I have a friend new to bow hunting and to deer hunting all together. Fri night around the campfire some more seasoned hunters and myself were talking over some general hunting and bow hunting stuff with our new member. Two things we discussed were 1 not using broadheads that had been previously used and 2 giving adequate time for the deer to die once hit so you dont push it to run further into the thicket. Every huntet has different opinions on new vs used broadheads but the general consensus is if youre going to reuse them at least sharpen them!
About 1630hrs a nice 8pt we had seen on the camera stepped out and presented a nice broadside shot. He took his shot and swears he struck it behind the shoulder. Immediately he came down from the stand and went looking. He found the arrow about 30 yds down the trail with blood on the broadhead and shaft but no blood. After looking for about an hour he radioed me for help. After waiting about another hour we headed into the woods. We found quite a bit of blood and had a decent trail but after pointing out several places where he had laid down he admitted he chased it immediately after the shot. We pulled off the chase and went to camp for a couple more hours and got out a map of where we needed to look. We plotted the nearby water and the lower elevations and headed back. After almost 12 hours in the woods the rain started and the trail was completely lost. The blood trail ended with a small pool of frothy blood indicating a lung was hit but he clotted and the trail ended. When the rain started we called a nearby blood dog service but with the ended trail and the rain even the dogs had no luck.
I tried not to come down on him too hard I get it he was pumped up and not thinking but chasing that injured deer pushed the animal to run and wasted a large game animal which is really a sad thing for responsible and respectable hunters. To top it off he admitted he had used a broadhead that he took a few practice shots with the day before. Really didnt know what to say to that. I was pretty mad at the irresponsible bs. I know we make mistakes but good grief. I talked with him at length about it on the ride home but im not sure he really understands the importance of ethical hunting and respect for the animals.
Not sure what to do about him now. He wants to hunt next weekend.

I'd explain to him a little more harshly what you tried to get across to him at the campfire. there is no excuse for that type of irresponsible hunter. I know he was pumped up and chased the deer too soon, I have done it as well, but I have never, and will never shoot a deer with a broadhead I have not resharpened after practicing with. That is just ridiculous.

1fowlhntr I couldn't agree more. What really got to me was that the conversation was only hours before. And to add insult most of the time spent searching he kept saying it was a lost cause and we should head back. I told him eventually that he could go back but I wasn't going to until I felt like I had done everything I could to recover the animal.

He's DONE...He drew blood on a buck and lost it. Whatever the reason, if he was on a managed, guided hunt he would be done.

I hope you made him burn one of his buck tags..

Ok, I have to ask. If he got a complete pass through shot, didn't the broadhead do its job? Am I missing something? I'm new to bow hunting so I want to learn from this experience. I agree you should let them lay before pursuing. I set a timer on my phone so I know I've set long enough.

Here's my take and it will probably not be well recieved.
1)you said he was your friend
2)you called him a new member
3)you say he was new to deer hunting and of course bowhunting
4)your saying that he wants to hunt next weekend
I give him my respect for still wanting to hunt at all after the experience you described.He broke no laws or rules just used poor judgement and I can understand how excited he probaly was after sticking a buck on his first outing.If he is a member of the lease he has every right to do everything he did whether everyone liked it or not.He also has every right to hunt whenever he wants.Shouldn't be up to no-one else.Things we take for granted take years to become ingrained into our hunting habits.One evening around the campfife before the first hunt ain't chit.If the man were my friend he would have had my full support and some praise for the things he did right along with sermon for things gone wrong.I can just imagine that night around the campfire and the next with everyone talking down to him and then probably treating him like a leper.The most important things on my lease are safety,familt & friends having fun,no-one telling someone else what is or is not ethical as long a game rules are followed it is up to each individual.

I agree, I don't know what the bag limits are for your county but tell him that buck tag is gone, I would not have a problem with him coming out and taking an antlerless or a spike if your county allows that though.

yep, your right he probably is done. And I wouldn't blame him.

I reuse broadbeads all the time without resharpening them and have never lost a deer in 6 years of bowhunting. I have killed 7 deer with no deer lost, i have missed two but never lost one. I do inspect them to make sure the edges are not marred or blades bent. I think you are jumpin to conclusions saying the sharpness of his broadhead had somethig to do with it. There are too many variables to try and guess, pushing the deer was probably the worst one

If shooting the target a few times dulls your broadheads enough that you need to sharpen them, you need to try different ones. I always shoot my target a few times with my hunting broadhead to make sure it flies good

I'm sorry but that is absolutely terrible advice! To any new or young bowhunters out there please do not do this, make sure you have new sharp blades every season, even after one season in the field blades can get quiver dulled.

Ive never sharpened a broadhead but I have reused a couple.

The only thing I see wrong is pushing it. Who knows, if he only got one lung and it clotted and stopped bleeding the only thing not pushing it might have yielded was a shorter blood trail and less lost blood. There are no guarantees. Do rookies make a lot of mistakes? Yes, take him under your wing, tell him what he did wrong and do what you can to teach him.

I am not saying use them season after season and never buy new ones, but i think sharpening after target shooting and hiting the target not the ground, is ridiculous. I have shot more than one deer with same blades and it blew through the second deer just as good as the first

I think many of you guys blame lost deer on faulty equipment, like "quiver dulled" broadheads and other stuff. Not saying this stuff doesnt exist, but more times than most you are blaming bad shots or non lethal shots on the equipment, but the operator is the real problem

he rushed the deer, he should have stayed in the stand longer.

Rickman57 please ddon't misunderstand my writing of the post. I am looking for some advice in a place where there are many with more experience than I have. I do and will stand by him and no one at the lease sad anything derogatory. I wouldn't stand for that. If you go back and look I said I spoke with him at length about it. I didn't say I yelled or condemned him. It was a candid conversation about what went wrong and why. My issue was that it didn't seem well received and while yes no rules were broken I am trying to emphasize ethical respectful hunting. I know too many that take potshots and wound animals. And in response to the question of a pass through....it wasn't. I think it lodged in between lung and rib and came out as the animal struggled but that isn't fact just a guess

I agree with the mentoring route but I sharpen and reuse broadheads all the time. They design fixed blade heads to be sharpened. If you don't know how to serve in a peep, tie a D loop, sight in your bow, spin test arrows, and sharpen a broad head (amongst other things) maybe you ought to go back to gun hunting.

All these other posters are a lot more experienced than I, so my thoughts may be off, but I went through something like this after having been away from hunting / bow hunting almost 30 years. Shot at my first deer, a doe, at a steep angle and not realizing I should have been aiming higher. Arrow hit where I aimed but went under vitals and the Grim Reaper broad head literally ripped her belly open. I could see innards hanging from her belly. Got out of stand and tracked her only to flush her and lose her to darkness. Never found her.

Once I understood what I had done, gut shot a deer that was going to die a slow painful death, I felt horrible and realized I wasn't ready for prime time yet. It was this realization that drove me to practice more, learn more, and come back way more prepared - the following season. It sounds like this guy is not quite ready for prime time and maybe the focus should be on helping him arrive at that conclusion himself.

So i guess by the same token if you dont know how to work on your car, you shouldnt be driving a car either? I think thats a little overboard, not everyone will be able to be able do things like this. To the OP, i am glad you guys didnt belittle the guy or give him too much hell, i am sure he felt bad enough

Never had a problem reusing blades that's already been shot... I made a 4blade muzzy last though a doe and 4 pigs last year..

Granted I will try and use a newer blade on a deer just because

I have never sharpened a broadhead that has only been shot into targets, and never will. I bowhunt more than I rifle hunt and have never had an issue.

there ya go......