I had a hunt this fall that I thought worth sharing. I am not proud of it, the end result was every hunter's worst nightmare - a wounded animal, most likely mortal, and no retrieval. I think it is worth sharing our failures, as well as our success, and I am curious for other people's thoughts/perspectives.
It was December 16th, and I had just returned from a 7-week long trip overseas. Having missed much of the fall hunting season, I was eager to get out and enjoy the crisp Kootenay countryside. I made a 4 hour drive to the Grand Forks area in region 8, where I planned to hunt. My goal was to test the waters on my new winter camping gear, be outside and re-calibrate to this side of the planet, and maybe get lucky. I like exploring new areas, hiking long distances, and was excited to take it all in. I was driving towards some crown land I had hunted the year prior, but it was getting dark and so I decided to pitch my tent 45 minutes from my destination since I happened to be next to crown land and didn't want to pitch my tent in the dark. I notice a lot of fresh deer tracks, so I decide to sit the morning out in that location. I angle my tent door towards the game trail, and get setup before bed. I wake up 30 minutes before sunrise, and get situated. After about an hour, I hear crashing in the forest behind me. All of a sudden a couple of white-tail does run out and one stops, presenting me with a perfect broadside shot at 40 yards. I line up for the vitals, aiming for an exit wound slightly behind the front shoulder. I shoot and believe it was on target, but something feels wrong and I am immediately worried. I see the deer kick like they do when they are hit good, and then run off, but it still just felt wrong for some reason. I waited 5 minutes, then quietly left the area and hiked back to my car to give the animal time to expire, if needed. So I made breakfast and started preparing for the retrieval.
After about 45 minutes, I return and walk up to the point of impact. I find my bloody arrow, and large amounts of blood with a fairly thick trail. I felt relief and excitement. Unfortunately, as I start tracking it, I realize looking at the iHunter app on my phone that the deer wandered into private land. So, once I figure out the general direction it went in, I knocked on some doors to ask for permission to keep tracking it. One of the fine gentlemen that gave me permission is a fellow hunter, and decided to come help me with the recovery. For this I was very grateful s he knew the locals and lay of the land. After tracking the blood trail for about a kilometer and few hundred meters of altitude gain, I figure I must not have hit the vitals like I thought. Despite the large pools of blood, I decide to back off and give the doe more time to pass without spooking it. So, my new friend kindly invites me to his home for coffee and bear sausage. We enjoy this, and then return to pick up on where we left off after a couple of hours. Long story short is that we followed the blood trail until sunset, and walked back in the dark. We covered close to 20km, and about 700m of elevation gain. We were really impressed by how far this deer was able to move, given the steady stream of blood and occasional patches of big pools of blood. My new friend generously offered me to stay in a heated trailer of his overnight which I gladly accepted. That night I went to bed hopeful that the cold night would sap the deer of any energy it may have had left, but I had bad feeling that it was not dead. I picked the trail back up in the morning, and followed it to an area where the deer had bedded down for the night. Each spot it lay in was evident by large pools of blood, which were obviously located on the front half of its chest area as expected. Despite searching all day and covering another 15km, I knew it was all over. Snow was coming the next morning to bury the tracks, and my knees were giving out. By the time I got back to the car, I was having difficulty walking and knew that I wouldn't be capable of searching anymore even if the snow were to hold off. I ran the scenario through my head a thousand times, not sure what I should have done better, on the drive home.
This video shows the blood trail, after about 10-15km from shooting location: https://imgur.com/XfKRfYi
I know I took a good shot. I was 40 yards out with the deer standing still and broadside. I have practiced shooting this distance countless times with consistently good accuracy. I took my time and am sure the arrow hit where I aimed. I was confused, though, because I didn't have meat in my vehicle. Did the deer flinch at the last moment? Did the arrow deflect off a branch? It didn't make sense to me, because I saw the arrow go through this animal broadside in the optimal location. Well, I accepted that I will never know what went wrong, and consoled myself only with knowing that I gave retrieval my best effort. Nonetheless I am gutted.
Two weeks go by, and I get a text message from my newfound friend saying that my deer may still be alive. He then sends me a picture showing a doe on his property with a recent wound exactly where the exit wound would have been on my deer. I've uploaded this photo for all to see. The entry would would have been coming from slightly forward of this on the other side, but almost running straight through. Is this really possible, with that shot location for the deer to still be alive and healthy two weeks later? The evidence points towards this being the case but it just seems hard to believe. This is the only photo he was able to take, but he told me that it appeared to have been a good shot, and that the deer seemed in good health.
I certainly have gained a new respect for how tough these animals are. I lost a deer that weekend, but made a new friend and hunting partner.
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Originally Posted by scttlp86
