fng....that needs advise or help finding a buck i hit

[2002duramax]

new to this site and need help? names josh ......shot a buck sunday night the 28th at 7:45 pm i gave him 30-40 min before going after him it was a 75 yards shot .i am not sure where it was hit but i can tell you he did bleed alot the blood was a very dark red so i am assuming i hit the liver never found my aarow trailed him 400+ yards then the weather took a bad turn and started raining pretty hard i pulled out of the area and came back the next day at first light .luck would have it the rain washed all the blood away we were able to find a couple of tiny spots of blood but no deer ..right after the shot his head droped and he walked slowly down hill to some oak brush and up a side hill that was not steep at all from there he never went up hill he walked the side of the mountain me and a few of my buddys have coverd the area pretty well and have came up empty handed........im really sick to my stomic over this he would fall in the 165-175 class rang 27-29 wide 4by4 with a drop tine on his right side any advise or ideas would be nice ..but i think ill have to wait for birds and dogs to find him to recover him

[MuleyMadness]

I feel your pain, been there done that once and it STINKS.

Read this...(may help, may not) but it's a good read.

http://www.muleymadness.com/how-to/trac ... nded-game/

If he didn't want to go uphill, he could be pretty sick and mortally wounded. Having no clue where you hit him, he'll lay down sooner than later if hit bad/hard. And sometimes they will go into the THICKEST/NASTIEST stuff they can for cover and to get away. Sometimes they will head for water also.

That's tough situation with the rain, best of luck but I wouldn't give up yet IMO.

[2002duramax]

thanks i did wait a bit and while following the blood trial we never came across a bed where he layed down

[one hunting fool]

he will be down hill in the thickest cover he could find while still keeping an eye on his surroundings look down hill in a valley

[waspocrew]

Man, I hope you end up finding him. Good luck!

[AGCHAWK]

You owe it to the buck to keep looking until you find him. IMO, and it's JUST my opinion, find him or not I'd notch my tag and learn from the experience. I have been in this situation and did exactly that. Because I made a bad shot and lost the deer, I didn't feel right turning around and continuing to hunt. Again, this is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth. (this was with a rifle, not a bow)

I HAVE to ask though, and I am not asking this to start an internet arguement, but what were you doing taking a 75 yard shot? I know seasoned vets that would never take a shot that long with archery equipment and they can shoot better than anyone I know. You stated yourself that you were new to this. Was it just bad judgement? I can live with that as long as the lesson was learned. There are just too many bad things that can happen in 75 yards (jumping the string, wind gust, unseen branch or twig, etc)
Not trying to flame ya bud, I just think that taking a 75 yard shot, especially if you are new to this, was not a wise choice.

[2002duramax]

I understand a 75 yard shot is risky im new to internet thing but not shooting a bow .i practice 350 days a year out to 100 yards 80 is my comfort zone I felt comfortable with it so I took the shot....i spent 15 hours looking with 8 guys with no luck

[killerbee]

pretty hard to keep my mouth shut on this one--- 75 yrd shot, and firmly believe 80 is o.k., wounded a deer, and still think 75 yrds is fine. maybe the next 350 days should be spent practising being a BOW HUNTER-- stalking skills, learning wind, and just how to get with REALISTIC range for a bow hunter.

mistakes are fine if they are learned from, but if you just turn around and do it again, that would be horrible.

[fatrooster]

I would consider taking my pet dog out and look for it. I've been out hiking a trail and have had my dog find all kinds of dead stuff, all he needs is the wind to help him out. But be aware, this could be against the law in your state. Check your states regulations before you do this. Also, if other hunters are out hunting you should be respectful of thier hunt and try not to blow all the deer out while they are hunting.
Two years ago I had a buck jump the string at 37 yards and the arrow hit him in the neck. I looked for this buck for a week even though the shot was not a fatal shot. I found lots of dead animals but not my buck. Last year I saw him in his favorite spot with his favorite 3-point buddy from 600 yards. He also saw me and I watched him slink into the woods and never saw him the rest of the season. He was a much more cautious buck and watched me and all of his surroundings very carefully until he got into the trees. The point is, I felt comfortable shooting out to 70 yards but as stated above too many things can happen in the time span between a shot that far as my story indicates in just 37 yards.
Anyways, I wish you luck in finding your buck and if you do find it I look forward to seeing pictures of it on here. fatrooster.

[BOHNTR]

An ARCHER sees how far he can get from his target and still hit it......a BOWHUNTER sees how close he can get to his target before he hits it.

These extreme range shooting practices will be the demise of archery only seasons in the future, I'm afraid. I'll only ask you this......do you think at 40 yards (shot) you'd have a recovered deer (honestly)? I'm sorry you didn't recover your deer, it happens........but it happens more often at longer ranges, IMO.