re: How many deer do bowhunters shoot and lose?

A good tracking dog can find many deer that we cannot. We use a miniature dachshund. She does things that makes your head spin. She can go hundreds of yards without finding blood and you think it's over with and suddenly we have a new droplet of blood or even the deer laid up in a thicket. Not to mention she's a great pet.

I still got mine. I lost 1 with my .243 when I was 15 or 16. The other 2 I lost were with my .270WSM. The scope was loose and the gun was shooting low and left.
.243 is a fine rifle!

What did this thread have to do with dog hunting?

Probably not as many as there use to be. Todays bowhunters are alot more patient than the old days.
Or maybe it's just me but probably more lost with rifles than bows these days

quote:

---

a lot

---

I have a good friend that I hunt occasionally with, and he is one of the best shots with a bow I've ever personally seen, and I've had guides say the same thing. And he wounds and never finds a fair number.

I have killed 3 deer with my bow and have lost one. I've also had several misses where I either hit a tree limb or had something else crazy happen. I have NEVER shot at a deer and not told anyone. If I miss I own up to it. If I hit I will do everything possible to recover the deer.

The deer that I lost was a poor shot and I have learned from my mistake. The deer was walking broadside to me from my left to right. I shoot left handed and pulled the shot to the right. Hit her square in the shoulder. Me and my dad tracked her on hands and knees for over 400 yards in 2 year old cutover. Found a fair amount of blood in places and some shattered bone. Found the arrow after about 150 yards. There was only about 4 inches of penetration. I learned a lot with that deer. Shot choice, shot placement, shooting mechanics, and tracking. Killed 2 since then and neither has run more than 50 yards.

quote:

---

How many deer do bowhunters shoot and lose?

---

I couldnt calculate it, but its far higher than with firearms. Even the most skilled bowhunters lose one from time to time.

I have only killed one deer with my bow, a doe. I shot at a buck this year nicked him low with hair and very little meat on broadhead and never found blood. I watched him run off perfectly fine. I searched on hands and knees for 3 hours starting at the arrow and arcing out without a single sign of blood. I have learned a lot with that expreience. I had no reservations sharing it with friends or with the OB.


I think ethical hunters are more likely to be ethical. I think some gun hunters are more likely to be lazy or frankly incapable of tracking deer due to physical limitations. I think gun hunters are more likely to take a risky shot (unsupported, longer than practiced, bad angle, ect) than bow hunters are ever willing to try. They are just too certain that the advanced technology and gun poweder in their hands will compensate for those things. I know I have made some risky shots with a rifle and luckily I have never lost an animal shot that way.

I would also venture to guess that due to distance from which they are shot, many gun shot deer are more difficult to track because shooters are not certain where the deer was standing when they shot it or exactly where it ran off. Also bullet damage can very possibly and frequently leave minimal blood trail especially with a round that does not exit. Broadheads are designed to kill by blood letting so the trail is usually pretty good.

It is so easy to do though. You get focused on the animal, the vitals, the sweet spot in those vitals and BAM. Then when the animal does not fall, you are surprised and guessing wehre it went.

Hell, without an arrow sticking in the ground and a restricted 30 yrd range I would imagine many bow hunters would have more difficutly finding the first blood.

I watched this amateur hunting show where the guys were tasked to produce their own hunts. One bowhunter gutshot a buck that was in between quartering and head-on facing him. The next time he went hunting, he shot a doe straight in the middle of the top of it's back.


It showed him posing with a completely different buck after their little clip