Ever not recovered a deer?

[Lockdown]

I didn’t recover a buck I shot in 2017. It still bugs me every single day even though it was my first one in over 15 years. Unless it’s a extremely high percentage shot I’m not taking it. I will do anything I possibly can to avoid that from happening again. As a hunter there is no worse feeling. Not sure how some guys can shrug it off and just act like it never happened. It should bug you and most important teach you a lesson what NOT to do next time.

AGREE

Way too many arrow lingers out there these days. It’s not that they’re not a capable shot, the deer’s reaction is the problem.

Heck even high percentage shots go wrong sometimes.


To answer the poll, yes I’ve lost multiple deer. There’s really no worse feeling when I’m in the woods. The last buck I lost was 2016 out west. Longer shot and I was fatigued.

I’ve done well that last ten years or so but back in my youth I had some trouble. Mostly bad shot CHOICES. Which, in my mind, is worst than a flyer.

[Lockdown]

I've been fortunate to not lose any hit deer. The problem was I had nasty buck fever growing up and had lots of clean misses. My marksmanship under pressure was flat terrible for someone who was always a good shot otherwise. I have gotten better with age and opportunity, but still haven't lost one that I actually hit.

I used to get buck fever terrible as well. I eventually figured out shallow breathing was partially responsible. I didn’t even realize I was doing it, I was 100% focused on the deer. When I started taking long slow breaths it helped A LOT.

I have shot enough deer to be able to handle it pretty well now, but that doesn’t mean my heart isn’t pounding. I can watch does and little bucks walk by no problem, but if I know I’m shooting, then the heart gets going.

[Budgetbuck1]

Anything over a 20 yard shot is anyone's guess as to whether or not they are going to spook when the bow goes off. I have had deer stare at me while I shoot them and not duck. Then, I have had deer in high winds, jump the string, when I didn't think that there was any way that they could hear my bow go off. If you archery hunt long enough there is a high chance that you will eventually lose a deer. My brother lost a nice buck last week at 25 yards that he made a perfect shot on. The shot was on video so we know what happened. The deer jumped the string. You can't know what a deer's reaction is going to be. I am just glad they can't duck bullets. A friend of mine shot a 172 inch buck at 52 yards two years ago and made a perfect hit and has that deer on the wall. I would have never attempted that shot but he took the deer cleanly. You never know until you know.

[ThePreBanMan]

Came close (liver shot found the next day) but never had one go unrecovered..... Yet. Man what an awful and terrible feeling and a sleepless night....

[Jackson Marsh]

Yep. Brisket shot a buck in 2012 on an evening hunt. Followed a sparse blood trail the next morning and jumped him, no blood after jumping him. Not a good feeling. My instance was not poor shot selection, but poor shot execution. Long drawn out track jobs are a nightmare for the hunter and the deer. They are to be avoided at all costs. It really makes me thankful when I see the deer drop in sight.

[MuskieHunterDave]

This is my third year of hunting so I'm relatively inexperienced. I lost the first 2 deer I shot. The first was a doe in a rainstorm. Fairly sure I hit her too low and it was nonlethal. I was with a group of 4 guys and we tracked a fairly thin blood trail for 2 hours to the edge of a swamp where it disappeared. That one I felt very disappointed, but not very guilty. Second one was a buck with 6 rather short points. Ran right under my stand and I shot it almost straight down into 1 lung. That one I felt terrible about. I knew it wasn't a prudent shot, but being right over the deer I couldn't help but shoot it. That taught me a very important lesson and I vowed never to take a bad shot again. I know I'll probably lose a few more in the future - bad luck happens. But it won't be because I take a foolish shot ever again.

Since then I've shot one additional deer, a nice big doe that died within 50 yards of the shot. Still looking for that first buck though...

[Southern Buck]

Three for me: one doe and two bucks including the largest buck I’ll probably ever see. The doe was found a week later by someone else. The big buck lived. No idea what happened to the other one.

[Rich M]

I lost a decent 6 pt FL buck last year - pull the shot and the buck dipped into it - hit his front leg. 1/4 mile away he was feeding again.

Before that I lost a monster buck and a 6 pt.

My preference is to gun hunt because of this. At my age, it doesn't matter as much how much I hunt. But I do take the bow down when I pull a permit for a 3-5 day quota hunt and reacquaint myself out to 25 yards for a month or two before the season. Then it gets hung up for the next 2-3-4 years until i draw the permit again.

[Huntrp]

I lost the biggest buck I ever had a chance to shoot 2 years ago. Hit him in the shoulder. Had good blood initially then nothing. Searched far and wide to no avail...I play that shot back in my head all too often...

[Dewey]

I didn’t recover a buck I shot in 2017. It still bugs me every single day even though it was my first one in over 15 years. Unless it’s a extremely high percentage shot I’m not taking it. I will do anything I possibly can to avoid that from happening again. As a hunter there is no worse feeling. Not sure how some guys can shrug it off and just act like it never happened. It should bug you and most important teach you a lesson what NOT to do next time.

AGREE

Way too many arrow lingers out there these days. It’s not that they’re not a capable shot, the deer’s reaction is the problem.

Heck even high percentage shots go wrong sometimes.


To answer the poll, yes I’ve lost multiple deer. There’s really no worse feeling when I’m in the woods. The last buck I lost was 2016 out west. Longer shot and I was fatigued.

I’ve done well that last ten years or so but back in my youth I had some trouble. Mostly bad shot CHOICES. Which, in my mind, is worst than a flyer.

Worst part is I had one of those flyers at the end of the 2017 season when I completely missed a good buck on New Years Day. Thought it was a high percentage shot and one I rehearsed 100’s of times in practice. I honestly still don’t know what happened with that shot. The frigid temps around zero combined with my clothing I’m sure played into it but I was never so relieved about having a complete miss. Not sure how I could have dealt with two bucks wounded in the same season. That’s one season I like to forget about. Hurts to even talk about it.

One things for sure if you hunt long enough you WILL have one of those seasons. How you move on from it will define you as a hunter. Learn and grow from it is the only approach.

[oldrank]

I've wounded a handful. Not my favorite thing. Most were high back. Hit a shoulder once n low brisket once.

[Crazinamatese]

I have lost three in 11 years. Is that bad?? One was one of the biggest buck I have seen from the stand three seasons ago. It woulda been shoulder mounted for sure, and for me, it has to be a slob for me to pay for a shoulder mount. That one kills me to this day because I can now think of things I would have done differently while tracking it after the shot. But deep down, I sense he survived. The other two never left a blood trail and I was using Muzzy broadheads at the time. Not saying it was a broadhead issue but when I swtiched to Slick Trick deer started to bleed. I dunno.

[Matt Gill]

I have lost several... Most came when I was younger and took foolish shots or got too nervous.

It happens to everyone who hunts no matter how good a shot you are. Just gotta try and learn from it.

X2

[SneakyHunter]

It happens to everyone and it sucks. They still haunt me to this day

[Razorhead]

In 40 plus years of bowhunting and many successful kills I have lost 5 deer (ironically they were all bucks). Most of them were during my earlier years where inexperience and bad decisions played a role in some of them.

Buck #1 - Missed on 1st shot, attempted a 2nd shot a bit farther away at a keyed up deer. Deer seriously jumped the string and I was shooting much older and slower equipment. Hit square in the ham with minimal penetration. Really bad decision to attempt 2nd shot!

Buck #2 - Shot straight down on a good buck at last light. Gut all over arrow. Pushed deer to quickly. Bad decision on the shot and inexperience tracking led to the non-recovery. Have never taken that shot again!

Buck #3 - Missed 1st shot. Attempted a good 2nd shot well within range at the stationary deer. Deer jumped the string on the shot and I hit it high but below the spine. Very little blood on the track job. This deer may have possibly survived from a clean non-lethal pass through shot. At least that was my hope.

Buck #4 - I tried to spot shoot a grunting buck dogging a doe at close range in a beech thicket in a driving snow squall in WV. My arrow caught a small beech limb and the arrow showed all gut. I watched the buck lay down in its first bed. I snuck out and went back in the next morning hoping to find it dead in its bed. All I found was a bed full of blood and 8 more beds within about 100 yards. The last I saw the deer it was standing in a creek up to its belly. I tried to dog it till exhaustion but the buck won that battle.

Buck #5 - I drilled a nice buck at 15 yards quartering away what appeared to be right through the boiler room. I thought I made a great shot. Clean pass through and arrow covered from broadhead to nock with bright red blood. The deer never bled! I never found a drop of blood beyond the spot where the arrow passed through it. This is the one that I could never understand and it still haunts me to this day.

I remember every one of these frustrating experiences like they were yesterday, but everyone of them are an important part of my whole bowhunting career.