This week I was lucky enough to shoot a nice doe and things could not have went easier: a 25 yard shot in open hardwoods, the deer fell within sight, 70 yards from my stand and I had a decent amount of daylight left afterwards. No tracking, no flashlights, no worries. After the shot, I waited and watched a few minutes to make sure the deer was down for good, then I climbed down from my stand, reloaded my crossbow just in case and walked directly to the deer which I found to be very dead indeed, the result of a nicely placed pass-thru.
I then decided to take advantage of the remaining daylight to find my arrow. So I went back to the spot where I “thought” the deer was standing when I shot it. No arrow, no blood, no hair. HUH?!!!
A brief search still turned up nothing. It turns out I was a bit off the spot; things often look different from the ground than they do from a tree stand. So then I went back to the dead deer and started back-tracking. I was surprised at how quickly the reverse blood trail tapered off into nothing a good 30 yards from where the deer had been standing at the shot. I eventually found my arrow sticking out of the ground at a 30 degree angle, but as I replayed the events in my mind, it got me thinking: under different circumstances this hunt may well have turned out very differently. The Wait:
The deer had provided me with several quartering-in shot opportunities at the 35-40 yard range, which I passed on, even though at times it looked like the deer was going to wander away. My rifle hunting instincts told me these were easy shots, but I have learned (the hard way) to wait for a better shot, which is what I did. Five years ago, I might have taken a shot at the first opportunity and potentially had a poorly hit deer on my hands.
The Shot:
When the deer finally turned broadside a 25 yards, my crossbow went “twang!” followed by a tiny, barely audible “thunk”. But mostly what I heard was the loud sound of my arrow smashing into the leaves on the forest floor. Experience had taught me that this was the sweet sound of a pass-thru. But if I was a beginner, I’m pretty sure I would have interpreted those sounds as a miss.
The Deer:
Like most times, the deer reacted to my shot by taking off at full speed for about 40 yards. Its tail was down; a good sign but one that I did not know or remember to look for when I first started deer hunting. Then the deer slowed to a trot, followed by a walk. Its tail, still down, was rapidly switching back & forth. To the inexperienced eye, it would have looked like a very nervous but perfectly healthy (missed) deer. Then the deer stopped and stood for a while, wobbled and finally fell. Since the deer had travelled in a semi-circle, it probably covered a hundred yards before it died. Again, luckily all of this happened in plain sight.
The Hypothetical Scenario:
But what if I hadn’t seen most or any of this? And what if I was a new archer and it was nearing last light and the cover was thick? Based on the sound of the shot, I likely would have questioned if I’d hit the deer at all. Plus there was no arrow or sign of a hit at what I thought to be the “shot” site. The deer left little or no blood trail for the first 40 yards while it was running fast and then the deer seemed to walk off unharmed. I’m sure that even if I was still a beginner, I would have attempted a search to verify things. But in the darkness, on leaves rather than snow, its highly likely that I would have missed sign and might gone home disappointed in my “miss”.
The Lesson:
Its awesome to see the number of new archers who are posting this year and I hope that they can avoid some of the mistakes that I have made. I know I will be re-stating the obvious here, and I’m certainly not going to get into the finer points of waiting, trailing and grid searching. There are other very thorough posts to be found here on those topics, by hunters far more qualified than I am.
All I want to say is; don’t ever assume a miss, even if there is no sign. Check, check again, check farther. Re-check. Get help. Come back later and keep checking. Listen, read, absorb; learn all you can about trailing, hunting in general and archery hunting in particular. I know, its obvious stuff, but believe me; the hardest and most important part of hunting comes after you pull the trigger. Sorry for the long post.
