Sad story

LAST EDITED ON Sep-13-17 AT 12:19PM (MST)[p]I was asked to try for a tall 3x3 cull buck on a private ranch last week.

Saw the deer move into a great spot for a stalk, suited up, got to within about 2 yards and came to full draw. As he moved into a small window I stood and shot.

Now being that close all i could see thru the peep was hair and the weeds were very tall, covering the heart and lower 1/3 of the deer. I hit the deer way high on the shoulder blade.

No arrow found, no blood anywhere - I followed him for 2 miles along a river and never saw a drop of blood. He was supposedly seen the next day and looked fine. Hoping I hit "the pocket" which is an area above the lungs that has no circulatory system running thru it.

In any case - lessons learned: slow down, take your time, dont' rush the shot and lastly - you can get TOO close. I've shot 3 deer inside 10 yards and I'm convinced now to not get ANY closer than that. 10 yards is my new limit for getting close, if you can't tell where your pin is on the deer when you draw you are too close.

Ironically I was practicing and doing very well w/ my 60 yard pin the day prior. Slinging 60 yard bullseyes then miss at 7 feet! DOH!

Hope to save someone a similar experience with this story.

Happy Hunting!

I feel your pain, I stuck a nice 180ish buck a few weeks ago in the same area. Could have sworn I got top lungs. The arrow broke which was strange and only about 10 small drops of blood within 200 yards. My buddy seen the buck jumping around like nothing happened. Searched for half the day the following day and came home empty handed.

Sorry to hear of your frustrating hunt; although it sounds like you did everything right. I'm trying recurve hunt(s) this year and plan to get close... within 25 yards, but not as close as you were able to sneak to. I guess there is such a thing as too-close.

Hope you gat a chance at him this season.

2f350s: Hunt hard, hunt ethically.