So disgusted with myself

[BigHunt]

I wish there was a like buttom we could click on people's posts, I'd be clicking a string of them for sure.

I agree

[E72]

Brad, I've been there. When I first moved to Ohio I blew a few chances at some really nice deer. I also had a great close encounter with a deer of a lifetime that I did not kill but that hunt gave me more confidence about getting close to a mature deer. I also realized that day or maybe a couple weeks later when I stopped crying, that a deer is a deer and you wont kill a 125" or a 170" if you get all worked up , breathing heavily, rushing, shaking and getting overly excited. I don't get truly excited until I see that buck laying on the ground. Its a just a mental thing you will have to overcome. I'm sure you will. Keep after em!

[JakeJD]

From my thread about Dr. Bob Sheppard's book Whitetail Strategies:

If I remember right, Dr. Sheppard has experienced around a 50% recovery rate when he actually takes a shot. Now remember, he has taken over a thousand whitetail deer in his life and is a very proficient hunter / archer and tracker. He makes no excuses and does not try to explain away his recovery rate. It is what it is, and his 35,000 hunter day database reflects his own experiences. Losing animals, whether they are fatally wounded or not (or even hit), is a fact of bowhunting.

I would like to say that my own experiences in bowhunting are different and that I have a great recovery rate, but that is not reality. I shoot frequently in the summer leading up to the season and make sure that my bow is finely tuned. And, I have become very patient in waiting for a high percentage shot and passing marginal opportunities, yet I still missed one doe last year and hit a buck in the shoulder blade. The doe was about 30 yards away and had enough time to duck and completely spin out of my arrow's path. The buck was standing slightly quartering to at 15-20 yards; I hit him a little high and forward right in the scapula with zero penetration. It is what it is.

Don't let your failures consume you. I almost quit bowhunting after experiencing a few misses and wounded bucks. The best hunters around still miss and wound bucks on occasion (including Dan). It is a fact of hunting, especially bowhunting.

[dbltmn]

Thank you guy for the posts of support to a fellow hunter who is obviously going through a frustrating time. I had an opportunity at my first buck twice this year. The first time I was so wound up I shot about 6 feet over him at 7 yards. I still don't know how that happened.

After posting on here about buck fever control I got some great advice and the next weekend the same buck showed up in the same place, only behind me. At first my heart started pounding again. Then I got control of my emotions and said to myself "I am going to kill that buck right now" I went into a different mind set and every time I could tell the buck was not paying attention I moved ever so slightly to get myself stood up, turned 180 deg draw and shoot. All while this deer was less than 20 feet from my tree. He was just stepping out from behind a pine tree when I took the shot. I never thought to stop him. I shot as soon as his body presented the shot but he was still walking. He stepped into the shot in that half second and I hit him in the paunch. I watched him stand hunched up for 10 minutes before it even dawned on me to take another shot. By this time he was 35 yards away because he moved a little when I shot him. I shot again but hit brush in front of him, and he ran. I waited until nearly dark feelin pretty low and retrieved my arrow. By now it started to rain. The arrow was all stomach contents. I went back to the cabin to talk to a more experienced friend. We waited until morning but it had poured rain all night. I found my second arrow with only a little white hair on one blade. We started looking after a full day of looking and 20 something deer ticks later.... Not even a sign of a deer. I don't know where he went but the woods had consumed him.

This was in Sept so the temps were not going to preserve a deer for long. I realized I just killed a deer that I would not recover. My first buck. It was a terrible feeling. I have so much respect for these animals that I wanted to cry. My friend offered the same support you all are here. I used the situation the week before to increase my skills to the next level, and then I failed at that level. since I have practiced shooting more. I have practiced the steps I would go through in my head more. I have asked more questions. I have grown with this experience. Thank you all.

[Brad]

Thanks for the continued support everyone, it means a ton. Maybe he will come back today and I can finish what I started.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Brad]

I found out the buck I wounded was killed on the same farm with a rifle by another hunter. He was an 8 point and as for spread the story keeps changing. He had 6 inches of arrow plus the broad head in his shoulder. Glad he lived and that someone will get to enjoy him rather than him wasting away or being taken down by coyotes. I will try and get pictures.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Dewey]

Glad to hear you got some closure on that buck. Good to know that he wasn't mortally wounded and survived your shot.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[seeds]

That's cool. Closure and a learning experience.

I will not take a quartering-to shot because the first buck I shot at was not recovered. I had thought the shot was beautiful. A blind man could have tracked it the first 200yds,then very little blood after than. I came back the next day and lost the faint blood trail in hardwoods. I spent hours searching in a grid,much of that time in a thunderstorm.

I asked a bunch of guys for advice. Some said,basically that they "couldn't remember all the deer they'd lost"....If I hadn't talked to others who COULD remember all the deer they'd lost - painfully,individually,and as a small percentage of their shots - then I'd be back killing walleyes during the fall instead of deer. I don't want to be the guy who recovers one deer for every two (or three?) they shoot. There's a lot of those guys are out there.

[keb]

Well at least he did not die in misery, we have all been there, I have been there more than I care to share, 2011 I made the exact same hit you did, on 150 inch 10 pointer on public land, i was so afraid he was going to wind me I rushed my shot and hit him to high and to far foward, hunted for 16 days straight to get a crack.

I rushed 2 chip shot this year that resulted in misses at point blank range. This not taking my time and getting excited has cost me allot of animals.

I look at it like this at least your are getting your target animals in range, that took time to learn, I hope in time I can stop dong what I am doing and seal deal.

[Dewey]

I asked a bunch of guys for advice. Some said,basically that they "couldn't remember all the deer they'd lost"....If I hadn't talked to others who COULD remember all the deer they'd lost - painfully,individually,and as a small percentage of their shots - then I'd be back killing walleyes during the fall instead of deer. [glow=red]I don't want to be the guy who recovers one deer for every two (or three?) they shoot. There's a lot of those guys are out there[/glow].

I know a few guys like this and every year they keep taking risky shots. Drives me crazy!!

Wounding a deer sucks but if you learn from the experience something is gained. I only wounded a handful in my hunting days but every single one still hurts like the day it happened. One thing I learned is to never repeat that same shot scenario again and make the same mistake. Every year I pass on risky low percentage shots because I don't want to feel that regret and pain later. It has likely cost me many good bucks but I sleep better at night knowing I didn't take the shot.

[ihookem]

Many of the deer live if they run more than 100 yds or so. I hit a buck in about the same place in 1996. No blood, and it just ran off. Eight days later on the same stand, in the middle of an ice storm here he comes I spined him that time but I got him. I knew it was him right away. I could see the wound. It was a bid ugly but he walked and sniffed like he didn't have a care in the world. They are tougher than we think.

[GRUD]

Sounds like a decent shot. Part of bowhunting judgement. Did he wheel toward or away?

Keep shooting till something dies.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[ozzz]

Wounding a deer is a painful experience for me. I am on a good luck streak in that regard but have been on the other side.

I can echo what others have said about the mental game as well. When you see a deer you KNOW you want to kill (no questioning whether or not it is the right one) a switch flips.

I dont want to get weird or anything but its almost like an out of body experience.

[bblefty]

Cool story Brad, after losing two last year with completely broadside shots, I haven't released an arrow this year yet. I've been hunting rifle just to avoid this bad feeling. Glad someone got to enjoy that buck!