JoeRE wrote:Stanley wrote:Arrowbender wrote:One of the best lessons I learned and can hopefully spread is when things start to seem dire; get help. Preferably not only an experienced tracker but a level headed sort that can keep you in the game.
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I agree 100% on this.
I also agree on that. We have all defeated ourselves mentally on a tough trail. I think that happens in most of those stories where a carcass is found many days later just a few yards beyond where the search was called off. That only happened because everyone involved just gave up. If you want to find the deer you don't give up. Giving up will haunt you later.
I will admit it - I am a far better tracker on someone else's deer than my own. I bet most of us are that way.
mainebowhunter wrote: Its also fascinating where everyone "thinks" they shoot the deer.And everyone ...i mean EVERYONE hears the deer go down.
Agreed!! I think I have been at least slightly wrong on where I thought the shot was on almost every deer I have ever shot. Eyes are deceptive, angles are deceptive. I am not saying I was way off, just a couple inches this way or that way. Most often I was wrong on the angle by a bit.
And a hunter absolutely does not know what they hit until you dress that deer out. Do not assume something just from a hole in the hide. "I put it right behind the shoulder" means just about nothing!
No matter how late...no matter how tired, we autopsy every deer. My closest hunting buddies do the same things. We then share the hit, the angle and the story. I have found also ...when the buckfever is not involved, everything is pretty clear on just what happened.
But the mind still pays tricks...most times, I am higher than a kite on adrenaline. 2015, shot a buck at 10yds. Buried the pin in the pocket. Deer starts to run, I watch in horror as the arrow fell out. What happened??? 2 seconds later, I see the buck start to bulldoze. But in that moment, I swear I must have screwed something up. Arrow just broke off on off side shoulder.
I wounded a buck in 2011. One of the bucks I was hunting. Rainy, foggy. Sept 29th. Deer showed up at 3:15. Picked out a hair, getting ready to squeeze, deer takes a hard quarter away. I never pulled back to the mid to last rib. Shot the deer way to far forward. He made the season. Saw him month later. Made a mental error. But with buckfever, I would have thought I "hit the deer perfect" post buckfever, I knew what happened once I started to settle down, started to sink in. Still a bit of the fever? Maybe. But it was not a trend. Has not happened since.
So yeah, I spend a lot of time analyzing bad hits ...probably more so from "before shot" rather than after. Be honest, my problems when I had the fever was hitting deer high. Good lines but the height was always key.