LOST 2 THIS YEAR

S

SLIVER

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Well to start this story off I shoot a 99 Hoyt Tenacity at 66 lbs, Grimm Reaper 100 gr broadheads on Gold Tip 5575 arrows.

I made a great vital shot on a nice 20" 4x5 buck at 29 yards, complete pass through. He bled good for about 100 yards and then busted out into an farmers field and that is all I could find. I had 6 people looking for him for 2 days. Nothing.

2 days later I made another great shot on a spike x 2 bull elk at 21 yards. My arrow penetrated about 14". He ran 100 yards, bleeding really good, then the arrow kicked out and about 50 yards later he stopped bleeding. We had 6 people looking for him for 4 hours. Nothing.

I don't know what went wrong or why I lost these animals. Any help/opinions would be much appreciated.

THANKS

}}-SLIVER-->
 
See you gotta understand man. A lot of animal, if it's a passthrough will clot up really fast. They are bleeding internally but they go on what i've called a "Death Run" Sometimes they can run for 3-400 yards. No blood. That's why i've always been careful on my shots, I don't take a lot of em, if there is 1 thing, 1 little thing that doesn't sit right I will put my arrown down and either move or wait. The last weekend of the hunt I was on a 26" 4x4 for almost 4 hours. I got behind a tree that they were feeding to and I figured I would have a great shot. Wind was in my face, everything was perfect. Till I realized the tree I was sitting behind had 2 beds in it. Low and behold there were two bucks feeding right to it. I hotted it out, got to w/i 20 yards above them, waited and waited and waited, Finally got them to stand up downhill at 6:30, they both put their heads down, I pulled back and my arrow fell off the knock. Poof gone. Sorry I got off topic, I was just rambling :p



-Cass
 
Without knowing your exact arrow placement, the best advice I can give you is to wait longer. Nothing ties my stomach in knots more than losing an animal. Best advice I can give you is after you take the shot, sit still for a while and then quitely sneak out of the area and go eat breakfast or dinner or whatever, but give it an hour or two before you go look. A lot of times they will pile up within 5 minutes, but it's very common for them to take an hour or more to blead out and expire. Way to often you hear of people getting too anxious and not waiting long enough--I'm not necessarily criticizing you of this, but you asked for some opinions. Good luck!
 
WOW 2 great vital shots and you cant find your animals, must NOT HAVE BEEN A VITAL SHOT OR EVEN CLOSE TO A (GREAT) SHOT

DO YA THINK MAYBE?
 
The Grim Reaper mechanical broadhead like most mechanicals opens after it has penetrated into the animal leaving a less than desirable entrance hole. The Rocky Mountain Snyper is one of the only mechanicals that opens on entry leaving an awesome entry hole and conseqently an incredible blood trail. Your choice of broadhead may have played a factor in the non-recovery of your animals. My 2 cents worth. Shoot the Snypers!! I can send you some photos of the entry holes these things make...even on elk. When I round up the photos I'll email them to you.

Carl
 
The deer I shot last year with GrimReapers opened right up before it cleared the ribcage. /shrug


-DallanC
 
If the shots are like you said they were, the animals are out there dead. Waiting to be found. This is what gives archers a really bad name. Wounded game.

Good advice has been given in giving more time to the animals to expire instead of pushing them. You posted earlier this year about never losing game. This is a tough lesson. We all learn from it though.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"
 
Shoot fixed blades, Wait at least 30 minutes, much longer if the hit is questionable, and know that if you hit them perfectly most animals won't get out of sight. Very rare to lose 2 animals on "perfect" hit's. Typically you will hit high but lose the arrow in flight. Good luck in the future. This topic is always best discussed amongst friends and not on line!

Chad
 
I agree with Chad we have hunted togeather many times so I know he can verify what I say. I used to test broadheads for NAP and when they came out with the Spitfire I took the very first six heads down to Texas.

They performed excellent at close range shots. Remember mechanical heads were developed to fly like field points to compensate for faster setups and tuning issues.

Expandable heads use up a cetain amount of your kinetic energy to open. Bottomline is you want as much kinetic energy as possible. A good fixed blade will give you the best retention of energy.

I have taken over thirty animals with my bow and the only animal I have never found was shot with an expandable head. That animal was possibly claimed by another hunter while I waited him out.

The next thing to clarify is what are you calling a perfect hit?

Like Chad stated sometimes we think we get a perfect hit but in reality it isn't. A heart shot animal will loose massive amounts of blood very quickly and the blood pressure to the brain stops. This animal can cover the country dead on its feet but wont go far. Lung shot animals take a bit longer but not much. Liver shots I wouldn't push for at least 3 to 4 hours. I can argue this till the sun goes down.

All things concidered tracking is as important to bowhunting as all your preseason preparation. When the blood stops thats when you become a thinker stay calm evaluate your situation and what the previous blood trail has taught you.

I have recoved deer over 600 yards away after loosing the blood trail. This has happend after what I thought was a perfect shot but after closer examination wasn't quite what I thought.

Tough lessons to learn but hopefully these experiences will come to mind the next time this type of situation comes up.

And if any of you reading this are bowhunting antis I'd love to educate you about the reality of the effectiveness of archery equipment!!!
 
The only other thing I might add is make sure your blades are razer sharp. I've known buddies that shoot there broadheads 30-40 times into foam targets and never re-sharpen the blades. Getting clean pass-throughs with sharp blade will take a lot longer to clot up. If you shoot an animal perfect there will be blood everywhere all the way to your animal.

My 2 cents,

IB
 
Get back out there and search again. Look, try to follow the smell of a dead animal if you can pick up on one. Look for crows in the area. If you say you hit him good he is dead and needs to be found.
 
Thanks for all of the positive info and suggestions. I have been hunting all of my life and these are the first animals I have ever lost! It makes me sick to think that I did not retreive my game.I came to my MM friends for honest advise and most of you are very good at helping. I realize that talking online about wounding an animal doesn't really look good, but I was honestly looking for suggestions to avoid this in the future. Both the shots were great shots and if I could do it again I would not change my shot placement. I feel confident in my hunting skills and would like any more positive info.

Thanks,

}}-SLIVER-->
 
cpugsie,
I don't think your statement is true 100% of the time. I just shot a deer with a Rocket Steelhead and it opened right up on impact. In fact, the entrance hole was larger than the exit hole. I only use these on our small deer here in So. California. When hunting anything larger, fixed blades are in order.
 
Sorry to hear about the loss of two animals. Some would say that it is not wise to post it online for fear of the Anti's. I say thanks for sharing. After rifle hunting for a long time this year was my first year going after elk with a bow. I had three other hunters with me and not one of them had ever hunted elk with a bow either. Any knowledge that I can pick up between now and next season will be useful and some have posted good sound advice to you, such as not pushing the animal, etc. All of this helps us that have less experience. After our hunt this year I was second guessing myself for not taking a shot that was somewhat questionable on a nice juicy cow. Hearing about your experience makes me feel I made the right choice passing her up. Especially since I would have probably had a hard time waiting to track her being it would be my first bow kill. Better luck next hunt!
 
Some good replies. I'd never consider using a mechanical broad head (don't get in arms, I'm not saying they can't be effective, but don't trust them). A fixed blade head or mechanical either way won't do much good if they aren't sharp and placed well. Often we recover our animal to find the shot wasn't exactly where we thought.

Fuel for the anti's? Sure, but if they don't have stories and facts, they will just make some up to use in their arguments and present them as "facts". It may be better that we use these forums to better educate each other to the benefit of the animals. Could go either way on it. If the anti's arguments are that hunters waste the lives of unrecovered animals, then they need to outlaw driving. No doubt far more critters killed by automobiles than by mistakes by hunters.
 
I'm 32 now bout to be 33 and have bowhunted everyyear since I was 18 . I too lost an animal in 96 , I took a bad shot on a cow elk also shooting open on impact heads . Long story short , I learned a hard lesson on a few things and since have experianced great success many times . Guys if we can't log onto here without wandering who we are gonna upset , why do it anymore . I don't think he was trying to get into a pissing match , just looking for some advice . Hunting , whether it be with gun , bow or what ever is an everlasting , never ending learning . I learn something new every time out , and have picked up on some helpfull stuff from some good people here at MM , so lets not bash each other . I agree with a couple posts , especially on the shots being that good of shots , and waiting for some time. Sliver , all I can say is sorry man , I know the feeling , but you'll have to relive those shots over and over , and come to realize they weren't as good as you may have thought , or maybe you didn't wait long enough , but some thing went wrong , wished it hadn't but it did . Good luck.....NMHUNTNUTT
 
Its funny, I have read over this post all day and to be honest have mixed feelings about some of the replies. I agree with everything NMHUNTNUTT just posted. I was there for the second animal Sliver hit and can vouch for him. It was not a poor hit and was not a poor blood trail. I helped track and spent a lot of time looking for the animal. The bull bled great for several hundred yards and then just slowly stopped. We sent guys in circles each direction for a great distance from where the last speck of blood was and still had no luck. This was a crappy deal, and unfortunately can be a part of bowhunting. Some people are quick to judge, but wait until you find yourself in that position and you will re-think your strong opinions. Sliver is an ethical bowhunter that just didn't have things fall together for him. And FYI, we gave that bull almost 1 1/2 hours before starting on the trail. Bowhunting teaches me new things each year. Live and learn, what else can be said. I agree with NMHUNTNUTT, lets not bash a fellow hunter who is reaching for opinions that he could possible learn from.
 
Tough place to be in. I think all of us will be at that point at some time. I'm not slamming anyone BUT, it is a question we should all ask ourselves before we hit the woods....If I believe I have made a killing shot on an animal,and can't find it, am I done for the year??
If not, how many animals are you going to shoot in a season before you stop? Been there, done that. It is a tough question and you should be ready to answer it for yourself.
 
Anyone who hunts with archrey tackle long enough will lose an animal.........GUARANTEED! Sorry to hear about losing those animals, but to those that are bashing you for it, ignore them. Learn from this and move on.
Without knowing exactly where you hit them I can't help much, but some advice has been given that I agree with:
1.) Wait longer before you take up tracking them.
2.) Switch broadheads.

Good luck.

Lien2
 
everyone makes mistakes, for those that accused him of being from PETA, do you know anyone that belongs to PETA? I doubt any of their members have visited this site looking for ammo, and if they did any post we make would give them ammo, killing to them is wrong whether you retrieve your animal or not. The question is how many animals would you hit and not retrieve before you call it a season? My friends brother shot two a few years back and that was sickening to me that he didn't really seemed bothered by losing both of them.
 
I have looked at this post the last two days and have had a lot of mixed feelings too. I was also there hunting with Sliver on the second hit. I will vouch for him until my dying breath. We looked and looked for hours. I feel that I am a pretty ethical hunter and I will be the first to tell you Sliver is as well. It literally torks me to hear people bash on him for this post just because if you knew him or the situation i can promise there would be no bashing at all. Anyways I am appreciative as well for all the positive input and info. and for the negative I am going to assume those who post must not get out in the field as much to experience what hunting really is all about and what all comes with it.
redelkarcher>>>------------------->
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-22-05 AT 10:13PM (MST)[p]There are very few here bashing, but most just stating their opinions on the why and what to do about it.

I lost a great bull last year from a very high hit right behind the shoulder blade. Great blood for 120 yards then nothing, zilch, zip, nada.. I waited 2 1/2 hours before the clouds started to darken, then 4 hours after the shot it started to pour rain then snowed 3" on me while I bivy camped that sleepless night. I spent a total of 15 days up in that bowl searching over 8 square miles to no avail.

Needless to say, it's like a needle in a haystack and the chances are few that you'll find him, but it's the only proper action you can take.

With all that said, 4 hours is hardly enough to ease your mind. 4 days starts to become enough to call it nearly hopeless.

Cheers,
Pete
 
I watched my cousin shoot a bull this year, It was a quartering head on shot, the arrow penetrated to the fletchings, the bull went a 1/4 mile laid down, he waited 2 hours bumped the bull, we gave the bull 2 more hours tracked him 1/2 mile more, got rained out, spent the next 3 days looking for a bull that we just knew to be dead, the video of the shot showed the penetration, there was very little doubt the bull was dead, so imagine my suprise when over a week later, while I was hunting the same area that I spook a stoved up elk, and then the next day the guys I usually hunt with called him in. You never know with wild animals man, if you don't hit them perfect they can go for a long time, while your looking for birds they might still be limping around. If you archery hunt much, you'll have plenty of animals that are hard to track, stop bleeding, or the weather turns bad. All the advice I can give is stick with it.
 
Great link Chef!

I was hoping for the same thing this year, but alas, all of last years wallows and rubs are still there untouched this season and "my" bull was nowhere to be found.

I think my 9 days and 125 miles of elkless drudgery this year was penance for my lost one last year.

Hopefully I'll draw my Deep Creeks permit next year and I can put this one behind me.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Great article! Congrats to him for finally getting that bull and putting his mind at ease.
It's funny though, how he believed his shot was a good one and that the animal had to be dead, when it actually must've only penetrated a couple of inches into a rib. Glad it worked out though.

Lien2
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-05 AT 08:48PM (MST)[p]And to think some are as they say sick or have their hunt ruined by the waste from poachers!
IT HAPPENS!
Bow hunters lose wounded game somewhere down the road!
How do ya feel now "AR361" fella!
rm
 
Shoot fixed blades. Wait before you trail. A gut shot deer will bed soon if they are not pushed. You also may have shot below the backbone and above the lungs. That is no mans land. Six people tracking can sometimes be a hindrance. You have to stay on blood or tracks. Crawl looking for tracks or blood. I hunt whitetails in Mississippi and the main thing I have learned is to go back to camp for a cup of coffee and wait. We have too much heavy cover to push one. At times, animals will go to water. Always check water as a last resort.
 
Sliver I am 48 and put more arrows out of my bow at game per year than any I know.If you have hunted a lot whether it be gun or bow you will loose game its just the facts.Bow hunters seam to be a little better at telling that they hit one than gun hunters are.Many times while guiding many rifle hunters were sure they had missed till I had found blood.Most rifle hunters think if it doesn't fall right there they missed---thats not the real world!!!A double lung shot elk will make a hundred yards maybe! I have watched three big bulls pile up less than 80 yards just this year after being shot middle lungs.When you get a complete pass thru you get lots of blood no matter how high the shot if it is thru the lungs.Every hunter that hunts a lot will loose game,it not what we want it just a part of life.I have hunted with some of the bowhunting greats and they ALL loose one now and then,they just don't tell anyone!I have also guided some very big named rifle hunters and they always don't make the best shots that they write about.Just put it behind you and move on.See ya Mav
 

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