Dont stop shooting till they stop moving!

[Dor]

........go ahead and tell us your story. I'm pinched for time. Some of mine later.

[gjs4]

interesting kills stories

shot a doe with an arrow that had no reaction- knocked and drew back anchored and it fell over before second shot.

Hit a 5 yo with what i thought was a good shot but he ran 50 yards and started to walk. called in deersearch. lady tried to track w dog; no find but assured me the deer was dead within 300 yards of the shot scene. spent the better portion of three days searching. my brother shot him during gun season chasing does- with one one lung.

Gun storiess from the old blazin pumpkin driving days-

walked up to one and tapped it with the gun - it jumped up and ran 50 yards crashed again and needed a second shot. (low spine)

shot a mature doe that ran 250-300 yards and bled out so much then when gutting heri barely go tmy hands bloody

dropped a 3 yo buck in his tracks w/o a twitch with a shot far back (kidney hit)
my brother and i both unloaded in a flurry at a doe running away from us- dropped like a rock- one of us shot her in the ear canal and out the nose.'


just silly stories i am not even proud to share......

[dan]

........go ahead and tell us your story. I'm pinched for time. Some of mine later.

Can't slide anything past you... Can I?


The worst case of "Dont stop shooting till they stop moving!" was in Iowa on a road trip back about 10 or 12 years ago. I was hunting in S.Western Iowa near a small town called Cresent with a guy I met on the internet. Driving around the property that I had never seen or even seen a map of before, I chose a spot from the road to get started. An hour into my 1st sit a 150 class buck came walking in and and I got my video camera aimed on him, picked up my bow and shot him... He jumped up and then trotted right under my stand and stopped quartering away.
I kept filming waiting for him to fall over when I started to notice he seemed really alert, and really alive, so I picked the bow up and knocked another arrow but before I could shoot it ran. Never recovered it, and reviewing the tape, I squared the buck in the shoulder blade and got about 2 inches of penetration. should of kept shooting...
Anywho, the story don't end there... As I moved to a new spot my internet buddy showed up and said he would be real happy just to shoot a deer. any deer. He had never got one before. So, I figured he would certainly get a shot in the same stand... He came back wild eyed telling me of the biggest buck he had ever seen... I went back and looked at the tracks and they were huge, he had passed a 20 yard shot thinking it was more like 40... He told me that he wanted me to go after it cause he did not think he could handle it... I jumped the buck out of a bend along a river bottom and was shocked. When he stood from his bed I could count 12 typical points on a buck that looked to surly score near 200 typical... The next morning "in bump and dump fashion" I was positioned right over the bed and at 1st light, he was the 1st buck I could see crossing a large field with wind to his back heading strait for me. The trail turned at 10 yards in front of me, and when he turned I figured I would shoot him. But he did not turn. He was headed straight to the bed and not taking the winding trail. I was already pretty nervous after watching him cross the huge field, but now I was in panic mode as I new I could not shoot behind the tree and he would catch my wind back there... I looked at buck at 10 yards and felt confidant I could put an arrow down the side of his neck into his vitals. I don't need the preachin, I know that was a mistake, but don't judge a man, unless you been there...
At the shot the arrow hit a little high and nailed the spine in the neck. The buck dropped like a bag of potatoes. I put the bow down and started to climb down... The buck jumped to his feet and tore out of there with no blood trail, never to be seen again.
I don't stop shooting, till they stop moving. And if anyone saw the 5 or 6 arrows sticking out of last years buck, now you know why!

[backstraps]

[glow=red]Dan, what a story and I feel for you, and can relate! However, I wanna see pics of the buck looking like a pincushion :)[/glow]

Three years ago, I had my daughter with me trying to get a shot on a nice 10 pt. The only setup I could get her on and be undetected was a ground position. Well he showed up, my daughter couldnt get settled on him, and he left, I grunted to him and luckily he returned. My daughter seen him, and this time said she had him! BOOM! the gun went off, deer falls over, solid! I grabbed her and started roughing her up, we were "high fivin" I had already rolled her off the hillside goofing off, all of a sudden Heather's eyes were as big as I have ever seen them! She said "Dad he is getting up" we made a mad leap for the gun, by the time she shouldered the shotgun he was gone, I mean GONE!

All I could figure she shot him high and missed vitals, and paralized him! no blood trail, no nothing. We searched thickets the entire next day. NOTHING. Fast forward... Heather shoots a turkey the following spring, lunges up, chambers another round and blast him again. I was like what the heck, and she said he was dead now. I laughed at her because I knew she had learned the same lesson I was taught on Nov 20th after watching a very nice 10 point show us he needed a few more slugs!

[dan]

[glow=red]Dan, what a story and I feel for you, and can relate! However, I wanna see pics of the buck looking like a pincushion :)[/glow]

[backstraps]

I LIKE IT :)

[eastwoodhunter]

Good stories!

[bonemonger]

if they are still standing i am still shooting. my biggest buck came by at 15 yards walking and i thought i hit him a little far back, he ran out to 50 yards and stopped, i moved my sight and shot him again. he took one step and fell over, second arrow wasnt needed but he got it anyway. it was also raining that night and that had me really concerned.

[Brad]

I have a ton, most I am not proud of and they were hard to watch but one that stands out was back in 2006. I was bowhunting a trail (no funnel just a trail in the middle of the open woods mind you ) and low and behold a big buck to me at the time (about a 70 inch 8 point) comes by cruising. He comes by at 18 yards and I shot right over his back, I mean I had to shave him it was so close. The buck jumps and runs out to about 30 yards and stops and starts scanning for what just happened. I grabbed another arrow guess the yardage and shot again. This time I shot too high again (should have used the first pin instead of the 2nd pin) and I hit him smack dab in the spine, and he drops like a ton of bricks and let out the worst beller I may have ever heard.

By now I am frazzled and I am trying not to fall out of the tree from shaking so hard, and the buck starts flopping and rolling down the hill. I was just below the ridge, he rolled himself about 90 yards to the bottom and stops and put his head down for a bit. Now I have a dilemma, the buck is paralyzed , I'm 30 foot up in a climber and he is 90 yards away and I am in the middle of the open woods, so much for sneaking up on him. I gave him a half hour to hopefully die (in hindsight I shouldn't have) or to stiffen up, while I was sloooooooooowwwwwwwlllllyyy climbing down the tree. I asked myself if I should tip toe down to him and shoot him again, or run down and try and rapidly cut the distance(he was still very much alive and still had use of his front legs and head and neck) and then shoot him again. I decided to race down, so I grabbed an arrow, held it in my right hand, bow in the left and trotted/bull runned him till I was 15 or 20 yards away, and by this time he is freaking out and up on his front feet. I yank the bow back put the pin on him and let her rip. The arrow hits him a little back in the lungs/liver area and now the deer is at least spraying blood(before I had no blood trail). I ran down and shot him again with my last arrow at point blank range, and he still was moving so I pulled the arrow out of him and reshot him with it again. It was gruesome, I am embarrassed to tell the story, and I head mounted him out of respect for the suffering that I put him through because of poor shooting. Probably one of my least favorite hunting stories of all time.

[fredhill]

I have a ton, most I am not proud of and they were hard to watch but one that stands out was back in 2006. I was bowhunting a trail (no funnel just a trail in the middle of the open woods mind you ) and low and behold a big buck to me at the time (about a 70 inch 8 point) comes by cruising. He comes by at 18 yards and I shot right over his back, I mean I had to shave him it was so close. The buck jumps and runs out to about 30 yards and stops and starts scanning for what just happened. I grabbed another arrow guess the yardage and shot again. This time I shot too high again (should have used the first pin instead of the 2nd pin) and I hit him smack dab in the spine, and he drops like a ton of bricks and let out the worst beller I may have ever heard.

By now I am frazzled and I am trying not to fall out of the tree from shaking so hard, and the buck starts flopping and rolling down the hill. I was just below the ridge, he rolled himself about 90 yards to the bottom and stops and put his head down for a bit. Now I have a dilemma, the buck is paralyzed , I'm 30 foot up in a climber and he is 90 yards away and I am in the middle of the open woods, so much for sneaking up on him. I gave him a half hour to hopefully die (in hindsight I shouldn't have) or to stiffen up, while I was sloooooooooowwwwwwwlllllyyy climbing down the tree. I asked myself if I should tip toe down to him and shoot him again, or run down and try and rapidly cut the distance(he was still very much alive and still had use of his front legs and head and neck) and then shoot him again. I decided to race down, so I grabbed an arrow, held it in my right hand, bow in the left and trotted/bull runned him till I was 15 or 20 yards away, and by this time he is freaking out and up on his front feet. I yank the bow back put the pin on him and let her rip. The arrow hits him a little back in the lungs/liver area and now the deer is at least spraying blood(before I had no blood trail). I ran down and shot him again with my last arrow at point blank range, and he still was moving so I pulled the arrow out of him and reshot him with it again. It was gruesome, I am embarrassed to tell the story, and I head mounted him out of respect for the suffering that I put him through because of poor shooting. Probably one of my least favorite hunting stories of all time.

Holy Cow! i've never heard of pulling an arrow from the animal to reuse!

[Brad]

I have a ton, most I am not proud of and they were hard to watch but one that stands out was back in 2006. I was bowhunting a trail (no funnel just a trail in the middle of the open woods mind you ) and low and behold a big buck to me at the time (about a 70 inch 8 point) comes by cruising. He comes by at 18 yards and I shot right over his back, I mean I had to shave him it was so close. The buck jumps and runs out to about 30 yards and stops and starts scanning for what just happened. I grabbed another arrow guess the yardage and shot again. This time I shot too high again (should have used the first pin instead of the 2nd pin) and I hit him smack dab in the spine, and he drops like a ton of bricks and let out the worst beller I may have ever heard.

By now I am frazzled and I am trying not to fall out of the tree from shaking so hard, and the buck starts flopping and rolling down the hill. I was just below the ridge, he rolled himself about 90 yards to the bottom and stops and put his head down for a bit. Now I have a dilemma, the buck is paralyzed , I'm 30 foot up in a climber and he is 90 yards away and I am in the middle of the open woods, so much for sneaking up on him. I gave him a half hour to hopefully die (in hindsight I shouldn't have) or to stiffen up, while I was sloooooooooowwwwwwwlllllyyy climbing down the tree. I asked myself if I should tip toe down to him and shoot him again, or run down and try and rapidly cut the distance(he was still very much alive and still had use of his front legs and head and neck) and then shoot him again. I decided to race down, so I grabbed an arrow, held it in my right hand, bow in the left and trotted/bull runned him till I was 15 or 20 yards away, and by this time he is freaking out and up on his front feet. I yank the bow back put the pin on him and let her rip. The arrow hits him a little back in the lungs/liver area and now the deer is at least spraying blood(before I had no blood trail). I ran down and shot him again with my last arrow at point blank range, and he still was moving so I pulled the arrow out of him and reshot him with it again. It was gruesome, I am embarrassed to tell the story, and I head mounted him out of respect for the suffering that I put him through because of poor shooting. Probably one of my least favorite hunting stories of all time.

Holy Cow! i've never heard of pulling an arrow from the animal to reuse!

That brings me to my next point, never substitute a broadhead arrow for a judo point arrow, I could have used it in this case.

[virginiashadow]

I have only had to follow up once on a deer with a bow. I believe it was in 2008 that I shot a decent 2.5 year old. For whatever reason my initial shot nicked it's spine, and it didn't totally go down. The buck popped back up and started pretty much running. I don't even remember nocking another arrow, yet as he sprinted by my stand I let loose another arrow and it hit a single lung. He fell down and once again started running until he hit the brakes at 50 yards and started to crawl off. I was hunting off an extremely steep hill by a big creek and for whatever reason I had a nightmare about letting that buck lay over night and him crawling into the creek never to be found again. I slung my bow over my back and hauled rear end down the tree. I covered a good amount of ground in a hurry and found that buck crawling and looking back at me. I popped him with a third arrow and the game ended.

With a gun many years ago I had to follow up several times to kill bucks and does. I must have shot this one doe 3-4 times over the course of 200-300 yards as I trailed her b/c I was afraid she was going to get off the property.

Shoot until they stop moving.

[Matt3]

I remember the first deer I ever shot with a bow. Probably early 90s. I was hunting with my dad in NJ. Three does walked up a trail 15 yards away. I drew back and aimed at the first doe. She must have seen something because she turned right towards me. I have no idea how long I was holding back but it seemed like forever. She finally turned to walk away. I released and at the shot she dropped causing me to hit the spine. When she hit the ground and was trying to crawl away I freaked out. Lowered my bow and climbed down in record time. Ran over to her and knocked another arrow. I was so amped up when I shot it barely hit her. I loaded another arrow and shot again straight into the upper back down into her lungs. She was still moving. At this point I don't know what to do. I had only ever killed 2 deer prior with a rifle so this was new for me. I walked about 75 yards to the top of the hill and told my dad what was foist on. (he is not a great white hunter...) he said to leave her and she will die. We did and she did but I was feeling horrible the whole time. That tought me that if you have an opportunity to put another arrow into them to do it. It's more humane than just watching them.

Not proud of how it happened, but it was a learning experience. I wish I would have known before the hunt that it is different than gun hunting. I was young enough that I didn't figure it out on my own. I can still see that hunt vividly in my head.

I now shoot till they are dead if I have a shot opportunity. Or as Dans deer above, out of arrows :)

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[vwj]

This didn't happen to me but to my nephew. We decided to hunt this little public land that we always do in the evening on sunday, our routine whenever we do a 2 day weekend hunt. He sits and 1 hour before sunset, a little basket 6 comes out. (This was about 10 years ago so he would have been around 17.) 1st shot missed the deer, 2nd shot spine shot, but the buck was tryng to get up so what does he do, he decides to unload all of his arrows at the buck. Finally the buck is dead. 5 mins later, a nice 130-140 buck comes right out in front of him,( party hunt is legal) but all he could do is just watch him at 20 yards. Lol. We just laughed at him, it wasn't the first time things like this happens to him.
Lesson, make sure you bring a ton of arrows with you, lol.

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[GRFox]

I have a ton, most I am not proud of and they were hard to watch but one that stands out was back in 2006. I was bowhunting a trail (no funnel just a trail in the middle of the open woods mind you ) and low and behold a big buck to me at the time (about a 70 inch 8 point) comes by cruising. He comes by at 18 yards and I shot right over his back, I mean I had to shave him it was so close. The buck jumps and runs out to about 30 yards and stops and starts scanning for what just happened. I grabbed another arrow guess the yardage and shot again. This time I shot too high again (should have used the first pin instead of the 2nd pin) and I hit him smack dab in the spine, and he drops like a ton of bricks and let out the worst beller I may have ever heard.

By now I am frazzled and I am trying not to fall out of the tree from shaking so hard, and the buck starts flopping and rolling down the hill. I was just below the ridge, he rolled himself about 90 yards to the bottom and stops and put his head down for a bit. Now I have a dilemma, the buck is paralyzed , I'm 30 foot up in a climber and he is 90 yards away and I am in the middle of the open woods, so much for sneaking up on him. I gave him a half hour to hopefully die (in hindsight I shouldn't have) or to stiffen up, while I was sloooooooooowwwwwwwlllllyyy climbing down the tree. I asked myself if I should tip toe down to him and shoot him again, or run down and try and rapidly cut the distance(he was still very much alive and still had use of his front legs and head and neck) and then shoot him again. I decided to race down, so I grabbed an arrow, held it in my right hand, bow in the left and trotted/bull runned him till I was 15 or 20 yards away, and by this time he is freaking out and up on his front feet. I yank the bow back put the pin on him and let her rip. The arrow hits him a little back in the lungs/liver area and now the deer is at least spraying blood(before I had no blood trail). I ran down and shot him again with my last arrow at point blank range, and he still was moving so I pulled the arrow out of him and reshot him with it again. It was gruesome, I am embarrassed to tell the story, and I head mounted him out of respect for the suffering that I put him through because of poor shooting. Probably one of my least favorite hunting stories of all time.

Holy Cow! i've never heard of pulling an arrow from the animal to reuse!

I did it once. I will post the story in a little bit.

Brad it happens, I know how you feel. Its the worst feeling in the world, but Its part of hunting.