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My First Archery Deer
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Yesterday evening, i went in the blind and a half hour later a button buck came, but I only watched it because it's too much like a kid after candy. It kept lookin up the hill like it saw or heard something, so i hoped some other deer would come down. After 10 min or so i saw its mom walkin cautiously down the hill. I have a piece of flagging tape hanging on a branch to tell wind direction. The wind was blowing erratically up the hill, then it would swirl toward the doe then it'd change and blow downhill. It'd catch a whiff of me and stop and sniff all around but it was uncertain and came ahead.

I had previously been drawing the bow and practicing sighting on objects. So i was ready, drew on the doe and held it while i kept remembering all the things to do....peep site, 20 yard pin, check level and my arm straight. Deer turned broadside and i let go. Saw the arrow hit and it looked high in the shoulder but she took off like a rocket. I watched her run downhill and could catch glimpses of movement between the trees, so i knew about where to go look. Didn't have to bother with any blood trail, except to look and confirm there was some splashes there where the deer had stood.

So i go down to about where the last movement had been and there was the doe laying in a heap. 100 yards maybe. I took end of the bow and put almost in its eye to make sure it was dead. Deer had a hole in each side. It was still early so i went ahead removed the entrails. Could then see it was a high lung shot and both had been punctured.

I went back today to try find the arrow and i can't find it anywhere. I followed the whole blood trail just in case the fletching hadn't passed through and had got bounced out when the deer ran. I searched about 25 feet beyond the impact point and even raked the leaves. Beyond that is a brush pile. Doesn't look like it would have passed through ribs and kept going another 25 feet or so. I'm only shooting 47 or 48 lbs draw weight...any idea how far the arrow should have traveled after it went through? do they usually just fall out nearby or do they richochet?

Penny


aim small, hit small
 
Posts: 1522 | Location: WV | Registered: 24 August 2003Reply With Quote
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Good job!

Congratulations on your first deer, remember they are all trophies with a bow.

The arrow can go quite a distance after penetrating ribs in and out.

Go back and sit in your stand and mark the line of flight in your mind. The arrow will be down there somewhere!

If it had stuck hanging out the back side it would have fallen right in the trail, so follow the trail.

It's a good idea to always follow the trail, just to get used to the gaps and to get your eye educated.

Congrats again!

I'd bet it's in the brush pile.


Don_G

...from Texas, by way of Mason, Ohio and Aurora, Colorado!
 
Posts: 1645 | Location: Elizabeth, Colorado | Registered: 13 February 2004Reply With Quote
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WELL DONE!!!

Hunters don't give Does the credit they deserve. Does are always very carefull animals.

I've hit animals were the fletch was barely out ofthe opposite side. So ifyour deer ran away like that the arrow could be anyware alone the excape route.


If you can't smell his breath, your're not close enough!

 
Posts: 980 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 04 January 2003Reply With Quote
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WONDERFUL! You did a fine job. And you even gutted it yourself! My hat is off to you but don't get blinded from the shine.
Yes, the arrow could have gone a long way after passing through the deer. Just follow the line of flight. I made a steel rod with a handle that looks like a snake hook. I just drag it across the ground at right angles to the arrow flight when one goes under grass or weeds. Just remember that the farther the arrow goes, the wider the search pattern has to be as the distance increases in case it deflected a little.
 
Posts: 4068 | Location: Bakerton, WV | Registered: 01 September 2003Reply With Quote
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congratulations!!!!

the chef
 
Posts: 2763 | Registered: 11 March 2004Reply With Quote
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Great job. Your persistence has paid off. With a good sharp broadhead, I've had arrows go through a deer like it had hit nothing. I shot through a doe once straight down through the deer, and the arrow buried in hard wood past the broadhead. I shot a ram in January(72#), the arrow went through a rib, through the shoulder on the opposite side, bounced off a rock 20 yards the other side of the ram, and ricocheted about 30 more yards at a right angle right of the exit.


JD
 
Posts: 1450 | Location: Dakota Territory | Registered: 13 June 2000Reply With Quote
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Thanks for the congrats, that means a lot to me because i know you all really mean it, so i like share my hunting stories with you guys who have a common interest.

I'll try some more to find the arrow, but today my husband and i are going to hang a stand up on the ridge. I want him to get a deer too, preferably a buck. He actually passed several times on this same doe i shot because he felt sorry for it having a young one with it. But i didn't because the mother/young bond gets broken during the rut anyway.

I think all the bucks are going up on the ridge, they gotta be someplace, i read an article that they run the ridges during the daytime when rut is in.

Penny


aim small, hit small
 
Posts: 1522 | Location: WV | Registered: 24 August 2003Reply With Quote
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Penny

Actually, the bucks will be running where ever there are doe groups, ridges, swamps, thickets, go to the does and you will find the bucks during the rut.

I shot a spike this year with my bow, but it was on the ground as i was leaving my stand.
As i was walking around a gate i looked over and saw this spike rubbing a sapling. He was so intent that he never even heard me, and i was making a lot of sound. As soon as i saw him i said what the heck, i'll give it a try, as i positioned myself to get around some brush he suddenly decided to bed. Of course he faced me and i froze, for about 45mins, he just sat there chewing his cud and grooming himself. I knew that pretty soon he would get up out of his bed and when he did i was ready. He faced the other direction and i drew my bow, the arrow jumped off the string. I use a QAD drop away rest that captures the arrow so it didnt hit the ground. I let down, re-nocked the arrow and drew again, checked the no-peep, aligned the 20yd pin and let fly. I saw the fur puff as the arrow hit right where i was aiming, a little high, to clear all the branches. He went about 100yds and it was a perfect double lunger, man i'll tell ya, that little buck gave me some experience, and to me he is much more of a trophy than any gun shot deer.
 
Posts: 498 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 22 May 2004Reply With Quote
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Congratulations on your deer, Fgulla! That sounds like some wait you had, must have been nerve wracking but way worth it. Good shooting.

Penny


aim small, hit small
 
Posts: 1522 | Location: WV | Registered: 24 August 2003Reply With Quote
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Congratulations! You'll long remember the achievement.
 
Posts: 55 | Registered: 12 August 2005Reply With Quote
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I had a similar problem last year, shot down from a treestand to a doe about 20 yards away, it was in january and the ground was frozen hard, easy passthrough, Blood sprayed the snow behind where the deer was standing for a couple yards, couldnt find the arrow anywhere, dug through the grass, went back the next day cuz it was getting dark and searched for another 30 minutes. Figured it was just under the snow somewhere, went back this spring with my children, we all looked for a good 20 minutes and couldnt find it anywhere. I have bright orange fletching on my arrows so It should have been easy to find. I looked back more than 50 yards from where the deer was standing. All I can think of is that the arrow bounced off the ground and disappeared, maybe it hit a subspace wormhole and ended up on another planet, who knows, sucks to loose a $30 arrow but the hunt was worth it.
 
Posts: 125 | Registered: 12 February 2004Reply With Quote
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Congrats on the deer. I always love a good bow hunting story, even more so when its the first ... you are hooked on bow hunting now for sure. Once again congrats.


http://www.bghi.us
Bow and Gun Hunting Illinois

"Every deer you legally take with a bow is a trophy"
 
Posts: 8 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 24 March 2006Reply With Quote
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