Losing a deer

[JDHasty]

Go out there and see if the birds don't lead you to it.  Actually seeing where it ended up will be worth the effort.  I am betting it is "right there" close. 

[JDHasty]

The intestines...that sucks.  Hr could last a week b4 he dies...sorry man

True story.

[Duckslayer89]

I keep shooting until they are down. Losing deer taught me this. My dad always says no no he's going down don't shoot again. WRONG. He's learning. If he's not down keep shooting. Shot a spike today at 50 yards broadside and knew he was down but he didn't drop and I sent another one through the lungs.

[kirkthoma]

I just found last year's buck while out hunting opening day this year. I must have walked by it 15 times, I looked for 3 days. It was partially under some vegetation, 50 yds from where I shot him. Closure at last.

[Skyvalhunter]

Well the main thing is you made the 3 day effort to find the animal. There seems to be a fair amount of guys out there that won't even put in an hour. Very disrespectful

[brew]

saw a dead deer in a clear cut up in vail last evening...aboout 225 yards straight away on the opposite hillside...big hole in its lower right shoulder..no way it went far after it was shot...wasn't bloated and the ravens weren't on it yet..couldn't see the head so no idea if was a buck or doe (was able to make out the right ear but didn''t see antlers)...weird thing was about 50 yards above it on the treeline someone had put a big white jug in the bushes and on the road opposite where it was shot (on the pulloff where i saw it in the binos) someone had put about a 3 foot piece of dead wood on the side of the road.  in order to get to the deer/place that white jug someone would have had to bushwack some pretty thick/nasty stuff for a couple 3 hundred yards to get to it...why would they leave it ?  just don't understand people

[lokidog]

I keep shooting until they are down. Losing deer taught me this. My dad always says no no he's going down don't shoot again. WRONG. He's learning. If he's not down keep shooting. Shot a spike today at 50 yards broadside and knew he was down but he didn't drop and I sent another one through the lungs.

My thoughts as well, if it is still standing, shoot it again!  A bit of wasted meat is not as bad as a lost animal.

This morning, I had a kid with me, I rattled in a buck, he shot, buck dropped, then got up, seemed to be teetering, paused for a minute then I told him to shoot it again, he missed, buck turned and started wobbling away, told him to shoot again, deer drops, gets up again, is teetering, we move a bit closer to get a better angle, shoot again, deer drops for good.

It turns out the first shot spined him but in the grass we could not tell that his hind end was dragging.  we could easily have walked up to him, but given the same situation, I would have him shoot again and again.

[DaveMonti]

The intestines...that sucks.  Hr could last a week b4 he dies...sorry man

Nice.  The OP clearly feels bad enough and you tell him the deer may still be alive?  Sorry, not a necessary observation, and HIGHLY unlikely with the sign that the OP posted. 

It sounds to me like you're trying to discourage new hunters from headed back into the woods instead of being encouraging.  Personally, I think we could do with a lot less of your type on this forum. 

[EmeraldBullet]

Thank you for sharing this. I know it is a tough thing to experience. I still have yet to shoot my first deer, but when it happens I will know to shoot again if I am in a similar situation (and if I can think and react fast enough). Thanks again for sharing, sorry you had to experience that.