I was unable to recover a doe this evening. It's for culling purposes/population control, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 25 yards broadside just behind the shoulder blade (just a tad high). More arrow was sticking out of the exit side than entry. She took off like a bat outta hell and I lost her after about sixty yards. Heard her crash into some brush and give off a series of labored snorts, and then things got quiet. Figured I was good to go and didn't wait as long as I should have. The sun was setting and I wanted to find her before it got dark. No easily found blood where she stood or the way she ran, but I knew where I last saw her and went that way. Beat around the brush for about an hour (it had been dark for 20 mins before I gave up) and never did find her. I think I'm going to put off bow hunting in the evening for a while. I'll resume the search tomorrow, but I'm sure the coyotes won't leave much to recover.

It happens, but I sure would not give up hunting in the afternoon.

It happens.

Just part of hunting

I hit a cull 6 point this year and after several hours of tracking that night and the next morning, we never found it. The semi-good news is that he has showed up in trail cam pics since then and another guy saw him a week or so ago. I hit low and a little forward for the angle and put a hole through his front leg just in front of the bone. Even though that deer survived, I still feel crappy about it. It happens, especially in bow hunting, but we still have to put forth every effort to find the deer.
As far as not hunting in the evening any more, I wouldn't go to that extreme. I do like shooting deer with my bow in the morning better than the evening, but that doesn't stop me from hunting the evenings.

I redeemed myself this morning and stuck a cull 7. The arrow passed through and he ran all of 50 yards before piling up. Double lung. I never did find the doe. I'm thinking I was high on her and maybe just nicked the top of her lungs. I'm finding that it's much better to be low than high.

Zero

I feel for you, it happens to the best of us. We just need to do our part and use all means and tools necessary to recover what we have hit. Sometimes a recovery is just not in the cards.

One and I gave up bowhunting for several years before I got over it. Looking back that was a mistake. You live and learn.

One for me. Thought I hit him well at 30 yards. Tracked blood for hundreds of yards. Not lots of blood but a steady drop every few yards. Never found him so obviously I didn't hit him near as well as I thought. I don't think I waited as long as I should have and that was a lesson learned, but I thought I'd hit him better. I found one spot early on in the tracking where he either stood for a while or laid down and there was a lot of blood. That's when I should have backed off and waited til the next day.

I'll admit to 2...one never recovered, other found 2 days later, must have walked past it million times...less than 50 yrds from my stand, coyotes beat me to it.

Lost one last year. A buddy and I tracked him for about 150 yards with a steady blood trail, but never a pool. Gridded an area for over 2.5 hours that evening, then another 3 the next morning. I put an X though my buck tag with a sharpie only to find him on my trail camera last weekend of the season. He was standing at 17 yards, I thought I had made a textbook shot on him. Looking back, it was a little high and a little far back. It hit me hard and I didn't hunt the next morning, instead I packed up camp while my buddy went hunting before we continued tracking. It isn't anything to look forward to, but it is a huge learning curve.

One, sickening feeling too. It happens and it sucks, unfortunately it's a part of hunting.

Not one on but my dad lost one years ago and let me say it was the strangest thing to . He shot it with a .270 at around 60 yards and it smacked the dirt hard and we went to get it about ten mins later when all of the sudden it jumped up and ran off so we left that area for about an hour or then went back and trailed the blood and found a gut pile where i guess it had stepped on her intestines or something and pulled them all out ....it was freckin crazy because we looked for hours on end and over 200 ac and never ford that deer or even buzzards .

I lost one this year, I shot her too far back and we found buckets of blood but no deer, I was pretty down about it but I guess it happens to everybody.

I shot at my first deer ever this year with my bow and man what a rush ,passed on a small 8 pt and let the arrow fly on a bigger 8 point at 35 yds,he was a little spooky due to the spike in front of him looking at me.I hit him high in the shoulder and watched him and my lighted nock run into the brush,waited an hour and searched for him but no signs of blood anywhere,backed off and searched again but no buck,talk about going from cloud 9 to hitting rock bottom in a matter of minutes.I made every attempt to look for the animal but no luck,that's hunting.All I can do is keep practicing and wait for my next oppurtunity at a buck. 2months later I finally killed a javelina with my bow,Ice broken.

We've lost a lot with the drought. I would say somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% or more.

You sir, need to stop doing that!!

I've only lost one deer with a gun and one ram with a bow. Deer was just because I had the safety on as i was pulling up to follow up and ram was just bad buck fever and rushed shot.

If Bo Peep can loose her sheep . . .

3 in 40 years of bow hunting. it does suck but it happens.

Maaaan I've NEVER lost a deer!! Never taken a shot at one with a bow either! Does that count? Lol

Never lost a deer or a hog with a bow, but I did lose a Javalina.

Never lost one that I shot with a bow. But I did loose a buck that i shot in the neck with a 243 when I was 10. My grandfather chased it with the truck until it jumped a HF and they wouldn't let us in to look for it. I still give him a hard time about chasing that deer.

Shot my first deer ever this year during bow season. She was broadside at about 18 yds. I was shooting an old Golden Eagle and cheap broadheads. The arrow didn't pass through but the shot was right behind the shoulder so I figured all would be good. She took off and brushed a tree on the entry side and snapped off the carbon fiber arrow at the wound. Waited about an hour while it got dark. Spent 2 hours tracking and searching..we lost the blood trail after about 80 yards..but there wasn't much blood to begin with. We did find a coral snake, but no deer. After 2 hours the heavens opened up and not only did I lose the deer but that is the wettest and most disappointed I can ever remember being.....first deer and first lost deer all at the same time.

Don't feel bad boss. The ones who claim they have never lost one are like motorcycle riders who claim they've never laid one down. They either haven't shot many or aren't being honest.