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failure to recover

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failure to recover

Postby wawhitey » 11 25, 2016 •  [Post 1]

So nov 19th was the last day of rifle deer here. Early in the day i rattled up a little 3x3 but let him walk. I dont like shooting young deer. 2 hours left in the day i finally come across a real wall hanger. At this point id already passed on a handful of good bucks over the last month, waiting for "the one." Well now here he was, at the buzzer, with thick fog rolling in. Im ashamed to say i geeked out. Lost my cool and took a bad shot. Picked up the (weak) blood trail right before dark, and bumped him within 100 yards, so i figured the best thing to do was pull out and wait til morning. Well come morning all the snow was melted off, and took the trail with it. Almost a week now and havent found him. This is the first time ive ever shot an animal and failed to recover it. Now im hunting deer again with my bow, since late arch is open, but its making me feel like a criminal. Anybody else ever shot an animal, failed to recover it, and continued hunting? This is just a hard thing for me to stomach. Doesnt quite feel right.
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Re: failure to recover

Postby wawhitey » 11 25, 2016 •  [Post 2]

Im pretty close to just sticking an arrow in a little peckerhead buck from my living room window, just to get meat in the freezer. Ive had the opportunity last few nights, but i know if i took it id be ashamed of it.
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Re: failure to recover

Postby six » 11 26, 2016 •  [Post 3]

That's part of hunting and it will make you better next time. Personally I have wounded and animal with my bow and usually in about a week the sickening feeling subsides enough I can stand to hunt again. That's why God made so many of them. He either lived or he was food for other animals. Cycle of life.
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Re: failure to recover

Postby Lefty » 11 27, 2016 •  [Post 4]

six wrote:That's why God made so many of them. He either lived or he was food for other animals. Cycle of life.


Ive never lost a big game animal that might have died.
However at one time while talking to a CO I expressed my concern on lost ducks. His explanation was much longer then what Six posted, but the same message.

My father-in -law lost a big bull elk he spent days looking. And felt terrible. some time later a fellow he met a number of times told him he fount the bull from the ravens. The fellow brought out the rack for my father-in-law. MY FIL told the fellow to keep the rack ,.. My FIL felt he didn't deserve it if he couldn't find it.
He did kill the the grizzle that had eaten most of the elk the next year
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Re: failure to recover

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 11 28, 2016 •  [Post 5]

wawhitey wrote: Anybody else ever shot an animal, failed to recover it, and continued hunting?


Yep, over the course of 40+ years of hunting, I have wounded a few big game animals that I did not recover. Yep, it's a bad feeling for sure but it happens for various reasons. Yep, I always continued to hunt (obviously after I gave the critter the maximum effort in tracking). Sometimes things go wrong but like Six said, it makes us better hunters. It sucks to have to learn from a mistake but oftentimes, the toughest lessons are the longest lasting.
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Re: failure to recover

Postby ishy » 12 03, 2016 •  [Post 6]

Sadly I'm in that club and have lost way too much sleep over it. Couple of angles, is one that you did every thing possible to follow up on a shot. Every year you hear and see animals harvested that have bullets or broad heads in them from previous seasons. Some bad shots are not fatal, and the animal makes a full recovery. Heck I have what you would think was a perfect shot on film that for whatever the reason didn't do the job. You put in the due diligence to recover that animal, but at some point you realize that animal is not going to be recoverable for whatever the reason.
Ted Nugent brought to light you need to watch the regulations especially hunting out of your normal state. I think it was a bear hunt in Alaska that he wounded a bear and didn't find it and went on to harvest a second bear. In Alaska you draw blood your done with that tag. He owned the mistake and paid the fee. Not sure if any other states have similar rules, but something to watch for.
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Re: failure to recover

Postby Indian Summer » 12 07, 2016 •  [Post 7]

I've never shot an elk I didn't recover but I did find a bull the next morning and it was really hot out. The meat soured before my very eyes as we quartered and packed the meat out. it was a long way and by the time I got to the processor it was green and nasty.

Changes your outlook on marginal shots that's for sure. Exactly why I don't approve of shots like that 94 yard long bomb in the video from Gypsum Reaper. If you think an unrecovered deer makes you feel like a criminal try seeing an entire bull elk go to waste. :(
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Re: failure to recover

Postby Old school » 12 22, 2016 •  [Post 8]

I've also shot several whitetails with a bow over the years that I wasn't able to recover. Each one was different, but I learned a lot in the process - things that are now a go/no go indicator - time of day, temperature, angle, alertness, distance to neighbors property... Now I'm able to pass this experience (some learned the hard way) on to my sons so they don't have to repeat it. The deer I didn't recover, I still remember the encounter, what I could've, should've or would've done. Emotions run from disappointment to discouragement to being disgusted with yourself. Everyone is different, but I found that getting back out and trying again always helped me.

--Mitch
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