feel like s&*t

S

stifler

Guest
New to this sight, and new to bowhunting. I hunted my first year with a bow this year. Passed on a lot of small bucks, and chased a big 28 incher for days. Finally, found a decent three point a shot at him. 45 yard shot, and I thought I hit him pretty good. If the arrow had been 6 inches lower, it would have been a double lunger, but the shot was a little high. Had it been higher, It probably would have broke his back.

Anyway, the deer took off. It was the evening hunt and about 1 hour before dark. I found a little blood, where he was when I hit him. After that, no blood. I got on his tracks, and suprisingly found my arrow. Must have fell out. Anyway, I tried to find him all night. Then again the next morning until I completely lost his tracks. Couldn't find him.

I feel like crap. I hunted muzzleloader my whole life, and have never wounded a deer. I won't shoot at anymore this year, and sometimes wonder about this bow hunting thing. Any of you guys wound a buck before? I used to cus bowhunters, because I was under the impression a lot of bucks took off wounded. I decided to try it, and I'll tell you, you can't beat the rush of shooting at one with a bow. Anyway, I guess I need some encouragement if any of you have any.
 
Stifler the man thing to do here is notch your tag and admit defeat. I have never personally wounded a deer with my bow in the 2 years I have gone but I know the feeling when you cant find the buck you shot. my buck I shot this year his trail would pin prick out and I would litteraly get on my hands and knees to look for blood. Dont give up go back to the area you shot him maybe he went another direction than you think he did. I was 40 feet from my buck and didnt see him til I walked around a knoll and came up behind him then I saw him. Look for different angles check the area where you last saw blood look in different directions you will find him

BBH
 
Thanks,

Ya, I'll have to go back and check further. But I agree, with you. I planned on ending my deer season with him, whether I find him or not. I got the thrill, and it's not like I need the meat. Also there is always elk season. I wish more people thought like us. I've had people tell me about wounding several deer or elk in a single season, I think that is bs. A misconception is archers don't take as many bucks. That might be true, but if you get people doing that, that is as bad on the deer heard as the stupid dwr issueing doe permits. But I guess s$%^ happens. Has anyone ever used those body heat, infared, electronic things?
 
Rough deal. I've never lost an animal with my bow in the 10 years I have been hunting with a bow(or with a rifle). However my last buck was definatly a hard find, it took me hours, and it was more luck than talent that got me the buck. Keep looking, if he is down you'll see crows/magpies etc. How was the penetration on the arrow? Hope you find him.

Kirby

When in doubt, floor it.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you find a big stick.
 
Stifler,

I like your ethics. Sorry to hear about your luck. The only thing I can say is keep practicing. I practice until I am so confident with my shot that everything I do during the shot is automatic and I already know the animal is dead on his feet. Practice until everything feels automatic and you know where your arrow is going to hit. I range everything I shoot before I shoot it. Attitude is everything.
 
I know the feeling. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's good that you feel that way - shows you respect the animal and respect yourself.

I lost a nice bull elk many years ago. I quit archery hunting as a result and just took it up again this year. It took some time to process what happened and what I should do about it. I'd like to think that I'm a better hunter and a better man for the experience - only time will tell.

An idea to consider - find a way to honor that buck. My own experience started me on wildlife service as a volunteer for the DWR. It isn't about guilt, but about making something positive out of a negative.

As for the subject of archery and crippled animals, it's the dark side of the sport and we really need to talk openly about it. I applaud your integrity for doing so.
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-30-06 AT 09:27AM (MST)[p]That is too bad about your buck. There are a lot of things that can happen that can make a good shot, not as good as it looks. It is a horrible feeling to hit and wound an animal and then not be able to recover it. I hit a bull a few years ago and thought I had made a good shot. I spent 3 hours that evening and the full next day combing the area when the bull should have been. I decided to call it quits and two days later I got out my video of the shot and played it on my big screen TV. It was only then that I realized the bull had jumped my string and at the shot had physically dropped at least 10 inches. I could hold my finger on the spot I was aiming for and the shot was perfect. I had to play that over and over to convince myself that I had made a good shot. I also found on the video that I had just barely stuck the bull in the top of the shoulder blade a few inches under his back..
A day later I was up scoping, and seen the bull again, trying to chase cows away from another bull. Seeing him healthy and going strong was great for my mind and confidence. I later went back and made a super shot on a bull that went only 30 yards after the hit...
Keep your chin up and keep practicing, and make the most of your experience and learn from it...
 
I know how you feel. 5 years ago my Dad and I were rifle hunting an area where we hadnt seen a lot of deer but hunted it anyway cuz we had taken deer out of the area is years past. We pack into the area about 2 or 3 miles and would stay out there for 3 days or so. On the way in, I spotted a nice, tall buck and he went over a little knoll. I dropped my pack and ran down the wash and circled around the bottom of the canyon I figured he had gone into. There he was at the top of the ridge with a doe. I had a solid rest and took the shot. I hit him a little far back, he kicked like a mule and he bailed off the backside of the ridge. Knowing I had hit him, but not knowing it was too far back, I ran to the top of the ridge and saw a crap load of blood going down the other side. We trailed it for about 100 yards or so and came across bigger pools of blood where he must've been looking back watching us. About 100 yards later, I hear some crashing in the trees to my right and at about 40 yard I see the buck run in front of me covered in blood. Couldnt get another shot off at him so started trailing the blood from where i last saw him. The blood trail stopped about 40 yards from there. He had bedded down to die but we pushed him. You always hear that if you dont see them go down, wait. We didnt and I lost a nice buck. We scoured the area to no avail. I felt like dog poop. To this day, I wonder if there was more we could have done to recover that buck. It has taught me though that patience is the key to finding a wounded animal. Needless to say, after we had exhausted our search for this buck, we hiked back out and went home. It was just a dismal feeling knowing he died not only because I made a bad shot but on top of that was impatiet. We all make mistakes but we can learn from them. I wish I had that day back. Can't say you'll ever get over it, I haven't.
 
The thing to keep in mind is that you more than likely did not "wound" the buck you killed it. You were just not able to recover it. I know the feeling. I shot a nice bull in 1999 and saw the arrow up to the fletch.I watched him from about 90 yards away for about 10 min. Looked like a dbl lund so I let him walk when he decided to thinking he would just go 100 yards or so. We tracked him for 300 more yards when every drop of water in the sky droped on us. We lost the trail. Looked for two more days, but could not find him. All I can say is it happens. Don't want it to, but it does.
 
IF THEY WERE DEAD . YOU SHOULD BEABLE TO GET THOSE ANIMALS!

BACK 3 YEARS AGO I ARROWED MY FIRST LITTLE 4 POINT ...

I GOT HIM A BROADSIDE , 30 YARDER , LIVER SHOT .

I DECIDED TO GIVE HIM A 1 HOUR SO I SAT , AND THOUGHT ABOU=T MY PLAN ..

I GOT UP , AND WENT TO WHERE I SHOT HIM , AND STARTED TRAILING HIM .

THERE WAS SOME GOOD BLOOD AT FIRST . THEN IT STARTED TO FADE TO A FEW LITTLE DROPS EVERY 200 YARDS.. THERE WAS ALSO 2 INCHES OF SNOW . I TRACKED HIM WHICH FELT LIKE FOREVER . HE WENT 1 1/2 MILES. THAT SOB TOOK A TREK ACROSS THE WASATCH HILLS . ONLY TO PILE UP IN SOME OAK . DON'T GIVE UP THAT WOULDA BEEN A HARD ONE IF IT WOULDN'T OF BEEN FOR THE SNOW . TAKE HER EASY THAT BUCK , AND BULL JUST MIGHT BE LAYING FOR YOU TO GET EM!!
 
I too lost my first archery buck in 7 years of bowhunting...it was not a good feeling and yes it does make you question whether you want to keep on hunting with a bow. Let this be motivation for you to work even harder at all aspects of your game - we owe that to the animals we pursue.

Antlerrick - I hit the buck I lost the same place you hit your bull and he was in an area that I could observe him for 20-30 minutes after he left the area and he seemed to not be hurting much at all. The blood from a wound in that area is minimal at best and there was so much deer activity in the area he was in made it impossible to follow his track after we lost blood. I did go back two more times to comb the area but was never able to find any sign of him at all. We hoped that it would be a wound he would recover from and your story of observing your bull at a later date makes me more optomistic that is what happened.
 
"IF THEY WERE DEAD . YOU SHOULD BEABLE TO GET THOSE ANIMALS!" What is that supposed to mean? What I was saying is some of these animals are very very tough. I watched my brother-in-law arrow a 5X5 in the Gila 9 years ago. That was a dbl lung and that bull kept on going for about an hour. My brother-in-law did all the right things. He left him alone even though we could see him. We ended up having to sneak in and shoot him one more time. When we opened him up he was arrowed dead center lung hit. He was just a real tough critter. I know for a fact that he would have died, but if we had not shot him again he would not have gone down for a while. I think everyone has had or knows someone in their party who has had this experience. In my opinon most (not all) of these animals eventually die. It's a matter of how long and how far they go. I am glad you got you buck, but don't tell me "IF THEY WERE DEAD . YOU SHOULD BEABLE TO GET THOSE ANIMALS". Every experience is different. You may be a Master tracker in the snow, but give it a try on wet ground with the tracks of a couple hundered elk crossing over your bull. Good luck! It's a S@#ty experience anyway about it.
 
A few thoughts to add. I've years of bowhunting and well over 100 animals to the bow. I lost a few early on that were gut shots due to not being quite patient enough. Now I have not, nor has any of my group, lost anything that was a vital hit in almost 10 years.

But the point in that is if you do not find it, do not assume you killed it. I've seen many hit in the flesh and see them a day later with no visible signs.

I'm wondering how accurate you are at 45 yards? Thats a long way for a bow shot. You have to be able to hit a small target, not just somewhere in the deer. You have to know the range exactly... I know lots of folks do it, but some are better and some are lucky and some are like you, unlucky.

Personally from your shot description you only did a flesh wound. 6 inches lower to get the lungs means you were at least a few inches or more over the spine.

Most folks dont' know the anatomy as well as they should. At the front leg, the top 1/3 of the animal is not vital.

A last few things, gun hunters wound a lot more than they think they do. Not a justification, just a fact. I hear them all the time, shot 4 times and he never fell over. must have missed. But they don't even go look. And it gets worse. Folks trying 300 yard shots that don't know what wind does and so on.

Finally a double lung shot means nothing -- IE there is never a certainty that it will kill, there are the rare animals that can take a double lung and survive. I've seen it a few times. Even with an 06 round to the lungs. I say this as most of you laugh and call me a liar, but I've guided enough years on a ranch were we were required by state contract to harvest 300 plus animals a year to stay on a management program. You can see quite a few things at that rate in a hurry.

Don't let it get you down, it happens to all of us at times, my latest loss was with a rifle, hitting an unseen vine that blew up a bullet before getting to the deer and breaking a leg. Felt very bad. Trailed for 5+ hours trying to get a good shot in a swamp and failed. But I'm sure that deer was just fine.

Jeff
 
rost495,
I agree with your statement about a double lung not always being a sure thing. I have killed my fair share of bucks with a bow and to this day I cant believe one of my experinces. I am very confident out to 50 yards. A few years back I hit a few inches high on a mule deer with a massive body. 45 yards and a complete pass through. My arrow was soaked in blood. The buck strolled off and bedded about 150 yards where I could see him. There was only a few drops of blood on the ground and no visible blood on the deer through my spotting scope. I was taught to never push a buck that you knew you hit well. After 3 hours of watching this buck just lay there with absolutly no signs of being hurt I knew I needed to get a closer look. NO blood on the deer. As I got within fifty yards I could hear him weazing and breathing funny. At this point I knew he was not right. Still no sighs of blood. I notched an arrow and started walking slowly at him(he wasn't acting like he wanted to get up at all). When I got to about 20 yards he started dropping his head real slow. I let my arrow down slowly and he perspired about ten minutes later. Almost 6 hours of just laying there like nothing happened. I knew as soon as I started gutting him what happened. It was such a clean pass through(no ribs) his fat sealed the holes up. His lungs never colapsed but there was a hole through both of them. He bled out internally. Some of these big fat bucks can be real tough, but a lesson learned is to never give up. No blood does not mean clean miss all the time. I was fortunate enough to have seen him bed down. If he hadn't I don't know if I had found him.
 
I like your ethics. If I hit an animal and don't recover it, my season is done. I lost my first archery deer years and years ago. I buried my arrow to the fletching. We let him go for about 3 or 4 hours before we set out on the trail. We looke and looked and looked! I even took time off work to try and find him. I never did get the recovery, but I didn't hunt the rest of the season. Crap does happen, just make sure you learn a lesson from this. Keep your chin up, archery is one of the best rushes there is!!!


"The rich....who are content to buy what they have not the skill to get by their own exertions, are the real enemies of game".........Teddy Roosevelt
 
WA

Have had the same experience you did with a WT. Except this one actually clotted up. He was almost exactly as you describe, shot was lower though, very well centered in lungs.

My buddy and I had never seen a deer this big before so we gave him 4 or so hours.

We never saw him till he got up out of his bed. No sign of the Zwickey hit. He walked a 100 yards or so out of sight. We thought it was a similar deer, but went to look and found him dead another 50 yards away.

Which tells me that if you really give them time, and look really good, if they are dead you'll find em.

Another time my buddy shot the one wiht the 06, hit a rib in and out, centered lungs a bit high. We searched for a full day. Only to have the buck killed 3 weeks later. Shot in the neck to see what the damage was. Cartilage in the lungs, hole in 2 ribs, nothing visible on the outside.

Some are just tough, and there is always a chance you can hit and miss enough vital stuff for them to heal. They are truly amazing.

Jeff
 
This might cause a stir, but I am curious. I just moved over to muzzel loader hunting. I hunted archery my whole life. I don't think there are many "archery" hunters left. What I mean, is I think there are a lot of people shooting compounds. A bow that can shoot accurate at 60 yards is not a bow in my opinion. I always shot a Bear I put together, with a Zwicky's and feathers. Always got my buck, but I can't keep up with these compounds. He!!, I was doing good if I could hit one at 20 yards. Not trying to offend anyone, but correct me if I'm missing something.

Sound familiar???
 
Stifler-
That's rough man, sorry to hear about it.
But if you hit it as high as you say, it probably went over the spine and he will live. DO NOT notch your tag IMHO, the spine is surprisingly lower than most people think, if you hit above it, that animal is still alive.

Lien2
 
Well, like many others, I feel your pain. However, you need to absolutely understand that no matter what anyone says, when you are in a live situation bad things can happen.....THE BEST BOWHUNTERS IN THE WORLD HAVE SHOT AND LOST GAME!! It happens! We do our best to prevent it but it can happen.
Zigga, your practice is good but to say that every time you draw your bow, you are 100% confident he is dead on his feet.....man, I would like some of your magic dust! I watched a guy who I know can shoot better than most, shoot a bull at 35 yards. And although he was perfectly confident because he shoots 100+ arrows every day, did not hit this bull exactly where he wanted. After reviewing the video, you could see that the bull reacted so much to the shot that his impact hit the bull 18" from where he was shooting. You could see that where the arrow would have hit without the reaction by the bull was dead on.......I also shot at a bull that by bottom limb hit a rock that i didnt' realize was there and the arrow took off like a wounded duck. Almost ripped the bow out of my hand. Did it make me absolutely sick, yes, but like i said, it happens.
 
Unfortunately, this happens. That is a common spot to arrow a large animal, with a low chance of recovery. Not lungs-not spine. Kind of a Burmuda triangle there. Im glad you recovered your arrow, it says alot about the chances of survival for that animal. It wouldnt be fair for me to say "hes fine" but optomistically, he is. I have documented animals arrowed there, (complete pass throughs) that showed little signs of what had occured.
To all in general.... (this is what I tell myself) Dont shoot unless you are 100% sure you can hit that animal in the vitals, at that distance, without hitting an obstruction and without the animal spooking at your release. Stuff happens, but if you stick to those rules IT RARELY HAPPENS.
I saw a jerk one time fling an arrow at muley buck 100 yards (yes 100) as it bolted away. When I confronted him (calmly of course, ya right) His was dumbfounded why I was angry.... "Whats the most I could loose? Its only an arrow" he said. Ive never forgotten his response and it is a reminder of the Idiots "among" us.
Do all that you can do, and it sounds like you pretty much have. This will be a VERY RARE happening with you if you continue to have good ethical standards.

life IS good
 
I lost a very nice 6x6 bull two years ago from hitting him high. It started raining two 1/2 hours after I shot him and snowed 4" on me in my bivy camp that night. There wasn't much I could do but try to grid off the canyon and hit every bush for as far as I could.

I punched my tag spent and spent 15 days in that canyon trying to find him to no avail.

Keep looking and glassing for him. There's always a chance he's still on his feet and you'll find him again.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Wow, 15 days, If I can't find him in less than that he dang sure ain't dead. But great perseverance.

Jeff
 
You don't understand! I've been trying for a nice bull for 22 years and still haven't gotten one. It's a pretty painful thing to leave 8" of arrow and a RM Titanium broadhead in your dream boat first bull after all that time.

I'm still hoping to find him alive. I want my broadhead back. LOL! :) :)

Cheers,
Pete
 
Stifler, I just wanted to respond to your original post. You state that you hit him high in the chest, but lower than the spine. That area is basically no mans land when it comes to vitals. The lungs sit lower, and the spine rides higher leaving a pocket inside with nothing but air. The arrow passes through the skin and the thin muscle between the ribs and doesn't touch a vital organ on it's way through. The deer has a cut in, and out, and that's it.
I have shot an elk right there with a muzzleloader and the slug went all the way through, then later that day the bull I shot was out chasing cows again like nothing ever happened. My brother in law video taped the shot, and you can see the bullet hit him high in the chest. I watched him for two more weeks just to see if he would die, and he was fine.
On the OnTrack video from the Heaton Ranch in Alton Utah they shoot a buck high in the chest with an arrow while it is watering on a ring tank. The deer jumps in the air and splashes through the water tank and hauls butt. That deer was killed a month later by a rifle hunter on the ranch, and it did have the arrow hole in it's ribs to prove a complete pass through.
Fact is a lot of deer live through the high chest shot. I may not be the man some of you are on this site, but I will bet my 5 bucks the deer is alive and well. I would be out hunting instead of feeling bad.
Travis
 
Ah the mythical void between the spine and the vitals. My little brother hit a Dutton Bull in 04 at 12 yards just behind the shoulders but a little high. 2 days of hands and knees tracking and a couple of bumps from its bed we concluded the bull would survive. The season ended with out a bull tagged. Through a series of bizarre incidents we found his bull almost 2 years later( july 06) very dead only about a quarter mile from were we lost his trail. Its just a tough call and the decision wether to stop hunting is yours and no one elses. I would have a tough time ending a limited entry type hunt. There just too few and far between to let an unfortunate shot ruin the hunt. It definately puts a dark cloud over something you looked forward to for so long. We just need to do all we can to avoid the wounding but bad ##### does happen.
 
Ummm the void is not mythical at all. It exists and its size has a lot to do with whether the lungs are full at that instant or not. It is a TINY spot but is there. And even if the void is missed just nipping the back edge of lungs is no guarantee.
 
It does seem like a easy excuse... Personally, I suspect most that think they hit the void, actually hit over the spine. Sorry i misunderstood your post.
Jeff
 
This void that is described, Could you expound on it? I personally don't know how it could possibly exist. The lungs in any animal or human are permantly affixed to the outer limits(Ribs)of the thorasic cavity( unless a hemo or pnemothorax developes). Lung expantion is largely a function of lateral expantion of the chest wall and movement of the diahram. Even in full exhalation your lungs are very much still full of air. They don't fill up and deflate like a ballon. They become larger in size upon inhalation them slightly smaller on exhalation. The air exchange that takes place is usually about 1000 ml but your lungs have a residual volume at all times much larger than the volome of air exchange by a breath cycle. My main point is when you look at the skeletal structure of and elk or deer the lungs take up the entire internal volume of the rigcage in the thorasic cavity. So while the hit in the area being discussed doesn't lend itself to a good bloodtrail, it still hits lungs and most animals will die of this wound unfound because there is no blood to follow to the final resting place. Also it will take longer for the animal to bleed out cause the vasculature in the lungs is effected by gravity, Most of the blood pumped to the lungs will be present in the lower 2/3 of the lungs.
 
I may not recall correctly but every deer I've ever cleaned, the lungs are not attached all the way around to a perimeter. So they can expand and contract. Nope not like a balloon, but there is sure the chance that a small cavity can exist from what I can see.

As to animals having to die because a lung was punctured, sorry, way to much info in the negative to listen to taht one these days...

And I've seen more than my fair share of a single lung puncture either surviving the season in fine shape or being killed weeks later, none the worse for wear.

Yes the blood trails on high hits are tough to follow, but simply following the tracks, and finding a drop of blood here and there every 50 feet or so is more than enough. Have followed much further on tracks and sign only, with basically no blood after the hit.

The thing is if you follow them until you can't anymore, you'll find most every deer that is fatally wounded, assuming you didn't start the trailing prematurely related to the quality or lack thereof, regarding the location of the hit.

Jeff
 
Well I guess I should have prefaced my comments with while deer and Elk are alive and there chest cavity its sealed the lungs are pleral fluid keeps the lungs adhered to the pleral wall( other name for the inside of the ribs). It's like a suction cup effect. This suction can only be broken if air or large amounts of fluid comes between the lung and chest wall. when that happens its a pnemothorax, this will cause death if not corrected. We bowkill most animals by a doublelung shot meant to collapse both lungs by introducing a hole or pathway for air to be introduced outside the lung causing a pnemothorax, We also count on cutting several main pulmonary veins and arteries the pumonary veins having high pressure being pumped from the right ventricle of the heart. This causes major flooding of the chest cavity upgrading the situation to a Hemopnemothorax. This is very lethal.
By the way I do agree that not all high lung hit animals die but most will. A reason a high lung hit might not be lethal is the skin or fat may move over the hole keeping air out( less chance of this with a good 3 or 4 blade large cutting diameter broadhead) Also less and smaller pulmonary veins and arteries on the outer border of the lungs causing the bleeding to be less severe and slower because as the distance from the heart increases pressure drops off too.
I had a dog ,yellow lab, that was shot through the lung while he was running across a field . Since his skin was stretched upon inpact , when he was relaxed the hole through his skin and the one in the chest wall didn't line up and lucky for him not enough air got in, to cause his lungs to totally collapse. It was also above midline and after 2 days of watching him real close as well as fluid replacement to augment the blood loss he pulled through. Wild animals don't have the advantage of being taken to the vet after they are shot. And if my dog had been shot with an arrow tipped broadhead instead of a small varmit caliber his outcome would likely have been very different.
I guess my point of tring to dispell this myth is that so people will get on their hands and knees and keep looking for blood while following the track along the escape route. Because there will likely be very little blood from such a hit until the blood level inside the chest cabvity reaches the level of the high hole and starts spilling out. Chances are the deer or elk will be found close after.
If guys keep telling themselves there is a mythical pocket where there are not lungs they will quit the search, telling themselves it was a flesh wound and a non lethal hit. Meanwhile the animal lays very dead 1/4 mile away with very little or absolutely no blood trail to it.
 
I would go back to hunting that same area, looking for the same buck, I think you will find him still on his feet, But I would go back HUNTING for him carrying my bow.
 
Idahoelk

I commend you for the comments.

I hear what you are saying and you are more politically correct than I, especially when you talk about a dead animal a quarter mile away.

I'd never think of stopping looking for any kind of hit in that short of a distance.

I also know I'm right about the non lethality of certain hits, but your point is much more correct for the average joe hunter.

I get too far ahead of myself. I just assume that no one gives up without a day of searching, and going a long distance on the trail and grid searching. I know how tough it can be, I once had a open on impact wasp head fail to open on a lung shot. NO blood trail at all. Had to follow tracks very carefully for a long time, laying a trail of tissue and finally loosing it but knowing it was a lethal hit regardless, finally found him about 8 hours later by grid search...Not all folks have the dedication to keep looking. Much less a LOT of rifle hunters that won't go look if its not a bang flop. I watched a long MZ shot a few years ago and as my buddy fired the deer took a step. He was convinced that he must have missed after we looked for some time. Took going back to the shooting position etc... to get a good mark to find his tracks and follow tracks for some couple hundred yards before just a bit of blood, then 70 yards a a bed with a bit of blood, and then the buck was only about 30 more yards down the hill. Most folks would not search past 30 minutes past not finding any sign.

ALWAYS look till you can't do any more.

Jeff
 
rost495, Thankyou. I also know what you mean about being a human Bloodhound. I had a friend bowshoot an elk in a hellhole. He told us about the shot and that he looked and looked but couldn't find the elk. I ask him about the hit, very pointed questions to determined where exactly he hit the elk. I then said that elk is dead. You see he had given up after 40 minutes of searching finding little sign and didn't want to go back in the 3 miles to go look for the elk. We insisted( my brother and I) and we found that Elk 1 mile from where he shot it face down in a small creek. We had blood every 100-125 yards just enough to cover the head of a tack.Point is without determination and a knowledge of how certain injury effects the ability to live, certain people will give up rather easily mending their minds with thoughts that the animal will be fine, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Pretty much unless you actually see that same Buck or bull with the wound you gave it. You should assume it is dead.
I should point out to the starter of this thread that I feel for you and I too have bowhunted long enough that I have lost an animal. It sucks and to be blunt you never forget it or get over it totally. I lost a bull Elk 2 years ago my first 6X6, I looked for 12 hours for that bull. I gave up and went home. Six days later I went back cause it was bothering me so bad still, And I found that Elk, Thanks to 2 magpies and the smell. I got my tag out and notched it, I salvaged the antlers and Ivories but the maggots had beat me to the rest. Things are not always what they seem. I found that bull in a location totally opposite and uphill from the direction that he ran downhill after the shot. Go back out and hunt the same area and keep your eyes and nose open while your hunting. You may still find that buck.
 
I have read countless stories in all the biggame magazines about hunters that have killed animals and when they skin them out find healed up broadhead wounds in them. So it definately happens. Don't know how often but I know it happens.
 
For those that believe that there is a void, go to Bowsite.com and do a search.
IT DOES NOT EXIST, and there are pictures to prove it. Not to mention very knowledgable people commenting on it. It is a lot of reading, but it will settle the issue once and for all. :)

Lien2
 
About 10-12 years ago we had a camp set up in Kaibab and a guy took a shot at a buck with a wierd antler do to a broken pedicle. He claimed he hit the buck and we looked and looked and couldn't find him. Well we felt he had shot above the spine. Well the next weekend one of the guys is sitting in that same stand and shoots a buck and he walks around 30 yards and piles up. We take the buck back to camp after gutting him and low and behold when we were skinning him we found a wound below the spine and high in the rib cage and a second wound much lower in the lungs that proved fatal. The higher wound was clean and not infected and had started healing and was in very close proximity to where the first guy had said he shot him. The second guy had taken only one shot! It was the same Deer as described by the first guy to a tee in camp many times over and had a horizontal wound from a two blade broadhead and a fatal wound from a Muzzy 3 blade. I saw the deer and the wounds and can tell you that Deer was very much alive after a week and both the first hunter said that it was the same Deer. Both shots were within 25 yards and the description matched perfectly so I have to say that this was indeed the same Deer the rack was too well described and unique enough for it not to be. Nothing's certain in archery.
 
I guess that proves that deers lungs don't extend all the way up to the spine, Sheesh.
I have seen guys with bullets in their brains, Talking and acting perfectly normal. Looked at the x-rays in awe, wondering how they could still be alive. By your guys reasoning, I could say that there is a void in the cranium and that if you shoot someone in the void they will live.
Most of the stories of broadheads found in animals killed later are gonna be shots into the shoulder or brisket ect.
Good luck hunting guys. The bulls started really screaming here yesterday.
 

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