Yes, I started hunting at age 32. This is my first season to hunt deer. I made a trip to my uncle's lease in south Texas the week before Thanksgiving. He helped me find the right shooter and I took a shot on Saturday night around dusk and missed. We planned to leave Sunday morning. We decided to go out for just a little bit in the morning. We saw the buck again. I made the shot and hit it directly in the shoulder, other hunting buddy saw the impact. I was ecstatic.

We waited about 15 minutes and then started tracking it. Long story short, we tracked it for over 4 hours. He had bedded down twice, and then jumped. My uncle and his friend, both long time hunters, each missed a shot when he jumped and ran. We never found him. And we were completely out of time. One of the ranch hands there said he would come back and keep looking the next few days. I was sick. Sick not only losing a wounded animal, but also my first deer.

what caliber

It happens.

About 10-12 years ago, I saw the biggest buck, by far, I'd ever seen on our place. This was back in the day of film-trail cams and while I'd run them at times, after 24-36 pictures they were full. Scouting was tougher back then.

The old monster came out of the brush chasing a doe, ran her in a circle, then decided to stop at the feeder for a snack. I was convinced he was about to bolt and took a bad shot.

He was quartering towards me and I aimed too high, hitting him in the shoulder, the bullet travelling down his spine, then coming out between his hips. He rolled, jumped up, and limped into the brush.

I gave him time, then went to look. Lots of blood, bone, and hair. I knew it was a bad shot, but it was obvious it had done a lot of damage. Of course, at the time I didn't know how much.

I pulled that trigger at 7:15am, started my search at 7:45am, had my father show up with our dog at 11am, and we all searched until dark.

I found the buck three days later, 30 feet from shore, in the shallow end of a stock tank. He had dragged himself on two legs over 750 yards, across two ravines, then down a steep embankment down to the water. If not for a crow sitting on his antler trying to get a snack, I'd have never found him.

I only share this story to show that they are incredibly tough animals. Hopefully the ranch hand is able to find him. You won't get any meat, but you may still get your trophy.

Don't beat yourself up too much. That said, it's good you show remorse. I've hunted with folks that didn't and I felt like they were hunting for the wrong reasons.

Good luck to you.

That sucks to hear. They can be really tough animals sometimes with a strong will to live. that is part of what makes them exciting to hunt, but long fruitless tracking jobs are the down side. I hope the ranch hand is able to get him for you.

x2

I shot a buck friday just a hair low in the shoulder with a .270 and it knock him down and he got up and ran about 15 yards then fell and crawled about another 10 yards and laid down then i looked around and back to the buck and saw him get up and run and was like with the heck so i let him go for about 30 min then went to look and he was about 30 yards from where i had last saw him and he was done.So a lot of times you may look out to far from my experience.

I was using my 270 with Herter (Cabela's brand) ammo. I mistakenly bought 150gr in the ammo I meant to use but my gun shoots better with 130gr and the Herter's was all I had left.

We found blood ans tracks. We found a tuft of white fur and some bloody corn, so it could have bounced into the gut. I still hated to lose a wounded animal, especially if the bullet went screwy. No word from our friend down there.

I have felt your pain. It is the worst part of hunting, but it happens. It will make you a better hunter is the only positive.

First off, that's rough, especially for the first deer. But, you can learn from it. For example, did you know most rifles will shoot to a different point of impact with bullets of different weight? So, if your rifle was sighted in for the 130gr and you used the 150gr you could have been 5" or more off. That could account for the poor hit.

Also, not trying to Monday Morning Quarterback you, but on a questionable hit you generally want to give them more than 15 min to bed down and bleed out.

Good news is that if he was still alive and running 4hrs later he may pull through. They're tough animals.

Now, go practice with that rifle to get your confidence back up, then climb back on the horse and get back out there! Good luck to you.

I agree that they are tough animals and I've seen deer survive what should have been fatal hits both due to arrows and bullets.
A deer also never goes to waste so don't beat yourself down over it. All the wild critters and birds have to eat, as well as the worms and bugs in nature, so it's not wasted.
As mentioned, get to the range, and get your confidence level back up and get back into the woods.

Not sure, but if you saw a good impact, I wonder if you may have suffered a bullet failure. My dad once shot a doe at about 75 yards with Winchester Super X ammo in a 7 mag. The bullet entered where it should have, bit then blew up and a large chunk went to the paunch, with very little exiting. I shot a doe with Federal Power Shock and had the bullet disentegrate after hitting a rib with a. 308. If she wouldn't have stood there licking the ruffle I had put in her coat and allowed me to make another a

I've been hunting since I was 12 and I made a similar mistake over Thanksgiving. Switched to a 60 grain nosler instead of the 55 grain I used to site in my 22-250. Took it out to the range and it shot about 3-4 inches high at 100. I was in a hurry and just thought I would make the adjustment in the field by shooting 3-4 inches low.

Cull buck steps up on my last hunt. I put the crosshairs right on the money and pulled the trigger. Ended up being a high shoulder shot and had to put another one in him. Bruised my ego big time. It was the heat of the moment and I just didn't do what I told myself I would.

Amazing how much the lessons you learn while hunting apply to life. A lot of times it's the small things that matter the most.

Another shot, I would have never found her.

Like mentioned, just remember always use the same exact ammo brand and grain. The difference will surprise you. Just go back out there and good hunting.