Here is what I wrote back in 2003 replying to a post by someone who was going through the pains of losing a deer with bow. I almost wish i hadn't read it now, it just freshings the wound from that day. But I did learnfrom it.
to relay what happemed to me last thursday night .first off before i go any further let me say i have taken well over 100 deer in my hunting career ( used to live down south with liberal limits) of those at least 25 % were with bow ..well ive been hunting a particular buck for 2 years , last thursday i caught up with him at 6 pm . if you remember we had a front moving in thursday night and rain was predicted for all of fri which it did do .. well i had 10 min of watching him and a smaller 10 pt feeding within 20 yards all this time .. i had plenty of time to calm down think about the shot and where to aim ...the buck got to 7 yards clear except i had a branch directly in front of me ..i raised bow and was able to clear the limb with about 2 inches below my arrow at full draw ...before raising my bow i told myself to shoot low because of the close range the buck turns slightly quartering away and without remembering my mental note to shoot low an the limb being in the way and the excitement of the quest finally taking place i let loose where i would normally aim .. arrow hits directly4 inches higher than i would have liked with the lumenock lit up i watch him run right back where he came from into the swamp . i wasnt to conserned because of the angle and it looked like i had good penetration .. looked to be about 10 inches of arrow sticking out ...like i said this is thursday and ive got lightning in the distance (visible)worried about the rain i get down and on him right away i have bloood within 50 yards and im thinking its a no brainer ..its now 6:15 and i tell myself i have a hour of light to find him shouldnt be no problum .. well he does all the unexpected turns taking time to figure each turn is burning daylight . right at 7 i loose the blood i begin getting frantic searching faster and now looking back ruining any chance i had at finding him .. i was walking over all the area i needed to looking for blood . well it gets dark i head home to get my dog and hope he can help (yes i know its not legal but i dont care what the law says i owe it to the animal and i didnt have my bow at this time )after 6 hours of searching that night the deer was never recovered . ive been sick about the whole thing i climbed ever tree i could get high enough to see into the swamp thinking i would see the luminock to no avail .sorry this is so long guys but im still sick of it .. advice id give to anyone bow hunting think think think before you shoot and think think think after you shoot i made alot of mistakes that night and i regret it so much biggest was staying directly on the blood trail i know i disturbed the sighn i might have found had i not panicked oh it did rain as predicted and i went out anyways looking for DEER ( not blood anymore )400 acre swamp head high grass was no deer for me
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