SO What would you do....

[41 Mag]

You have been practicing with a bow for most of the year, and having a ball hunting deer and hogs. One particular weekend your with a friend on his property in search of some porkers to fill up the freezer with. Bearing in mind it is also deer rifle season as well. So you had out knowing the area, knowing that your chances for a hog or hogs, are pretty high, so your planning on hitting the first one with your bow, and then following up on more with a rifle, if the opportunity presents it's self, knowing that the hogs probably won't leave the area after only one being hit with an arrow.

So your sitting there with both rifle and bow, when all of a sudden a really nice buck comes out at 19yds, looking right at you. You think WOW what an awesome buck to get with my bow and the game is on. You manage to get the bow drawn back, and hold until he presents a shot, and you take it. Granted it night not be the very best shot to be taken but it was quartering towards you and you were holding steady on the arm pit when he stepped forward with that leg. At the shot the deer turns away from you and runs somewhat in a half circle before stopping some 60 or so yard away, with the only thing being visible is his rear end. He then proceeds towards a road where you know he will step into the open. Also when he does step out, he will be showing the offside shoulder, and so far hasn't shown much if any sign of a fatal hit. In the back of your mind is the thought of tracking a very nice buck through some very unfriendly river bottom terrain.

What would you do at this point?

 

[sumpnz]

If legal to do so, shoot him with the rifle. If not, and you think you can do it, try to hit him again with another arrow. In that case though, make sure he's wounded first. You wouldn't want to try that long of a bow shot (at least I wouldn't, maybe you're good enough for it though) on a deer that isn't already wounded.

ETA: The above assumes waiting until he steps into the road so you have a clear view of a vital area.

 

[61chalk]

A good double lung shot will in most cases take a deer down in seconds, however if you observed this deer for some time...how long did you observe him before he disappeared...? If it was for some time, an you didn't see him go down, wait around 20 min. or so...then I would go where you shot an look for sign, I look for blood with bubbles, this will tell a lung....very little blood might tell me its bleeding entenally...did my arrow pass through or still in him...from your angle you may of hit low of the lungs, I would of shot above the armpit, you probably may of hit behind the heart an under the lungs, from a treestand that would not be good. On level ground you might of got one lung an in deeper got back to the liver. Worse case is you just got the guts...deer will die but may take a long time an cover alot of ground without leaving an blood trail...so, best to wait a few hours before tracking....an hope deer beds down an givin time will bleed out....tracking to soon can bump him up an then he may very well go so far away you'll never find him...I always try an wait at least 30 min. before tracking, unless I hear him go down an know I got a perfect shot. Even when tracking, if I go over 100 yds an still haven't found him, I'll stop an wait or come back later...

 

[RockinU]

Depending on where in Texas you are I would pass on the second shot in case the first was a clean miss. If it wasn't I would call me to bring my tracking dogs...

 

[41 Mag]

I was hunting on the ground, the deer came in to my right and was slightly elevated from my position, him being on the same road as mentioned above. Behind him is somewhat of a shallow draw which runs along side the road. At the shot with the bow, he turned away from me to his left, and down through the draw back around to my left until he was out far enough for the ground to allow me to see him through the brush. The road also continued on past this position so that he was headed again to cross it and be in the open.

At this point, not having binoculars, I already had the scope on him and was looking for any sign of a hit with the arrow. The terrain is Trinity river bottom, and makes South Texas brush look like a prairie. This particular spot is one area that you can see almost a hundred yards through the stuff, but a shot would generally only be around 50 at most, except for at the pipelline or road.

Your right about the lower shot which was why I was holding on the pit instead of a little higher. I was also figuring on him ducking some as well which would have put the hit a tad higher also. The time from the initial shot with the arrow until he stepped up on the road was less than 30 seconds, I am sure, but it seemed like quite a long time. In my mind the worse case was that the arrow was inside him as I did not see any sign of blood on his offside shoulder when he stepped onto the clear road.

Experience told me best case in this was a clean miss, worst case gut shot and long day ahead, with little to nothing to track him by. So, I took the safe bet and checked him on the ground,


After the shot with the rifle he crossed the road then paralleled it for about 30yds before giving it up. I couldn't see him after he got across the road due to the thick brush. I gave him around 5 minutes before I got up and went to look for my arrow which was the opposite direction from where he was at this point. I found it stuck in a tree which was behind and to the right of him when I shot, and it was a clean miss. What I did not notice when I was aiming was several small branches which were below my sight but probably right in line with the path of the arrow. I am somewhat new to hunting with a bow, and every time out I learn something, this time I learned to check ALL around my shot area for anything which might deflect my arrows. Not sure just which one did it, but from where he was standing to where the arrow was something had to.

This all being discovered after the fact left me feeling somewhat good about the action I took, but had I not taken the shot with the rifle, and found blood and no arrow, I would have been miserable.

When I released the arrow, the shot picture I was looking at should have put it just behind the right leg which was stretched out, and had it coming out just about centered lengthwise of his offside ribs, and just a little over center. When I drew he was looking directly at me, he looked hard to his left, my right, when he did he turned enough to step forward with the right leg giving me the best shot I thought he would offer, before leaving the area. There were 5 does which had already busted me from the road only 10yards or so in front just as he came up out of the draw, so he already knew something was up, and was getting ready to leave the scene.

Any way you slice it he is a very nice buck for the area and I am proud to have had the chance I did. He is just over 19" inside, and 21 1/2" outside, making him just a tad bigger than another one I got from this same area back in '05. He might not win any contest, but then again that isn't why I hunt. It has been since '05 that I have taken a deer with a rifle and between then and now I have let an awful lot like this, or bigger simply walk on by in hopes they would be around the next year. Had I known for sure, that I cleanly missed this one, I would have let him go on as well, but he did not deserve to go on with an arrow buried in him.

 

[sumpnz]

You done good.

Nice buck!

 

[61chalk]

Nice buck...must be nice to carry a rifle for backup to bowhunting....your right
about those small limbs...something 1/16" in dia. can cause havoc with an arrow in flight.

 

[41 Mag]

Nice buck...must be nice to carry a rifle for backup to bowhunting....your right
about those small limbs...something 1/16" in dia. can cause havoc with an arrow in flight.

Well archery only season runs the month of Oct. then the general season opens the first weekend of November and runs through the 1st weekend or so of Jan. We can hunt the whole combined seasons with a bow as I have for the most part been doing, in hopes of getting a big buck or a big hog.

This particular trip we were actually hoping to put some big hogs on the ground for sausage and tamales. The area I was in has a couple of large packs which generally come through, and use a couple of trails which were right where I was set up. The initial plan was to shoot the biggest with my bow, then hopefully dump a couple more with the rifle before they all took to the thick stuff.

As to the sticks, and stuff deflecting arrows, yep something new I am learning after many years of hunting with a firearm. I also forget to use the peep, LOL, as I did on a ten point I missed early in October. I had the right pin no him though. I am getting better though, I was a little shaken when this one stepped up, but settled down and went through the mantra, settled the right pin "in" the peep, relaxed and followed through on the shot. What I didn't do was make sure that the path below the sight was as clear as the one I was looking through, and that was the important one.

 

[nastynatesfish]

what a coinsidence

my buck from nov. 5th
www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=111939&stc=1&d=1262095794
www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=111940&stc=1&d=1262095831
and my hog from nov. 5th
www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=111941&stc=1&d=1262095895
glad i had the bow with me the hog came into the open and shot him and while going out the drag him back the buck came out at 450 yrds