couldnt find her keep hunting?

[NW-GSP]

Get a dog on the blood track

9. Using dogs:
• Hunting wild animals with dogs during
any deer or elk modern firearm season is
prohibited.

we didnt have any weapons on us and it was just his family dog out walking with us.

No it is not, you have to keep the dog on a lead and have no weapons

[erk444]

If you shot low just behind the leg you may have just went through the thick meaty part below all the vitals. Maybe didnt go int the chest cavity? It gets pretty thick down there. If thats the case, I'll bet she'll probly recover?

[MountainWalk]

Look some more. But I wouldn't call you a lousy unethical sob for going and trying to kill another. Everyonce in awhile you may lose one, thats just the way the stick floats.

[fisheral87]

Only you can make that decision

 

[addicted2hunting]

cool guys thanks for the input.

[BOWHUNTER45]

It is a tough call but if you look at it from all angles .. I have been seeing alot of shows on TV where they have shot deer with expandable broadheads and could not find their deer and then come back on the show and say , well I lost that deer but I have trailcam pictures to prove he is still alive ... So that being said I would still keep hunting ...Like someone else said earlier ..the coyotes - crows -eagles and whatever else is out there needs to eat too !!!

[addicted2hunting]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[steeliedrew]

Brandon and I talked a lot about that deer on the way home. I feel like he should still finish out the season and go after that buck he's been seeing up north. the fact that we followed the trail through the clear cut, over a paved county road, got permission of the landowner to continue the search, crossed a 15' wide creek to find more blood (which we did find more), says a lot for how badly we both wanted to find the deer. We searched hard for a solid 4.5 hours and spent the last hour branching off from last blood in every direction trying to find that tell tale drop of blood. the problem was just that...aside from a couple small pools of blood we found early on the blood trail was reduced to finding maybe one drop of blood per 20 feet. last blood was a small smudge of blood on the back side of a fern that caught my eye because it had been broken. I think all in all with all the turns the deer took we traveled about 3/4's of a mile before we lost the trail. 

the way I see it, had we given up when we saw the trail leading us across the road, that would have been a different story as far as ethics go.  Thanks for everyone's input.  I wanted to find the deer just as bad as Brandon did.

Now Brandon........bust out that credit card and buy a rangefinder!!!

[addicted2hunting]

Wish I could man. wife says no more credit cards! haha

[smdave]

9. Using dogs:
• Hunting wild animals with dogs during
any deer or elk modern firearm season is
prohibited.


Good luck on finding your deer, and unless you want to be the one to try the dog thing in court I would stay away from using them.

[Bob33]

I'm sorry you lost the deer. Legally you could tag another deer. Ethically, you should make every reasonable effort to find any animal that has been shot. Rather than beating yourself up over this deer I might suggest putting effort into learning from this experience and taking steps to ensure it will rarely if ever happen again.

[addicted2hunting]

I'm sorry you lost the deer. Legally you could tag another deer. Ethically, you should make every reasonable effort to find any animal that has been shot. Rather than beating yourself up over this deer I might suggest putting effort into learning from this experience and taking steps to ensure it will rarely if ever happen again.

for sure. lesson learned.

[colockumelk]

Everyone will wound and lose an animal in their hunting career. It happens.  Get back out there and hunt some more so you can hang your tag on an animal and put it in the freezer. Don't worry about tje wholier than thow crowd that would not their tag.  If this deer is mortally wounded its a drop in the bucket to the amount of deer killed by cars, poachers, dogs, etc.  It's just one doe, since its WA state the buck to doe ratio is probably way to low anyways. And you paid alot of money for that tag to put meat in the freezer.

In the end its your call.  But whatever call you make don't let the nay sayers judge you.

[Broken Arrow]

It has happened to many on here. Felt the shot was good only to have the blood trail go cold. You sound like a stand up guy and REALLY wanted some input as to how to proceed. Pretty gutsy move with all the "internet Police" lurking! Personally, it sounds like you have searched and done all in your power as a responsible hunter. Crap happens....it sucks...and you will never forget it.....with that said....I vote to go fill your freezer and fill your tag. Truly appreciate your question and honesty.

[BOWHUNTER45]

sounds like you guys gave it your best shot ..sheet happens ...hunt on