Passthru, with a screen name like yours I would expect more comments from you on a thread like this.

I think you may be over analyzing this.

I’ve make good shots that led to a very quick recovery. I’ve made iffy shots that led to a very quick recovery.

I’ve made good shots that I had to follow a deer for quite a ways.

Don’t try and extract too much data from one kill and try to apply it to every shot scenario going forward, as you will be sorely disappointed.

Thanks, TxTro, but I am well aware of that. Except the part about over analyze. I analyze everything A LOT, but to me it’s not OVER analyze. I’m all about huge sample sizes in all decision making so that’s why I’m hoping to get as much feedback from y’all along with all research that I can. I’m not making ANY decisions on this ONE example, but instead using it as just one example to get feedback off of. If I had a 100 examples I would post a 100 threads. I killed two doe so I hope to show those shots and get feedback from them.

If you found both does, you did good.

Yes, I recovered both does but doing good on a couple does is not the end game. Killing does is just practice. The ultimate goal is learn and practice so that when I shoot a single arrow once every few years at a very large buck that I will have done EVERYTHING that I can to insure recovery 100% of time. I know that 100% recovery rate isn’t realistic but 100% preparation is.
I’m still hunting and busy but I’ll try to wrap up this thread tonight and start one on the does to see what can be learned.

Proficiency with a bow, fast arrows, broad heads that cut gaping wounds are certainly important. The end game to be as prepared as possible to recover that large buck has very little to do with mechanics or statistical comparison. Most everyone can punch an arrow in the kill zone.

I frequent other forums focused on traditional archery more.

A well placed shot and a scary sharp head help but so does a low exit wound and a wide head.

I was gonna ask you what your goal is in all this but I think you answered it here.


The real answer is; the only way to get good at killing animals with a bow is to kill animals with a bow. I believe that no form of practice is going to 100% prepare you to kill that big buck other than killing animals.

Target practice is great to learn form, accuracy and to develop muscle memory so everything is as automatic as possible but the truth is even the best target practice session isn’t going to allow for the adrenaline spike and brain fog that develops when your quarry steps out and it’s about to get real, really quick.

Beyond that, nothing is 100% and nothing you can do will make it 100%. You cant prep for 100% because of factors that will arise in the field, and with the animal that is 100% out of your control.

Just get your bow, go out and kill as many animals as you can with that bow, that way when your big buck steps out you are as prepared as you can possibly be to take that shot because you have been there and done that and won’t mentally fall apart from the pressure of the situation, because you have been there many times before. Range practice can’t teach that or mimic that in any way, nor will trying to analyze every possible scenario based on a limited sample size.

Well said txtrophy85

The more you do it the better prepared you to keep doing it with good results.

Practice until muscle memory is there for the basics to make that shot. I like it to be automatic, to where you do not have to think about the shot that is as far as delivery.

The animals react to the shot differently and unlike the crossbow where we calculated the flight times and how far the shot could be before the animal reacted enough a vertical bow is different though there is a point that the animal will not have time to react is is shorter with an arrow going 180 to close to 300fps but often less with hunting weight arrows. (IBO arrows for the advertised bow speed are very light weight) than it is with a 400fps crossbow.

Shoot at enough animals and they will teach you something every time that may or may not translate to the next opportunity.

Hogs though they often react differently than deer are still a great confidence builder for hunting, and plentiful pests. On a couple occasions I have stalked into bow range and made a the kill but doing that with hogs is great fun and can happen.

This one tonight only went 20 yards blood everywhere. Sharp head in the right place . . .

Wrap up…
We bow shot, tracked and recovered four more since this thread so I hope I can remember this one.
Basically after the blood really slowed and we realized we had a marginally hit deer and he had gone a good ways, that we may need help. We called in a dog and he found him in short order. He was only another 75 yards from where we stopped. He had been dead a very short while so about 5 to 6 hours to die and 300/400 yards. Arrow was still in him. Didn’t do a real good autopsy but gut and apparently liver and maybe caught one lung.
The dog tracker appears to be very good and very experienced. He said a deer going over 150 to 200 yards is likely to go further if pushed so don’t. If heart/lungs hit well they usually die inside that 150/200. He also said a lot of blood does not always mean a short track. That was our mistake. I knew he was gut and maybe liver so knew to give longer time but so much blood made me think he was dead closer.
I’m more aware than most to not draw a lot of conclusions from a small sample size of info but as opposed to going off luck, I chose to gather all info I can. I’ll continue to video and document all details of our shots and listen to others experiences.
If I find time and think y’all are interested I will post more about the other kills from the last few days.
Edit.. Thanks for the feedback so far. Some I would like to address directly and I may if I find time.

I like dogs

I’ve shot between 30-40 deer with an arrow and still learning to this day. I tracked a deer for a friend that was hit forward in the brisket. Bled like crazy the whole way. We lost it after an very long track. Found it two days later. We tracked it on goggle earth. It went 1,600 yards. We were less than 100 yards when I lost track in waste high grass.

Their nose is many times better than my eyes.

This schnauzer likes deer. Leave deer videos playing and she watches them. The deer behind the house do not pay her attention as long as sheis in the fenced yard. Haven't put her on a trail yet but will on the next one even if short one just to see what she does. A few "blood" trails around tje yard and she is on them as soon as she hits it.

I would. Size means nothing. Nose and drive.

One of my Aunts that hunted a good bit had a small cocker that was a good one.

You learn a lot by doing but you can learn some from trailing them with dogs also. I have never called a "Tracker" but have worked some over the years with some pretty good dogs that just had that drive to trail. Lab I bought for my Dad was very good. Aunts cocker was. Cousins mixed breed mut was and my Brit was ok.

Some tracks you just will not recover. Sometimes the deer just did not agtee to die. Or did that where you cannot go.

A bit off topic but the few deer I have shot with a bow have been hit higher than I wanted and was aiming rather than too low like this one. In a static target I can put arrows in a tight group until I fatigue so I am sure of my aim point, abilities, and distance limits. My question to those here in this discussion is do you aim lower on live deer anticipating they will squat down a bit preparing to spring and run?

It’s hard enough to arrow a deer where they are. It’s harder to hit them where they are not. A deer can raise up as well as drop down. Don’t get too complicated or you could have a clean miss. At 320 feet per second at 20 yards, that’s not much time. Reaction is faster if they SEE the arrow. That’s why you cannot shoot at a deer on full alert.

If your shooting elevated remember the exit hole will be lower than the entry so aiming tick high isn’t a bad idea.

It’s been my experience that you can’t tell of a deer is gonna duck an arrow or not. I’ve shot at some deer with my trad bow that were alert and completely ducked the arrow and were gone by the time the arrow got there. I watched a video my son took where his buddy shot at a feeding doe that ducked the arrow from a reasonably fast compound bow. If I hadn’t seen the video I would have called b.s on the deer being able to duck an arrow at that distance (17 yards )

I shoot a compound going 280 fps and i have shot at several alert deer and at the short ranges I prefer (15-20 yards) they can’t get out of the way of the arrow or move enough to affect shot placement. I shot at a fully alert doe a month ago and the arrow blew right thru her before she reacted.

The sika I posted above had a long history of encounters and misses worthy of its own thread, but when he came in he was wise that something was up and he spooked and turned broadside at 33 yards, fully alert when I let it fly. Arrow hit him perfectly and he mule kicked and ran 40 yards and fell over. I would have hesitated to shoot at a fully alert whitetail at that range because I believe they can duck an arrow at that distance.

First year with a crossbow I tried it on an alert buck at 40 yards, 330fps is no match for an alert deer at that distance. I hit a tree right behind him where a limb came out of it and watched him run 50 yards to the right then back to the left he jumped a fence and turned left again watched him run over 200 yards total after the shot no blood on him or the bolt.

I have killed hogs hitting them right where I wanted out to 74 yards they react differently or at least the ones I have shot between 70 and 75 have.

Some deer just react differently. Killed a doe with a 45lb recurve at 27 yards, hit right where I wanted no reaction from her until she was shot think she knew something was up but would not say fully alert. Missed one at 17 that was no longer there by the time the arrow got to it.

Like said the exit is what you are looking for and the higher you are above your target the smaller the target becomes for a double lung shot, broadside is the largest target for that.

It does help to shoot when the deer has it's head up instead of down. Takes longer to load the muscles dropping down with head up than if its head is already down