Brisket shot-DEAD or ALIVE??

[NWBREW]

Good luck patton1. I hope ...when you kill a buck it has a little cut on the bottom of his chest.

[Joe_Hunter]

Patton1
 It was weird reading your post because it was like reliving a similar incident for me I shot a BT buck and he headed off just like you said except he was favoring one leg. I could see blood low behind the shoulder and figured I was fine. Recovered the arrow and noticed some gelatinous fat on it. More on that in a minute.
Just like you I had good blood then nothing....
we looked for two days. got to the point we were looking for ravens, crows or coyotes to take us to the now rotten carcuss.... instrad we found the buck. Alive and well with a very sore brisket I had an opportunity to see the buck for about 5 minutes from about 150 yards. The arrow had passed through the elbow area and into the lower brisket. If you ever noticed on a deer the fat on the brisket is a little different than the dense fat on the back and sides, Its a little fluffy for lake of a better term.
I would say if you had fat on the arrow your buck is still alive
Hope this helps.

[Kowsrule30]

Keep looking I guess.  Please do not be misleading.  This is part of hunting, not just bow hunting.  My uncle shot a whitetail last weekend low in the briscket with a 270 short mag.  It left a lot of blood for a while, then none.  My brother went back the next day to look for it and saw a buck he thought he wanted to shoot so he did.  Ended up being the briscket shot buck running like it had not been shot at all.  Loosing deer happens all the time regardless of what weapon is used.

Shot a spike bull this year @ 25 yds that made a sharp turn right when I fired.... Looked for him for 3 days.... Jumped and saw a lot of elk... Never found him.... He was very distinct.... Saw him during Deer season doing fine within two miles of where shot....  They are tough.... No matter how you do it.. First animal I've ever lost... Hopefully the last.... Read the what i found in my animal thread or what ever it's called...

[Joe_Hunter]

No doubt about it
bow hunt long enough and this type of thing is bound to happen.

[nw_bowhunter]

Overall this was a good discussion with a lot of helpful insight. I took no issue in what happended or the fact you asked for help. However, "Patton1" in your latest response you took on the I'm entitled attitude and now plan to hunt regardless of the fact that you may have killed your deer. Your tag is for 1 deer not a wounded deer and then hunt to you kill something else. If we all did this there wouldn't be enough deer for everyone to hunt. This year there has been lots of conversations posted about wounded animals during archery season. As a fellow bowhunter it pisses me off. Shooting and wounding multiple animals in one season is not much different than shooting before or after legal hours, shooting from the road, tresspassing to get the animal, poaching,etc. Make the right choice and notch the tag and call it your season for the year. I feel very strongly about this issue.

[bobcat]

But I will continue to hunt because I paid $45 for a tag that in my opinion shouldn't cost half that, if anything at all.

That's pretty funny. So you think a deer tag in this state should be free? Well I suppose if you feel there's no value in a deer tag, you don't need to purchase one next year. I buy the package deal, four tags for $72, which is only about $18 per tag. Maybe you'd feel better about it if your deer tag was only $18?   

[squeeze2drop]

Here we go again! Lol keep huntin patton and like you said, you learned from your mistake, its all good.

[coachcw]

Patton1 I'll give you props for been forthwright in the shot you took . I'd say that most of us archers over the years have taken a less than perfict shot . I agree with pope that if you burry that arrow tight against the shoulder it's an ok shot . I saw an Ass shot a deer with a blunt once , It made me sick the arrow hit a rib and the deer humped hard for a few minutes . My experiance is when hit in the heaert or lungs they make that death run. when hit in the arrow beaks a rib and hits the guts or liver they arnt so quick to run. Inless that arrow glanced off the ribcage thats one dead buck . I'm not so sure that i'd notch my tag it's easy for someone to tell you too. look at it this way whats harder on the deer herd two dead bucks or one dead doe. people ho say they'd notch there tag better not be shooting does either. good luck with your hunting and i hope it works out better next time . Coach

[TheSilverSlayer]

Do the regs say anything about notching your tag when you wound an animal?  I'm not sure what I would do.  It would probably depend on whether I found blood or not.  Had a similar situation with a bear my buddy shot during high buck.  Broadside shot at 86 yds with a 300wsm. Bear ran after the shot, my buddy shot it again, it stubbled, then high tailed it out of there.  We didnt find a single drop of blood or fur, and we searched all day.  We looked for so long because we both saw it stumble after the second shot.  I would say 90% of the hunters in this state would not notch their tag if they wounded an animal.

[Houndhunter]

i wouldnt notch my tag if i couldnt find my animal, however if i did find my animal after it had spoiled i would take the horns and notch it

[TheSilverSlayer]

Yeah if you find it dead you should notch it no matter the condition of the meat.

[Joe_Hunter]

Silver slayer:
 I'd say that 90% is a little low. It's sad to say but some hunters view that tag as meat in the freezer when in reality all that tag does is give it's holder the privilege to pursue game in an ethical manner.
Ethics dictate that once an animal is wounded we as the tag holders have the responsibility to exhaust every effort to retrieve that game as quickly as possible.
That responsibility should not be taken lightly especially within the first hours after the shot is taken.

I applaud those that gave accounts of their hunts and stated the amount of time spend looking for suspected wounded game. It's reflects the ethics that we embrace as bowhunters. In my opinion the effort to recover wounded game only produces two things. The animal I shot or the Peace of mind that that animal was not mortally wounded. That in itself should tell you weather or not to punch that tag.
Just my  

[Joe_Hunter]

Silverslayer:
 Didn't mean to give the impression I was preaching at you. Just wanted to say that I thought the 90% was a little low then I got on my soapbox
Thanks
 

[coachcw]

Joe I dont think that the game dept view the tag as our right to hunt ethiclly. This year my buddies saw atleast five dead cows and one bull , along with a couple of wounded cows , My friends kid saw the guys party shoot the bull , they shot two bulls on one tag. the Game dept was called out and didn't even bother to investigate the matter. the Game dept really sickens me in the way they enforse the hunting laws and treat us as hunters there's definatly a division between hunters and the game dept. I really think that our members for the most part respect the game and try to do the right thing ethically the differance is our ethics and opinnions all vary a bit . this a all a good conversation and if nothing else it makes us wonder what we'd do ,thanks for your two cents

[bow4elk]

Thanks everybody for your advice and opinion. Squeeze, thanks for the back-up.  I knew I was going to catch some flack for my shot choice.  Like I said, I haven't got to hunt in last couple of years due to other commitments. I'll admit that I got a little buck fever and probably got a little over confident.  I almost didn't post all of this because I figured it might stir up the pot a little.  But I knew what to expect.  Everybody is entitled to their opinion whether I agree or not.  I like any advice and/or opinion because one way or another it helps me learn.  I don't agree with a lot of things that other hunters do but anyway you look at it, we are a dieing breed.  I probably shouldn't post this!!!!!  But I will continue to hunt because I paid $45 for a tag that in my opinion shouldn't cost half that, if anything at all.  In MI you can get 2 tags for about $30 and you can Hunt archery, then rifle, then muzzleloader, then back to archery.  I chose the archery here because of the amount of time and I'm on an firearm restricted island(ie rifle).  I dropped the ball and I know it, I've learned a thing or 2, I feel horrible for the way it went down, but I will fill my tag and put meat in the freezer.  

The intent of my input is to help Patton1 find his deer while enabling other folks following along the opportunity to learn something.  I have been approached by many newer hunters who've joined the site who want help.  They read and they are eager to learn.  The value of Patton1's situation is the opportunity to learn, and in the end hopefully to recover his deer.  Avoiding certain shot angles with archery equipment is GOOD advice, and NOT a judgement in this context.  I know Patton1's intentions are spot on.  I don't know him but he's a good guy based on his honest accountability for what happened.

Bowhunter Education is not required in Washington but in my opinion it should be.  As an instructor I've had many students who'd been hunting for years with little to no knowledge of anatomy and physiology of game animals.  In this respect Bowhunter Education is more about understanding how arrows kill the game we hunt as opposed to a typical Hunter Education class, which is more focused on firearm handling/safety. This is widely evident based on the piles of questions that show up on internet forums and letters to editors in national hunting magazines.  People write in asking if their set-up will work on elk or bears, etc.  There are countless discussions about broadheads, bow weight, etc.  It's clear there are a lot of new or inexperienced bowhunters - which is GREAT!!  Let's squeeze some value out this and provide an opportunity for them to LEARN.  It all comes down to the very simple fact that killing animals with arrows is about causing quick and massive hemorrhaging.  That can only occur by cutting vital tissue with a razor sharp broadhead.  Period.  It makes good sense that this should be the guiding principle by which all shot decisions are made.