re: Just let an arrow fly. I hate the wait (update page 2. Dead deer)

I was about 20’ up. 25 yard shot. I’m guessing when I drew back and raised it I didn’t stop when the pin was in kill zone and continued raising a little.

Meat was ruined when I got to him. Stunk pretty bad.

I know I’m going to get Buried under downvotes but man i guess I’ve been watching meat eater too much.


I guess there is some reconciliation in finding the deer. But I can’t get over the feeling like it’s still a loss in that you lost the meat.

Celebrating finding the deer while knowing the meat is lost is making me feel like there is no purpose to the hunt other than to shoot the biggest gnarliest horniest buck to brag to friends about.

Losing the meat would be the most sickening part to me, in that I would feel like the hunt was all for naught.

Idk man congrats, that’s an awesome buck to hang in the wall but shite I sure do appreciate when the buck piles up where I shot it with my rifle.

I think for this reason alone I can’t convince myself to bow hunt. I don’t trust my tracking skills enough I guess.

i have to ask...were the "really good dogs" that came out actual blood tracking dogs? i can't imagine a dog thats actually trained on blood would ever stray on regular deer scent of live deer. supposedly good ones work on blood droplets, even virtually microscopic. crazy to me that a blood dog would not be able to follow a 100 yard track, regardless of how little blood is present.

congrats on a nice buck irregardless. hate you lost the meat

quote:

---

I sure do appreciate when the buck piles up where I shot it with my rifle.

I think for this reason alone I can’t convince myself to bow hunt. I don’t trust my tracking skills enough I guess.

---

To this date I have killed more deer with a bow than with a gun.

I have had shorter trails while bow hunting than rifle in many instances. You're cutting a massive, razor clean cut through the animal. They bleed out in seconds.




Yes, bad shots can happen when bowhunting but it happens when rifle hunting too. I would bet that more deer are wounded/unfound by gun that archery

My post isn’t to bash archery hunting I get it it’s can be more of a rush.

And to the point that more deer are hurt by rifles that’s probably true but that’s solely because of the per capita of rifle hunters versus bow hunters.

And to the point of deer piling up. I am not nearly ignorant enough to say that happens every time but it sure happens more often that it happens when bow Hunting. And my trails are much more bloody and obvious from a 308 than trails I’ve followed from people bow hunting. That was all I was saying.


Were it to be even rifles would wound far less and I don’t think that can really be argued. Maybe I’m way off based though.

I guess my whole point of the post was that the general consensus seemed like it was all ok because he found the buck and was able to recover the horns. Where to me I feel like that would be only 20 percent of the reward and 80 percent of the reward should be the meat that you get.

I’m not knocking anything about this. The dude obviously put in every effort to find the deer and I totally respect that. He did everything he could for it. I just think I would have mixed feelings about it and wouldn’t feel like it’s a total win that I found the deer a day later.

In my experience from having helped many people blood trail animals, bow hunters are generally MUCH better trackers than rifle hunters.

Also hunters most likely to take a risky shot in my experience are:

rifle>>>>>>>>>>>>>>crossbow>>compound or traditional

I have seen both poorly placed bow and poorly placed rifle shots leave virtually zero blood trail. I have seen properly placed rifle shots leave nearly zero blood trail. I have not seen properly placed bow shots leave minimal blood unless the bow was underpowered on a hog and there was no pass through.

I have seen WAY more wasted meat from rifle shots than from bow shots.

TBH if assuring rapid recovery of the animal is paramount, all rifle shots should be head shots at short yardage or high shoulder spine shots with a 30 cal or larger round for longer distances. Drop them in their tracks.

quote:

---

strongly against the general consensus that a found deer no matter meat loss was seemingly just as good as one found without meat loss.

---

What general consensus? Who said that both situations were equally good? You can both celebrate recovering the deer and be upset that you lost the meat.

I don't think anyone is suggesting the OP or themselves would be just as happy recovering the horns and losing the meat as recovering both.

quote:

---

Maybe double lung but only 100 yards from the stand.

---

Great deer, glad you finally recovered it but hate to hear it took so long.

Ughhh, I have had this happen more than once helping someone track their deer. Learned a valuable lesion to go back to location of shot and make five or more concentric circles around that spot spaced 3 to 7 yards apart depending on thickness of cover.