Im sick. I went on my first bow hunt this afternoon and it was a great hunt..... BUT.....Well i got in my stand around 4:00, at 4:30 my neighbor decided to get his tractor and mow two strips around his place, which brushed some deer past me and to the place north of me. I havent seen any deer activity until 7:00 anyway so I was just hoping this didnt ruin my first hunt with a bow. Well around 6:30 I turn and behind me theres two doe. Im sticking out like a sore thumb and the bust me and take off. So i was like damn this bowhunting is hard. So discouraged from the events I decided to have a smoke. lol Before I finish my smoke theres a 5 point buck walking the fence line 5 yards from me. I watch him for about 15 min. He looks at me a few times, I stay still he goes on eating. I turn slowly to look behind me again and theres a very nice 8, followed by another wide 8, then a spike. So im getting pumped. The next five minutes go by and I have 4 bucks standing around my stand within 10 yards. Im running through my head is that the wide 8 that i said i would take????? Well i thought about the brow tines so i get the binos and take a look. Its him. Well the spike bust me and stomps. The bucks look up and start to move around. I have decided this wide 8 is going to be my first bow kill. He steps out from behind the tree, I draw, 12 yard shot, release HIT MY DAMN ARM with the strings(went through my checklist in my mind but forgot about the elbow bend) End up hitting my buck hard but hit him in the shoulder. My arrow buried halfway in and I watched him for as far as i could. Waited 2-3 min got down cant find any blood, no arrow, searched with flashlight for 20 min and in the distance i saw three sets of eyes so i turned back for the night. Gonna give him a search in the morning. Im SICK So honestly if i dont recover my deer in the morning ive already told myself im sticking to gun hunting. I know it happens to all bowhunters but was really hoping not on my first hunt ever. Its not the bows fault this happened but I owe it to the deer not to make this mistake again. Pray for me guys plz.

Tough luck. Was it high shoulder or lower and right in the middle of the shoulder or more forward or back? That much penetration sounds good. He should do some damage inside with him trying to run with the arrow in his shoulders flexing back and forth. With a shoulder shot on deer with a rifle they do not bleed much at first and after a while they bleed more in my experience. It may not be as bad as you think. The fact that he came in with the other bucks means they all went were he went. He might also be down were you saw the 3 sets of eyes also. They may not be wanting leave him if he was the dominant buck of the group. I am thinking you will find him.

Just curious why you got down so quick. Trying to use existing light before dusk went away?

I also think you should find him in the morning. half an arrow is plenty of penetration for a broadside shot, unless you see it drop I would give more time after the shot before following up

Unless you hear the deer pile up I wait for 30 to 45 minutes before I get out of the stand. That is the longest time of you life but neccessary. You should have gotten enough penetration for the kill. Don't give up now. Bowhunting is the most exciting and challenging way to hunt. It won't take long and you will be addicted and not want to pick up your rifle. Good luck.

Well heres the follow up guys. I went out this morning and found no blood where I stuck the deer. I did find the arrow about 20 yards from the shot and it was broken about 1" 1/2 up on the shaft. So the broadhead and 1 1/2 of arrow must still be in the shoulder. There was some blood and meat about 2 more inches on arrow. So I didnt get the penetration I thought I got. Still no blood anywhere. Searched for 2 hours and only found a 8 pt and skull that someone else never found. If i wouldnt have hit my arm I believe I would have my first bow kill. I think it as ruined bowhunting for me. The fear of this happening again has me sick and thinking about sticking to guns. I only hunt 10 acres so Its really kinda small to be bowhunting on anyway. I had the help of the landowner whos land I saw the deer run to the last time I had him in sight. He said he'll keep a look out for me. And I was loseing light fast is why I got out so fast. I didnt push the deer just wanted to see if there was blood anywhere so I might be able to sleep a little better. Might try It again this afternoon. Just feeling a little low right now.

It happens whether with bow or gun!!! Don't beat yourself over it!!! Last year hunting with a shotgun, I snoughed,(sneeze and cough at same time), as I shot at a doe. She jumped and received and minor wound on the belly!!! I saw a little blood and hair and searched for about 4 hours for her. Ended up seeing her later on and she was fine!!! It can happen with either gun or bow!!!

did close to the same thing last year, had a "good shot" on a doe she fell 3 times in veiw initally didnt find the arrow waited about an hour and tracked the blood, ended up spooking her in the brush so backed out and gave her 2 more hours, went back in and found the arrow tip bent appeared ro have went in about 1 1/2 inches when we found the arrow lost the blood trail we spent another 4 hours looking we were trailing drops the size of a thumbtack, eventually lost it all together.
felt absolutly horrible, willing to try again

I know this sort of thing happens to all hunters but its the first time its happened to me. Wish it wouldnt have been my first bow hunt. I feel ruined and kinda scared of it happening again. I wish It would have been a doe but all I had was 4 bucks underneath me. He was a nice buck and I hope he makes it. Hes the wide 8 that I posted in the photo section I believe. I was having an awesome first bow hunt until I decided to stick one. Wishing I would have waited and tried my first shot on a doe, but couldnt resist my first bow kill being a nice buck. Still sick over it and decided not to even hunt today. Might give it another try tomorrow afternoon. It just sucks to know that if I wouldnt have hit my arm with the strings I would be posting pics of my first buck with a bow. Not to mention yesterday morning was the first time Ive ever shot a bow period. I know thats not near enough practice to get out and hunt but I was shooting really good and had confidence in my hunting ability. Not enough practice and a little rushing cost me a kill and hopefully not a deers life. I feel terrible. Sorry to all the hunters out there for my mistake. Thx for the posts guys and making me feel a little better anyway. Thx guys.

hey, it happens to the best of us at one time or another. you learned from your mistake, and I can pretty much bet you won't do that again.

it may take some time for you to get over it enough to try again, but you will never for get it, trust me.

So take a step back, take a deep breathe, and when your ready, head back out there and try again. This will make you a BETTER hunter, and more aware of what you are doing.

Learn from it! Remember, its what you take away from your mistakes that counts.

Good luck, and I hope you see him again to put him on the ground

I know how you feel as I had it happen to me the last week of Oct one year.. I just made a bad shot high on a buck is I all I can say. Hit him high in the shoulder with about the same penetration as you on and watched him run off and stop at about 100 yds with arrow sticking in him. Found the arrow later and no blood at all and no deer. This was a morning hunt. Looked that morning and then the next day. No deer. He showed back up in the rut 6 weeks later chasing a doe and he had lost lots of weight and showed a scare on that shoulder up high and was limping just a little. I let him go that season and he was a dark horned 9 point. I am pretty sure that I killed him the next year as dark horned ten point with the same shape of beams and tine length but no evidence of a wound or every being shot. It was LF and on protien also. So I think that if it was him that is why he did so good. Not sure about what I hit or exactly where but he did survive. I you do not find him in the next few days you might very well see or some else will later on this year. I was like you and did not bow hunt the rest of that year but felt much better after I did see and was 100% sure that he had survived the shot the year before.

Sometimes it is amazing what a deer will recover from. I have an 8pt on the wall that had a fist sized cavity sized cavity in his back just behind the shoulder and a hole in his hide where he had been shot the year before, still weighed 175 with a nice 129 inch rack, A doe had a cavity about like that in a shoulder. THose are 3 of the examples of 6 I have killed over the years that had been shot before.

If the arrow did not get into the boiler room he will most likely survive.

Use this as a learning experience and yake it forward, you will remember this a long time but chalk it up as experience and go on.

If you hunt you will lose an animal. I have lost 2 deer in my 18 years. 1 with a gun and 1 with a bow. I am like you and take it personal and I usually look for days and weeks. I try with all my might to recover every animal, but you will have blunders. Don't give up. But a crossbow and problem solved.

tough break but it is bound to happen

Well for your first bow hunt you were about 20 times more successful than me. It sounds like you did everything right...just made a simple and honest mistake. It's not like you got pleasure hurting the buck. You took a legitimate shot and have been making a legitimate effort to retrieve. Keep it up, keep on practicing and get better! I've been spending almost every day shooting at a bale. I just hope I get as lucky as you to even get an opportunity this season!

Good Luck and try not to feel bad!

Thx guys. Im feeling a little better now that Ive talked to quiet a few people and they think he should make it. I didnt go out the next day cause I was still down and actually had my bow sold. But that night I just felt challenged and didnt want to quit until I finished what I started. I also felt even better when I checked the Cam and the wide 8 I thought I screwed up on was on cam. So I guess the wide 8 I stuck was a new deer. I went yesterday afternoon and had a 4 point 7 feet from the base of my stand and if he would have been a doe I would have let the arrow fly. I did pull my camera out of my bag and snag a few pics right at dark. And Jimmy a lot of guys Ive talked to have told me the same. My buddy has bow hunted for 8 years now and hasnt stuck anything. Missed a bunch he said. So maybe I have the feel for it and I can tell you it is awesome being able to hear the deer eating and breathing. Its a rush for sure and Im not giving up. hope to be posting pics of my first this weekend.
Heres the setup



And heres the view I usually get of the deer.

Yeah I'm gonna keep at it. Still got a lot of things I'd like to try. I'm probably gonna go out early tomorrow morning.

Currently I'm just camping in some brush. I'd like to get a treestand asap.

In your set up are you camping in a stand/deer blind combo or you just resting in the nook of a tree?

Jimmy its a box/bow blind. Heres another pic.

Heres another pic, you can see it in the background.

Sweet set up. Decoys and all. Is this a custom built blind? I'm hunting on public land so i'm going to have to opt for a different set up than a box blind. I'm still deciding what the best balance between weight/comfort/set up etc would be. There's a helluva lot to hunting. I may just wait till next year to even bother with a deer stand. Spent enough on the bow, cammo, and other gear.

Looks like a great area. Good luck

Nice set up!!! Good Luck!!!

dude my last year season sucked! I had already made one bow kill. Then opening morning shot a hell of a nice 8 point. He was at 24 yards I judged him at 30. put my 30 on him and thought I should aim a hir high. Him him right threw the back straps. Then had to watch him walk around behind me for an hour with no apparent injury. So next morning comes a nice tall 6 point come and stands 12 yards from me. I had drawn as buck was behind me. I held at full draw for 5 min. waiting for him to turn broadside. Somewhere in my excited little mind I thought that shooting him in the base of the throat would be a good idea. Hit the breast plate and deflected my arrow threw his fron leg. I was really pissed and thought i didnt deserve to hunt that afternoon. Gathered up my courage went back to stand. I nice little 6 comes by. 20 yrds broad side. Shoot him right in the lungs went 20 and died. Then a doe walks up 5 min later and stands 2 feet from where he was. I thought i can do this so i shot her double lung. Then as leaving stalk up to a pig and bust him at 15 yards. my bow kills changed from 1 to 4 in one afternoon. Confidence is everything! thats why i missed second buck is because i was rattled. So shake it off practice and get back into the stand.