First bow kill. I feel horrible.

[Dewey]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

[HunterBob]

Got off work yesterday and hunted a small piece of public near my house. Walked in really slow ( learned that if you go really slow and glass with binos every couple of steps you'll sneak right up on em). Found a spot with muscadines dropping and deer scatt every where. Picked a tree, got a stick on it put one foot up and a doe walked around the corner. She blew and stomped so I froze. the woods shifted with deer, a heard of em. I froze and slinked to the blind side of the tree and just continued to slowly climb up. Hung my stand and 1 min later they walked back out. Shot the mature doe at 25 yards and she took a step as I shot. She ran back by with her guts hanging out. I defiantly should have waited more than an hour to track but I sure didn't. Found a killer blood trail for 100 yards then she disappeared into thick bedding. I looked for hours and couldn't find anything.

Sucks, I feel really bad.

This is most definitely the worst part of hunting and I had a similar situation on my first shot at a deer. I can promise you I was able to learn from the experience and so will you. As others have said, find what you can learn, what you could have done different/can do different next time and let it teach you to not repeat.

Sometimes the guilt over this is what helps me to remember not to rush shots or take certain angled shots today.

[Lockdown]

Hey man don’t beat yourself over it too much! It’s good that you feel remorse... you’re suppose to. Anyone who hunts enough will eventually lose one, and you might find her yet.

Regardless, shake it off and shoot your bow until you’re confident again. Take it as a lesson learned!

Make sure you follow through with your shot. I used to get rattled... I’d shoot and end up dropping my bow to try and see where I hit. Keep the pin on your aiming point until the arrow hits her. It’s good to practice that way too. Aim small. Pick out a tiny “bullseye” on her and don’t shoot until you’re steady, then follow through.

You don’t HAVE to see where your arrow hits. The blood trail and arrow will tell the story.

I also used to rush my shots. I’d have the pin on the kill zone and let ‘er rip. No need to hurry... if he/she gets away without a shot, that’s better than rushing it.

[buttonbuck]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

Maybe your right man, didn’t work that way today. Maybe I made the wrong decision but if I call out for a few hours I dont get paid and if I call out for the day a high rise building project grinds to a hault with no control.

These decisions are new to me. Never had to decide between work at 7am or looking for a doe. In retrospect, probably should’ve just bit the bullet and gone and looked for her for a few hours.

Thought about looking for her after work even though the meats no good.

[Dewey]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

Maybe your right man, didn’t work that way today. Maybe I made the wrong decision but if I call out for a few hours I dont get paid and if I call out for the day a high rise building project grinds to a hault with no control.

These decisions are new to me. Never had to decide between work at 7am or looking for a doe. In retrospect, probably should’ve just bit the bullet and gone and looked for her for a few hours.

Thought about looking for her after work even though the meats no good.

If you do find her and the meat is no good at least you can figure out exactly what happened and have some form of closure. I know it sucks losing a deer and if you hunt long enough it will happen again. Most important thing is you learn from it and make corrections for next time.

[stash59]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

Maybe your right man, didn’t work that way today. Maybe I made the wrong decision but if I call out for a few hours I dont get paid and if I call out for the day a high rise building project grinds to a hault with no control.

These decisions are new to me. Never had to decide between work at 7am or looking for a doe. In retrospect, probably should’ve just bit the bullet and gone and looked for her for a few hours.

Thought about looking for her after work even though the meats no good.

I'd still go look again as soon as possible. You'll get answers to alot of questions when you do find it. That'll help give you closure. Plus you'll learn some stuff. If the meat, is, bad you could maybe feed it to some dogs. Course the coyotes, etc gotta eat too!

[buttonbuck]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

Maybe your right man, didn’t work that way today. Maybe I made the wrong decision but if I call out for a few hours I dont get paid and if I call out for the day a high rise building project grinds to a hault with no control.

These decisions are new to me. Never had to decide between work at 7am or looking for a doe. In retrospect, probably should’ve just bit the bullet and gone and looked for her for a few hours.

Thought about looking for her after work even though the meats no good.

I'd still go look again as soon as possible. You'll get answers to alot of questions when you do find it. That'll help give you closure. Plus you'll learn some stuff. If the meat, is, bad you could maybe feed it to some dogs. Course the coyotes, etc gotta eat too!

My moms response to the situation was “well at least some animal will be eating good tonight”.

Had me rollin.

[Kevin2]

Not sure what everyone else has said, but leave work now & get all your stuff ready to head back out to look. Lots of lights and batteries. If you have friends, then now is the time to call them.

Use toilet paper to mark blood, and carry on until you find her. You'll feel better, even if you have to take tomorrow off work. Work will live without you for a day. You'll remember this for the rest of your life, no matter the outcome. Keep us updated. Good luck...

[Kraftd]

Is there a reason you are not looking today? She probably laid down soon after you bumped her.

Workin.

She’s dead and you just have to find her. If there ever was a day to call in sick this would be the day. As hunters we have a responsibility to do everything possible to recover a deer.

Maybe your right man, didn’t work that way today. Maybe I made the wrong decision but if I call out for a few hours I dont get paid and if I call out for the day a high rise building project grinds to a hault with no control.

These decisions are new to me. Never had to decide between work at 7am or looking for a doe. In retrospect, probably should’ve just bit the bullet and gone and looked for her for a few hours.

Thought about looking for her after work even though the meats no good.

On a gut hit could have easily died sometime this morning and depending on temp could salvage some of the meat.

[matt1336]

To put it in very direct words....it sounds like you should of put little more effort into the recovery. Get out there, find her and take any meat that might be worth saving.
No offense

[thwack16]

Dad had a rule for me as I was growing up and one that I still go by today. Arrows are only to be shot at big bucks on evening hunts with work the next morning. You need to have time to spare once an arrow is flung and hasty decisions can worsen a situation.

Don't beat yourself up over it. You made a mistake and learned from it. Good luck going forward.

[buttonbuck]

Dad had a rule for me as I was growing up and one that I still go by today. Arrows are only to be shot at big bucks on evening hunts with work the next morning. You need to have time to spare once an arrow is flung and hasty decisions can worsen a situation.

Don't beat yourself up over it. You made a mistake and learned from it. Good luck going forward.

Thanks, that's some real good advice.

[oldrank]

We have all learned from our mistakes in our hunting journey. A few tips to remember for the future. You are taking a life. We can't sugar coat that. There is nothing worse than walking up on a pourly hit deer and having to kill it face to face. It will happen if you hunt long enough. You always owe it to the animal to recover it. That may mean just what was stated above about not hunting weekdays unless you are willing to call in for a recovery the next day. If you are on small private land you need to be so accurate that you know that deer will not make it off of the property. If you are not a great shot then always wait for a quartering away shot. The chances of error get smaller when the arrow angles forward. Live and learn. Always have respect for the animal. Always. Good luck

[RookieBeast2019]

Hey man don’t beat yourself over it too much! It’s good that you feel remorse... you’re suppose to. Anyone who hunts enough will eventually lose one, and you might find her yet.

Regardless, shake it off and shoot your bow until you’re confident again. Take it as a lesson learned!

Make sure you follow through with your shot. I used to get rattled... I’d shoot and end up dropping my bow to try and see where I hit. Keep the pin on your aiming point until the arrow hits her. It’s good to practice that way too. Aim small. Pick out a tiny “bullseye” on her and don’t shoot until you’re steady, then follow through.

You don’t HAVE to see where your arrow hits. The blood trail and arrow will tell the story.

I also used to rush my shots. I’d have the pin on the kill zone and let ‘er rip. No need to hurry... if he/she gets away without a shot, that’s better than rushing it.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

[Ghost Hunter]

You learn more from mistakes than you do success. I know I have done it.