Late season help
- Thread starter Joel
- Start date
Sorry to hear the news. At least you did your part and tried like heck to get it. Must have been right into muscle unfortunately... Been there, sucks bad!
Gordo
Senior Member
That deer will be just fine. Like brock said earlier, they are tough ass animals. Pretty amazing really.
Dont beat yourself up. Happens to all of us
Dont beat yourself up. Happens to all of us
runhunter
Junior Member
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bright side is, if he made it all that way, odds are he's still alive. Not that it makes you feel better, but hopefully it's some sort of silver lining. All you can do is learn from it, remember what you did, what you'd fix and keep it in your mind for the next encounter. It happened to me this year on what would have been my biggest deer to date. Hit just a touch forward, got shoulder, complete pass through, arrow snapped in half... good blood for a while, but he never left main runs or stopped to bed, so I knew I was in trouble. Not that it mattered here, but you never know..my rule of thumb for archery is if you don't physically see or hear him crash, and aren't 100% sure he's dead, back out. No if's and's or but's...
It's supposed to warm up soon so hopefully he does make it. That does make me feel better knowing that he might live. I'll be putting a ton of arrows down range before next year and invest in a range finder then get back at it in the fall.
Thanks for all the kind words everybody.
Thanks for all the kind words everybody.
Ohiobowhunter1
Junior Member
Joel, keep your head up buddy. It happens to most hunters, kinda like riding a motorcycle.. there are those who have wrecked and those who havent wrecked yet. One good point is if you don't see the deer go down it's best to back out, I know how hard that is but it pays dividends. During muzzy season I was hunting with my friend and his father. His dad shot a big buck at 5:20, he had no idea where the deer went or how the shot was but we did locate a blood trail. I tried to convince them both to just back out and try in the morning to no avail.. we ended up chasing the deer for miles that night in the snow only to never find him, they both stated they should have listened to me after it was too late.
Lesson learned for sure. I knew better but I was really concerned the wind would blow the snow over the trail so I went for it. I gambled but waiting overnight would've been a gamble too IMO. Oh well gave it my best and there's meat in the freezer so it was still a good season. Next year will be better. Thanks again everyone.
I may have to go out this weekend and try to redeem myself with the crossbow but I haven't decided yet. I just had 8 deer at the corn and one walked though my back yard and sniffed the wheel barrow I was hauling corn with. Crazy they come right back the night after I shoot one and there isn't even hardly any corn.A couple small bucks were in the group too. Got pictures but they came out blurry. I know I can sit in my chair out there again and get another 25 yard or so shot at a smaller buck than the one I shot or a doe but now I have no confidence in my shooting abilities and have no desire to walk another 3 miles in the snow and come home empty handed. Tough call.
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You didn't bother them much, Joel. My son blew lungs all over a corn pile back in October on a Saturday morning at first light. We shot two more from the same stand before sundown... They like corn!
I missed tank one night and the very next night he was back before dark again. The night I shot tank an hour and a half later there was deer back at the corn. If he makes it he'll be back by the weekend if not tonight...
I'm gonna try it again what the hell. My ego is a little bruised but I need to get a deer with my crossbow and feeling sorry for myself is not a good excuse for giving up. I'm going to measure the distance from my chair to the corn pile with a tape and then set my block target up at that distance and shoot at it from the chair. Once I get a couple dozen arrows in a row to hit the bullseye I'm going to go try again. Wounding a big buck blows but I'll regret it all year if I don't try again.
Good! You really don't need months on end to dwell on it, or you'll start out next season with stress and worry on your back. No one needs that!
Finishing out the year will be good for you. (And I won't have to feel like I am the only one still hunting! hahaha)