren't there


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

brdhntr11 said:


> i'd say 75 yrds would be unethical for me and most ppl but who knows what this person can shoot like with a bow, no one else can say it was or wasnt ethical to shoot that far you dont know them and you weren't there


I dont care how good a shot you are. That kind of range with a bow, on a highly reactive species like a whitetail is an unethical shot.


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

barebackjack said:


> brdhntr11 said:
> 
> 
> > i'd say 75 yrds would be unethical for me and most ppl but who knows what this person can shoot like with a bow, no one else can say it was or wasnt ethical to shoot that far you dont know them and you weren't there
> ...


Definitely agree, and to support your answer read his first post--green blood, no blood trail--poor shot


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## brdhntr11 (Feb 19, 2008)

hey that's your opinion and you have a right to that, but dont bring your negativety to this post, not needed he shouldn't of shot at it (if it was with a bow) but he didnt post this asking your opinion on if it was ethical or not, it was posted asking for help on what to do now, which is now the responsible thing to do (trying to do everything in your power to recover this deer) just saying

good luck to everyone


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## bretts (Feb 24, 2004)

the best bet he could do is to find the last sign then make a big cirle around slowly walking and glassing, keep looking till you've covered the area as best you can. If you don't find it, well that's worst case scenario, wait for a good clean shot everytime. Good luck


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

brdhntr11 said:


> hey that's your opinion and you have a right to that, but dont bring your negativety to this post, not needed he shouldn't of shot at it (if it was with a bow) but he didnt post this asking your opinion on if it was ethical or not, it was posted asking for help on what to do now, which is now the responsible thing to do (trying to do everything in your power to recover this deer) just saying
> 
> good luck to everyone


I dont think either my post or bretts was said in a negative context. We dont know this guy, he could be a kid just starting out. It sucks that he lost the animal, but it does happen, all you can do is do everything in your power to make a good shot, and well, if he did take a 70 yard shot, thats not really doing everything in your power to ensure a humane harvest. Call is constructive criticism. Now perhaps next time, he'll wait for a higher percentage shot.

Hunter121390, as soon as you saw the green blood you should have backed off and let her bed down.
A gut shot IS a lethal hit, but it could take hours to days to kill the animal depending on just what you hit. Gut/liver hit animals will usually only go a short distance before bedding down if their not pressured. Theyll be hurting and not wanting to move. Usually, theyll die in that first bed. Perhaps by looking for her right away, you may have inadvertantly busted her from this bed, now she knows she being chased, and she could have easily gone a very long ways.

Next time, wait for a high percentage shot. Within your effective range, good angle, etc etc. Whitetails are highly reactive, more than just about any other animal. THeir ability to "jump the string" is amazing, even with ultra fast bows.
And if you ever feel you have a less than ideal hit, lay off the animal at the minimum a few hours or even overnight. When in doubt, wait.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

No worse feeling then jumping a deer from its death bed. I did it multiple times this last weekend. Luckly it worked out. Deer are tough animals. When they get that burst of adrenaline they can run forever. Even on zero lungs. Don't ask me how!


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## HAYOTE-.243 (Nov 7, 2008)

No worse feeling then jumping a deer from its death bed. I did it multiple times this last weekend. Luckly it worked out. Deer are tough animals. When they get that burst of adrenaline they can run forever. Even on zero lungs. Don't ask me how!

I agree it is a very BAD feeling to jump a deer from its bed and then never find them i put a good shot on a real nice 8 two weeks ago alittle back i think in the liver but i let him lay for about 4 hours went out and where i had seen him bed he wasnt, i am pretty sure when we came into the woods we jumped him with the lights, i looked for 6 hours that night and about 4 the next after work and never found him. i gave it my best at finding him so it made me feel a little better  but it does happen to everyone sooner or later that was my first deer i had lost and my biggest i had shot prob about 150" but as long as you give it your best dont beat your self up to bad. just rember wat you did wrong or just what went wrong and try alittle harder next time. good luck to ya.


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## HUNTNFISHND (Mar 16, 2004)

First off, reread the guys post. He says it popped out at 70 yards then headed towards him. He doesn't say anywhere how far it was when he shot. Don't jump to conclusions. A bad shot can happen at any range.

Yes, it's probably a gutshot animal, as bretts said start at the last sign of blood and work out in increasing circles. I would also check the nearest water source.


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## stonejs1 (Oct 14, 2008)

You can't start calling names and telling people they are un-ethical because of a personal belief. What may be un-ethical to you may be ideal for someine else. Just like the post on NoDak about shooting yeerlings. Some people said it was bad and un-ethical to shoot yeerlings because you might have shot a future monster buck and others shoot for meat not wall trophies and find it more ideal to shoot a more tender, better tasting, young deer. They said an older doe will reproduce and has better chances to live through the winter than a young yeerling. Just different ideas and beliefs.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

stonejs1 said:


> You can't start calling names and telling people they are un-ethical because of a personal belief. What may be un-ethical to you may be ideal for someine else. Just like the post on NoDak about shooting yeerlings. Some people said it was bad and un-ethical to shoot yeerlings because you might have shot a future monster buck and others shoot for meat not wall trophies and find it more ideal to shoot a more tender, better tasting, young deer. They said an older doe will reproduce and has better chances to live through the winter than a young yeerling. Just different ideas and beliefs.


Didnt call anyone names.

Just saying, IF he shot it at 70 yards, that is VERY likely the whole cause of the bad hit (and hence unrecovered animal) as that is an unethical shot with archery equipment on a whitetail.


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## stonejs1 (Oct 14, 2008)

You called him unethical and that's a personal belief. And like already posted how do you know it was a 70 yard shot? How do you know it wasn't a 20 yard shot? And the only way to get better is practice. Sure you can target practice but it's not the same as shooting at the real thing.


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Lets move on! :beer:


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## stonejs1 (Oct 14, 2008)

:beer:


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

Find the deer yet?


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## fatkid (Nov 14, 2008)

just wondering how far was it to clear it up


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## hunter121390 (Nov 7, 2006)

the deer was bout 35-40 yards away when i shot. I would never shoot past 40 yards, and that's pushing it. the deer popped out at about 70 yards, but didn't shoot at it then. unfortunately i didn't find the deer. ive been out every day since ive shot it, and still haven't found it. it didn't help that we had rain either 2 of the days. there was also a creek right by where i shot it, and i walked up and down it looking for it. i'm still gunna keep an eye open for it, but i really doubt ill find it. thanks for the advice.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

hunter121390 said:


> the deer was bout 35-40 yards away when i shot. I would never shoot past 40 yards, and that's pushing it. the deer popped out at about 70 yards, but didn't shoot at it then. unfortunately i didn't find the deer. ive been out every day since ive shot it, and still haven't found it. it didn't help that we had rain either 2 of the days. there was also a creek right by where i shot it, and i walked up and down it looking for it. i'm still gunna keep an eye open for it, but i really doubt ill find it. thanks for the advice.


That sucks.

Gut/liver hits are tough. Sometimes they go 40 yards and lay down, if you leave em alone they die there. But sometimes they go a half mile before they even seem to slow down.


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## hunter121390 (Nov 7, 2006)

im guessing she kept going onto the neighbors land, and theres a lot of standing corn around there, but thats about a half mile to 3/4 of a mile away. looked in there but still no luck. by now after being in the 50's for 3 days before it cooled down yesterday if she did die the meat would be bad, i just wish i woulda found her


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## goose killer (Mar 26, 2004)

Well is will tell u this from experience. I shot a doe at 20 yards this year and the string hit my sleeve so i hit her in the guts. I tried to track her that night night but didnt find her. Went back the next day after it rained a 1 inch but couldnt find her. I found her pheasant hunting last weekend 1/2 mile from my stand 3 weeks later. i cant believe she made it that far. I am amazed. But there but i guess they wil go that far.


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## jfd_82nd (Nov 29, 2008)

i feel your pain my friend i shot a very big 8 pointer and it was just a lil back from the shoulder where i shot it and i never found it. i didnt push it i waited an hour but the blood trail just ended. its happens u just gota shake it off and keep doing what we love hunting with a bow and a arrow.


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## hunter121390 (Nov 7, 2006)

thats what ive been doing. well bow hunting, then gun hunting, now muzzleloader, then gun, then bow again, then gun again. our dnrs got the seasons so screwed up here


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## deerslayer80 (Mar 27, 2007)

Don't give up if you still have the ability to keep searching. I had a friend shoot a buck a week ago that we tracked for 3.5 miles before we found him. He put a hit on him a little bit high catching only one lung. Deer will do amazing things, their will to servive is incredible. You owe it to the deer to give it your all in the recovery process. If you've done all you can possibly do, try to shake it off and chalk it up as a learning experience.


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## goose killer (Mar 26, 2004)

this happened to me to this year. I had the doe at 20 yards and shot and the string hit my coat so i hit her far back. my arrow was covered with green and was full of hair. i found a slight trail and tried to track her but it got dark and i didnt have a very good flashlight. went back the next morning and it was raining hard and it washed away all the tracks. i walked the belt and walked the 40 acre bean field that i was hunting by and didnt find her. I did find her about 2 weeks later while hunting pheasants. she maid it bout a half mile from were i shot her. I is a horrible feeling when u lose a deer when u did everything u could and still couldnt find them


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