Interactive scenario. Thurs PM hunt.

[2thDoc]

7:15. Momma and two little ones come my way. I have the bloodthirst. Momma is 25 steps and quartering away. I shoot her. Shot looks perfect to me. MAYBE a little forward. I would picture it going in behind the near shoulder and likely hitting the opposite shoulder or exiting SLIGHTLY in front of the shoulder. Deer kicks and wheels with kids in tow. Poor little kids' momma just got shot. Instant weening.

Get down. Go check spot for arrow. No arrow. No blood. Not worried. I know she's dead. Walk back to truck. Drive truck closer. Put a dip in. Winds are 20mph and all that rain is coming after midnight. Go to POI and walk trail for 50 yards. Nothing. Deer blows at me from clearcut behind stand. I reckon its the little 'uns. Look for maybe 5 minutes and decide to get out of there. Go to other club and talk to guys getting out of stand. My dad comes with me and other guy goes and gets walker hound. Its been 1.5hrs since i shot. dog and 4 men find nothing for 2 hrs. call it a night. come back next morning with my dog. he hunts close but i feel he would let me know if he found something.

play story in head again. go to POI and start over. nothing. its misty rain. look for an hour or so in thin woods just knowing she's dead and we just didnt find her the night before. nothing. take dog into area where deer blew...which is nasty nasty thick. i am soaking wet now and dog looks at me like "I dont like this kind of hunting, whatever it is. HUrry up and shoot something." Spend an hour+ in that mess. no deer. no nothing. no arrow. mother farker.

what happenned? what the f#ck else can you do? no blood, no arrow, rain coming. i am not happy about this. felt 100% confident with the shot after i took it. watched it go in. heard the scwack and saw the deer's reaction. she is dead somewhere and i cant find her and that pisses me off. it has only happened one other time to me and that one was gutshot and i couldnt find her the next day.

again, i say f&ck.

if a deer is quartering at 25 steps and say she is at a 45 degree angle, do you want your POI to be a bit farther back than you realize to be sure you exit behind the opposite shoulder?

[coonsqualler98]

Tough one, but in my experience if the arrow is close to the shoulder and a super loud crack is heard, not a pop or a thump, then I have got problems. Sounds like you went the extra mile on the recovery attempt, I suppose the rain or a cold track buggered up the dog. I have made some "perfect" quartering shots with the crack sound and never recovered.

[Stumpknocker]

I have been in ur position before and its not fun, except mine was on a 125" 10pt i sat and watched him at 20yds and waited until broadside. I shot and heard the lound crack watched the deer run off with my arrow. the shot was a little far left than i wanted and i hit shoulder blade(no penetration) followed blood for 600 yds the next morning drop here drop there never found arrow or deer. that could be a chance ,unless you saw you got into the body cavity. just a thought.

[LabLuvR]

Strictly a guess here, but with no blood and no arrow, sounds like a high bone hit to me. No arrow, not good, arrow still in deer. No blood, not good, maybe a high internal hit. Putting all the clues together, my guess it the arrow hit the shoulder/scapula area. Not enough juice at 25 yards for the arrow to make a clean pass through. Doesn't sound good at all.

Shit happens, you did the best you could. Now go whack another.

[Candor]

quartering away, your POI was too far forward. You likely only caught one lung. She will go far before she dies. Your arrow likely entered behind the near shoulder, caught one lung and hung in her brisket (which won't bleed much). I am surprised you didn't find blood from the entrance wound though. But you are hasty and likely missed it.

Other senario is that you hit the near shoulder and maybe one lung or who knows.

Regardless...on a quartering away shot you should envision your arrow path through the deer. You should have been nearly in the guts for your entrance wound if it was true quartering away.

[ccleroy]

if a deer is quartering at 25 steps and say she is at a 45 degree angle, do you want your POI to be a bit farther back than you realize to be sure you exit behind the opposite shoulder?

Ouch.........I try to wait till almost perfectly broadside........but if I have to I make the exit right behind the oppposite shoulder...........loosing any deer w/ archery tackle is rough and a damper on your confidence............

[ccleroy]

Regardless...on a quartering away shot you should envision your arrow path through the deer. You should have been nearly in the guts for your entrance wound if it was true quartering away.

Yep............

[LabLuvR]

I practice with my deer target quartering away and Candor for once in his life is right. Shooting a little farther back should put the arrow right where she needs to be.Matter of fact, I like the quartering away shot about the best of all.

If you don't have a life size deer target by chance, you definately should get one and practice at various angles that allow the best odds for a good kill. I can't emphasize enough how much better you become at envisioning the arrows path after impact. After using a deer target over the last few years, I usually get a shot at a position I've practiced at over and over and over. While not error proof, it definately allows you to practice previewing the shot in your mind before releasing the arrow, setting you up for a much greater possbility of success.

[Glenn]

I'd say you were a little forward from your description. Did it hit where you wanted or did you Gommer the shot?

You're no rookie so tellin you shit you already know isn't doing any one any good. I think your deer was hit in the shoulder and believe it or not I've seen deer live through worse hits. Now if you buried it to the fletch...

...buzzard gotta eat, same as the worm.

As far as quartering shots goes...

If it's right side to you try to get just in front of the last 1 or 2 ribs. This eats liver and heads straight to the pump house.

Left side to you, wait for less of an acute angle. That rumen, in addition to stinking to high heaven, can also hold an arrow if its full of grass.

[HERRINGBONE]

happens to the best of them. get your big ass back up in the stand.

[Swamp Rat]

I'm thinkin' Candor is right on this one.... Plus, a high hit can take a while to start showing blood. I found that out on the ONE deer I have shot with a bow. Hit it high, perfectly through both lungs, but high. It ran like hell out of sight. 45 minutes later, I started trailing, finding VERY little blood...then NOTHING. Waited for a bit, got reinforcements, then started again. On a hunch, I went down the road (nice bush-hogged road and found one spot of blood 75 yards away. Then found the deer piled up right next to the road.

Found out - logically - that a high hit deer will not leave much blood if the entrance and exit are both high.. until the blood fills the cavity. That can take long enough, with a running deer, to have the blood not start showing until a ways down the trail.

[walt4dun]

It sounds like you probably got some gut behind the last rib on the way in (plugging the whole, hence no blood) and hit the opposite shoulder blade (stopping the arrow).

Sometimes they are more quartering than you think too. It could happen and match your senario.

[Sportin' Woodies]

try using this while bowhunting next time.

ive always found it helpful to use one of these while bowhunting.

[Moatsy]

how do you get the fletchings in that little hole?

[Sportin' Woodies]

thatswhatshesaid