Thought I would work the grey matter of you stickbow bowhunters, experienced or recent.
This is exercise is based on what will be a real-life event beginning Oct 1. I'll set it up.
My primary treestand is on my nephew's farm and the stand is located right at the fence-line of thousands of acres of wildlife management that contains numerous wetlands, a large lake, small lakes, a river that is only a 1/2 mile away that is quite wide as is begins to flow into a huge reservoir lake, and vegetation and timber that is that could hide a herd of standing elephants. All of this territory/terrain is behind me and to the west and east of my stand and runs for miles. Out in front of my stand are miles of agriculture fields of soybeans and cornfields, which will be under harvest by Oct 1.
I know that some stickbow hunters, tend to believe that a through and through shot is almost guaranteed if the gear is right/capable and the deer is hit it the right spot/ making for a good blood trail. I know that this is not the case, even with hard-shooting/hitting compound bows. Murphy rides astride of all deer, and deer are notorious for not cooperating at the time of the shot.
If my hit is not a complete pass-through, the blood will collect in the deer's cavity and a blood trail may not show up for a great distance, and even then the deer will be blowing occasional sprays of blood higher than ground level. I have no doubt that if I hit a deer and the deer is not dropped on the spot, it is going to immediately run into the wildlife management area, which in itself is going to be a challenge to track it, although I have successfully tracked many hit deer, and not just for myself. However, I am weighing the concern of it (deer) getting into the wetlands or jumping into one of the lakes, or worse yet, the river. Additionally, if I hit one on the evening hunt and the hit requires a lengthy wait before I track, especially if the hit is not in the critical vitals, tracking in those wild lands in the dark will be a challenge, but worse, we have large populations of coyotes.
As if all of the above stated is not enough to weigh on one's mind, it is not the greatest challenge I will face.
Hunting deer in the wildlife management lands is permitted by permit; no lottery, no limit of bowhunters. In fact, while scouting the area last weekend, I saw that someone has setup a ladder-stand in the management area, about 75 yards from where my primary stand is located, and a tree-stand about 200 yards from my stand. I know why. The area that I am hunting is a main route and feeding area for 20-30 deer, and the group has 3-4 very large bucks with huge racks, 3 being two 12 pointers and one 16 pointer, and several big 8 and 10 pointers.
I am also assuming that there will likely be many more bowhunters in the management areas, not to far from where I will be. Now we all know that there are unethical and thieving lowlifes that hunt, bow and firearms. My greatest concern, including tracking in the midst of a bunch of (possible) brush shooters, is that if I hit one of those big-racked bucks and it runs into the management lands, and I have no doubt it will, and is spotted by an unethical/thieving bowhunter, I have no doubt in my former military mind that I will lose the deer.
In my 45 years of bowhunting, I have been one of the lucky ones. I have never had to hunt public land unless I chose to do so, which was very few times. I hardly ever had to face the problem of losing a deer due to theft.
Weighing all that I have said, I have considered, not yet decided, that if one of the big bucks presents himself, taking a particular shot that will be a normal hit into the vitals that will kill the deer, result in dropping the deer in its tracks, or be a complete and predictable miss.
Years ago I set this shot up on a huge buck (245 lb, 8-pointer) that I knew would run into land/timber that is owned by a university, and the powers to be prohibited entry to recover the deer. The shot was successful and the buck dropped in his tracks and the coup de grace was a second arrow in his heart.
Anyone know the shot I am contemplating that will result in a standard killing shot requiring some dealy and tracking, or a rapid knockdown, or a complete miss without wounding the deer in a manner that it may not be recovered?
Deer Anatomy
This is exercise is based on what will be a real-life event beginning Oct 1. I'll set it up.
My primary treestand is on my nephew's farm and the stand is located right at the fence-line of thousands of acres of wildlife management that contains numerous wetlands, a large lake, small lakes, a river that is only a 1/2 mile away that is quite wide as is begins to flow into a huge reservoir lake, and vegetation and timber that is that could hide a herd of standing elephants. All of this territory/terrain is behind me and to the west and east of my stand and runs for miles. Out in front of my stand are miles of agriculture fields of soybeans and cornfields, which will be under harvest by Oct 1.
I know that some stickbow hunters, tend to believe that a through and through shot is almost guaranteed if the gear is right/capable and the deer is hit it the right spot/ making for a good blood trail. I know that this is not the case, even with hard-shooting/hitting compound bows. Murphy rides astride of all deer, and deer are notorious for not cooperating at the time of the shot.
If my hit is not a complete pass-through, the blood will collect in the deer's cavity and a blood trail may not show up for a great distance, and even then the deer will be blowing occasional sprays of blood higher than ground level. I have no doubt that if I hit a deer and the deer is not dropped on the spot, it is going to immediately run into the wildlife management area, which in itself is going to be a challenge to track it, although I have successfully tracked many hit deer, and not just for myself. However, I am weighing the concern of it (deer) getting into the wetlands or jumping into one of the lakes, or worse yet, the river. Additionally, if I hit one on the evening hunt and the hit requires a lengthy wait before I track, especially if the hit is not in the critical vitals, tracking in those wild lands in the dark will be a challenge, but worse, we have large populations of coyotes.
As if all of the above stated is not enough to weigh on one's mind, it is not the greatest challenge I will face.
Hunting deer in the wildlife management lands is permitted by permit; no lottery, no limit of bowhunters. In fact, while scouting the area last weekend, I saw that someone has setup a ladder-stand in the management area, about 75 yards from where my primary stand is located, and a tree-stand about 200 yards from my stand. I know why. The area that I am hunting is a main route and feeding area for 20-30 deer, and the group has 3-4 very large bucks with huge racks, 3 being two 12 pointers and one 16 pointer, and several big 8 and 10 pointers.
I am also assuming that there will likely be many more bowhunters in the management areas, not to far from where I will be. Now we all know that there are unethical and thieving lowlifes that hunt, bow and firearms. My greatest concern, including tracking in the midst of a bunch of (possible) brush shooters, is that if I hit one of those big-racked bucks and it runs into the management lands, and I have no doubt it will, and is spotted by an unethical/thieving bowhunter, I have no doubt in my former military mind that I will lose the deer.
In my 45 years of bowhunting, I have been one of the lucky ones. I have never had to hunt public land unless I chose to do so, which was very few times. I hardly ever had to face the problem of losing a deer due to theft.
Weighing all that I have said, I have considered, not yet decided, that if one of the big bucks presents himself, taking a particular shot that will be a normal hit into the vitals that will kill the deer, result in dropping the deer in its tracks, or be a complete and predictable miss.
Years ago I set this shot up on a huge buck (245 lb, 8-pointer) that I knew would run into land/timber that is owned by a university, and the powers to be prohibited entry to recover the deer. The shot was successful and the buck dropped in his tracks and the coup de grace was a second arrow in his heart.
Anyone know the shot I am contemplating that will result in a standard killing shot requiring some dealy and tracking, or a rapid knockdown, or a complete miss without wounding the deer in a manner that it may not be recovered?
Deer Anatomy