The Taboo Subject. Loosing deer after the shot.

[Marker]

Its happened to me a few times. The shot looks good, climb down to check the arrow, follow the blood then the blood trail becomes less and less until its impossible to follow. Search until dark, grid search the next day, nothing. So I start to think, what went wrong. Did not wait long enough, broadhead hit bone, arrow hit a twig, gut shot, deer jumped the string, etc.

I have noticed an uptick on this point on the YouTube postings related to finding deer after the shot so I will summarize my related findings:

• Ranch Fairy (he picked that name!) stated in one post he was losing 50% of shot deer in his discussion around expandable vs fixed broadhead.
• Seans outdoors advised not to use expendables due to penetration problems.
• Death by bunjie shows (in an unscientific test) broad head penetration can depend on arrow speed (expendables favour higher speeds).
• Whitetail Habitat Solutions addressed this by saying wait 5 hours before the search starts unless you see the deer drop dead.
• Hunting the public had a tracking dog handler who stated the biggest mistake was poor shot placement.
• Almost ALL advise a LOW shot due to deer jumping the string, also to note a low shot will produce a better blood trail otherwise the lungs fill with blood and if the deer does not die quick it does not leave a trail (as in my case this happened twice).

Of the methods discussed, there seems to be a consensus of opinions:

Fixed blades
Shoot Low (aim at heart)
Wait 5 hours before tracking
Use a tracking dog

On the note of a tracking dog, the Big Game Blood Trackers of Ontario has some on standby (at least when I called last), but there seems to a be shortage of tracking dogs on the West side of Toronto (Burlington-Hamilton). Almost any dog can be trained to follow blood as its in their nature. It takes a few months of training to get up to a deployable level but dogs usually learn the 'game' in the first three or four sessions. If anyone is interested in starting a dog or training on blood trails PM me if you are close to Burlington for some friendly no cost sessions using the method of your choice, or the Kocher method (what I use), I have trained a bloodhound to level two trailing using NASAR standards and hold TD title.

[Species8472]

Good post. Can't believe that Fairy guy is losing 50% - I would just shoot myself at that point - 50% chance Fairy would miss anyways based on that performance.

As far as waiting 5 hours for every bow shot goes - i think that is excessive. On an easy gimme shot where the deer in question does a clear donkey kick and recovered arrow shows good blood i don't see the need for that even if it does not drop in sight. Any doubt than sure waiting is a good idea.

Biggest thing i believe is patience. Wait for a good shot - don't let adrenaline get the better of you and take a rushed or marginal shot that you later regret. That will solve most problems. Still gonna be the odd thing happen to be sure. I have taken over 60 with the crossbow - lost 2 - none since i started using the hound on difficult recoveries.

[DanE]

if you haven't lost a deer yet chances, are you haven't shot enough deer or you're going to very soon
the few key things I can suggest are:
practice lots and when you're done practicing practice more.
use a sharp broadhead (no Excalibur boltcutters are not even close to sharp)
use a cut on contact head
I'll take KE and momentum over flat-out speed everyday
get good at judging a deer's state of nervousness and aim accordingly
1/2h isn't enough time to wait after a shot. 1h is better, 1.5h is even better
track very slowly

[glen]

#1. Taking a shot that’s out of range.

[hunter06]

Agree with everything except wait 5 hours in thick brush you may know your shot is good but not see the deer go down because you can not see 50 yards.

[Gilroy]

Agree with everything except wait 5 hours in thick brush you may know your shot is good but not see the deer go down because you can not see 50 yards.

With the number of coyotes and wolves in the bush I am pretty nervous leaving deer any amount of time.

[hunter06]

Exactly, I know a guy who was dogging and shot a deer. He came back 45 minutes later and a wolf had already helped himself to the hind quarters.

[MihajloSimsic]

Waiting 5 hours just because you didn't see the deer drop is excessive. Almost all the deer I've double lunged I didn't see drop. It's unrealistic in most scenarios.

Find the arrow and first blood. Read the signs and put all the information together to decide.
Also in terms of Expandable broadheads, most archery equipment these days has more than enough energy to penetrate with most expandables. The only archery equipment you should be worrying about penetration is with low poundage compounds or traditional gear.

[JUDGE]

Excaliber boltcutters work very well for me never had a deer go more than 50 yard after the shot.

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

The SWAT XMag broadheads launched from my Scorpyd Deathstalker drain my game rather quickly.

This season's archery buck was literally down in seconds. I heard him crash and the blood trail was truly impressive. He was perfectly broadside standing at 28 yards. Shot was a tad high but double lung and still managed to clear 80yards before crashing.

I have lost a few over the years too. All due to poor shot placement from not taking my time waiting for the deer to turn, no other reason. I learned my lesson and won't take risky shots anymore and it has paid off.

Aim small miss small!