Cant Find My Damn Deer!!!
- Thread starter canadian hunter312
- Start date
My thought as well. I've heard of a few hail marys where the deer ran so they didn't even bother to check for blood. "300 wm would have dropped it so I guess I missed!"
Are you sure the actual weight of the arrows they were flinging? My Phoenix knocks a 440-ish grain arrow up near 280FPS (according to my chronograph). Were I to step that arrow weight down to 350-ish grains, I would fully expect to make the 305FPS the bow is rated for, given that KE calculators generally figure about 1 FPS per 3 grains of arrow. If the little 175lb Phoenix will make 305, I'd be shocked if the 225lb Max (with a longer stroke, if I'm not mistaken) wouldn't get right up around the 350's with a 350 grain arrow. ??
dinsdale
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Just outside the Ottawa City Limits!
Sure of the arrows, might have got the bows mixed.
They were Exomags with 200 lb limbs not exomax with 225 lb limbs.
If he has a 2008 exomax, his FPS are probably corect.
Thanks for making me check.
Cheers!
but....but...but....I read it on the internet, it must be true
Dont have personal experience with this, but I have heard/read it so many times, thought it may just be worth a try if he had tried every thing else and not had any success
I agree with both your points Doug. I just shot a whitetail this past weekend where the only time the tail went down was when the deer piled up 20 yards from where it was hit. Even when it got up again and made it another 20 the tail was standing tall. I could tell the deer was hit bad so I just left it alone and collected it 30 minutes later.
IMHO the whole water thing doesn't really matter. First you find where you hit it, look for hair and blood, then you start tracking it, even if it means hands and knees. Aimlessly walking along water will only find the deer by dumb luck. If you think you hit the animal high then look at vegetation higher up as well. Good tracking skills will get you more recovered game than old-wives tales.
Not trying to dump on anyone or CH312, I have been there and I know how ####ty it feels. Chin up, move on, learn from the experience and give it another try.
Doug many deer found after the shot gun season with buck shot in there guts usually die near water if it is around.I have been told ,told I repeat sepsis (which might be the wrong word)leaks into the cavity from the guts and raises the temperature of the animal and it heats up .It suffers a long death.I am talking 24 to 48 hours or more not 2 hours after the shot.We find them in creeks ditches ect after the shot gun hunts.I have also gut shot deer and found them bloated and wasted in the river.Just so you don't think this is a I am perfect post.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
some might like to know how the day went leading up to the shot...
i walked into that bush totally blind not having a clue where the deer like to hang out as ive only been there 3 times and never more than 20 yards in the bush. saw a nice trail with a few rubs and scrapes and setup 30 yards from it with my climbing tree stand.
sat for about 45 minutes. sprayed a few shots of buck bomb doe in estrus and then gave a few bleats with a primos big can. 10 minutes later i catch movement on the edge of the corn field and its a doe running north. great, i spooked them. but then i saw her walk into the bush about 80 yards away. a couple minutes later a yearling doe walks about 10 yards from my stand but figured id wait on the big doe. then another doe appears and they are all about 60 yards out and close together by this time. the big doe knows something is up and watches my way without moving a muscle for a good 15 minutes. wind was 100% in my favor.
they started moving away so i did a couple more bleats. medium doe and the yearling move my way but the big doe keeps walking away. they were taking their sweet time until a young raccoon starts making a bunch of racket and the young deer hops around like a puppy following it. quite comical to watch. the older doe follows them and i already have my bow up and ready for when she steps past a big tree. gave a mouth bleat to get her to stop and let one go.
now that i think about it, im pretty sure that i shot over her
i walked into that bush totally blind not having a clue where the deer like to hang out as ive only been there 3 times and never more than 20 yards in the bush. saw a nice trail with a few rubs and scrapes and setup 30 yards from it with my climbing tree stand.
sat for about 45 minutes. sprayed a few shots of buck bomb doe in estrus and then gave a few bleats with a primos big can. 10 minutes later i catch movement on the edge of the corn field and its a doe running north. great, i spooked them. but then i saw her walk into the bush about 80 yards away. a couple minutes later a yearling doe walks about 10 yards from my stand but figured id wait on the big doe. then another doe appears and they are all about 60 yards out and close together by this time. the big doe knows something is up and watches my way without moving a muscle for a good 15 minutes. wind was 100% in my favor.
they started moving away so i did a couple more bleats. medium doe and the yearling move my way but the big doe keeps walking away. they were taking their sweet time until a young raccoon starts making a bunch of racket and the young deer hops around like a puppy following it. quite comical to watch. the older doe follows them and i already have my bow up and ready for when she steps past a big tree. gave a mouth bleat to get her to stop and let one go.
now that i think about it, im pretty sure that i shot over her
now that i think about it, im pretty sure that i shot over her
This is good, we all know that this would be the best outcome after this length of time.
Go back out there when you get a chance and find your bolt, you’ll feel better knowing for sure.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Sure can tell the experienced from the not in this thread.
There are a lot of pearls of wisdom surrounding deer hunting that are a pile of horse poop. That's from better than 40 years of hunting.
Listen to Doug, he's on the mark.
A few random thoughts.
As to the miss theory, without finding the deer, the only way you'll prove that it is to find the bolt.
Incidentally, hitting a rock square on with a carbon arrow can sound like a gun shot, the arrow blows to bits. Expensive miss.
I think if you hit the scapula, you would have seen the deer run off with much of the arrow sticking out.
Carbon arrows can break inside a deers body, if they are close behind the shoulder. In my experience, that usually means the arrow, or parts of it fall out quickly.
Finding an arrow that has slid under the sod can be just about impossible.
I think, it's time you set this one aside, and learned from the experience.
Finding a dead deer now, will only be a forensic episode.
Be much more careful with the placement of your shot, and the stuff around your stand that can deflect. Even grass can do it.
There are a lot of pearls of wisdom surrounding deer hunting that are a pile of horse poop. That's from better than 40 years of hunting.
Listen to Doug, he's on the mark.
A few random thoughts.
As to the miss theory, without finding the deer, the only way you'll prove that it is to find the bolt.
Incidentally, hitting a rock square on with a carbon arrow can sound like a gun shot, the arrow blows to bits. Expensive miss.
I think if you hit the scapula, you would have seen the deer run off with much of the arrow sticking out.
Carbon arrows can break inside a deers body, if they are close behind the shoulder. In my experience, that usually means the arrow, or parts of it fall out quickly.
Finding an arrow that has slid under the sod can be just about impossible.
I think, it's time you set this one aside, and learned from the experience.
Finding a dead deer now, will only be a forensic episode.
Be much more careful with the placement of your shot, and the stuff around your stand that can deflect. Even grass can do it.
Just to cap this story at it's finish, Doug is right on, in that most deer will run till they drop, no water needed.
Mortally wounded deer do indeed go south, if they still have their whits about them.
So finding them near water or swamp is a no brainer, they want the heaviest cover they can find, and that's usually in a wet, boggy, swampland or river bottom.
No wonder folklore has them near water, but does not mean they go to water to drink or cool off. They have just made the run of their life, and ended up dropping in a swamp.
Keep that in mind these next few weeks if you have a problem finding you're deer.
Best of luck to all you CGN'ers.
Mortally wounded deer do indeed go south, if they still have their whits about them.
So finding them near water or swamp is a no brainer, they want the heaviest cover they can find, and that's usually in a wet, boggy, swampland or river bottom.
No wonder folklore has them near water, but does not mean they go to water to drink or cool off. They have just made the run of their life, and ended up dropping in a swamp.
Keep that in mind these next few weeks if you have a problem finding you're deer.
Best of luck to all you CGN'ers.
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Carbon arrows do make an impressive noise when they explode.
One time I accidentally shot one that came off the rest on my bow. The arrow hit a brick wall and made one heck of a bang. There was only about 8" of arrow left.
Richard
Wrong Way
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
And also...I'll say it again: If you are hunting from a stand, zero your scope from a stand! It's amazing what a down (or up for that matter) angle will do to your trajectory. With my bow, I have to use my 20 yard pin for a 40 yard shot while 18' up.
Lefty I am sorry you are the only one that knows anything about deer,since Doug and all you pro hunters weren't there how the #### would you know where he hit the deer or missed the deer.Leave your thoughts on how to help him recover or track his wounded deer Since only one guy was there he is the only one who would know anything about were he hit or did not hit the deer.I stated a fact which I stand by.I have bow killed my share off deer and found dead deer laying in water as I have stated.Bloated and gut shot.You all missed the point, point being I did not say they run straight to water as you arrow them,if you are looking for a gut shot deer after 24 hrs or more look around the water.He asked for help recovering his deer I gave him my thoughts.It is a deer it is a goose it is a rabbit,if you hunt long enough you will #### some up.You looked for it you did your best,it seems like no one here has ever lost a animal.You might find him alive later in the season limping around, you might find him dead in the winter,he may be dead now.Something will eat him.Climb in the stand try again.Some deer run like hell when you bow shoot them in the lungs some stand there and fall over every one is different.When you release the bolt you can no longer control what happens,when you pulled the trigger you thought you had a killing shot,you were wrong,get over it get in the stand and get hunting.You cannot do anything now so let it go.
Wrong Way
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Jesus. Forget it already and go shoot another deer. Somehow, somewhere a #### up occured and it might have been your fault and might not have been. The deer could be dead and may not. At this stage it is a moot point.
Everybody screws the pooch from time to time and you MIGHT have in this case. Doesn't matter. Learn from it, and kill the next one.
Everybody screws the pooch from time to time and you MIGHT have in this case. Doesn't matter. Learn from it, and kill the next one.
