bad deal

dont kill me on this. I was bow hunting one of my favorite spots when I dropped Of a ridge into a very small canyom and there was a spike a cow and a calf being in a spike only unit he was perfect I closed the distance from 200yds to 50 took my shot and the arrow flew way high and left but the bull went down i watched him for about 20 min and he didnt move I was sure he was dead
I walked down to where he was and he stood up with my arrow sticking from his temple at a downward angle I tried to get another shot but couldnt ive looked for him for a week and a half and no luck this is the first animal ive shot and not found it sucks but i found a stolen jeep stuck about a mile up a reclaimed rpoad and had a bull moose chase me from about 200 yds from my truck too about 2 miles a away in the dark so it was an adventure. this is the short version ive tried to post this twice and lost it so i'msick of typein sorry about the grammer Ive had a couple of drinks
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Ive shot my bow since and it was off dont know why it was dead on before the hunt
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that happens. just got to dust your self of and get back in the sadle!
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AGCHAWK
Bad deal digger. You know, bad things happen every once in a while...and some are just unavoidable.

I understand your pain on not only losing the bull, but waisting an animal. Any ethical hunter hates for that to happen and does everything in thier power to avoid it. However, you stated that you have looked for the bull for a week and I commend you for your efforts. A less ethical hunter would have chalked it up as a lost animal and just continued his/her hunt.

It sounds to me like you've done everything you can to recover the animal. I guess you can take solace in that, get your bow sited in again, and see if you can fill that tag again.

About 10 years ago I hit a buck high and to the rear for much the same reason. As I found out later, somehow my scope got knocked off center and I was shooting high/right. I looked for the buck for the remainder of the season and for two days afterward with no luck. It REALLY bothered me that I was unable to recover him. Since that day I site and re-site my rifle as often as possible in an attempt to keep that from happening again.

Good luck my friend and good luck.
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ABert
Definately a bummer, but if you can say to yourself that you did your best to find it, then that's all you can do.

Believe it or not, he may make it. Strange things have happened. I remember reading a story about a guy who was rifle hunting and had a buck walk directly to him, never lifting it's head. The hunter took the buck only to find out why it never lifter it's head. There was an arrow that had entered from behind the neck and through the head, sticking out in front of the the nose.

Now, there's now way that deer would have survived this throughout the rest of the year, but did survive long enough for another hunter to harvest it.

If the arrow didn't penetrate the skull, there's a good chance it may survive. Or it may be harvested by another hunter. You might have just given it a splitting head ache, no pun intended (well, maybe just a little bit!).
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this is the short version ive tried to post this twice and lost it so i'msick of typein sorry about the grammer Ive had a couple of drinks
Now that's funny right there! I don't care who ya are that's funny!

I now have an excuse for all my problems!

I'm just playin with ya man! In all seriousness that's too bad, but it happens. Nobody likes it when it does, but, it happens! Hang in there!
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gave up on him and killed a cow tonight last day and all
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NONYA
Good job Digger,that crap happens to best hunters,especially when your talkin archery,you tried your best to find him and thats all you can do.Hes probably runnin around with one hell of a headache,elk are TOUGH critters! :222
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Hiker
"digger" wrote:gave up on him and killed a cow tonight last day and all
Glad you connected and brought home some meat. :thumb
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79Ford
Congrats on being able to fill your tag Digger. I agree with the earlier posts that this animal may possibly live long enough to be taken by another hunter. Them things are tough critters and if the arrow didn't penetrate the skull he may even live to bocome a mature bull and give someone a nice unique trophy in a few years. I know what it's like not being able to find an animal, but take pride in knowing that you looked for him for a week and a half. Most guys would give it 20 minutes and then move on.
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That's a shame that ya didn't find him, but I think it's safe to say that a week and a half of looking for him is more than 90% of people would have given, and if you haven't even found a trace of him, there's a good chance he made it. I've heard lots of stories of animals bein knocked unconscious and then jumpin up and runnin away when the hunter walked up. Hopefully that's what happened!! Congrats on the cow, anyways, it should be some good eatin!
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MULIES4EVER
Sorry to hear it but you gave it your best. Keep your chin up.
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79Ford
Take a look at this story.

http://mikehanback.blogs.com/bigbuckzone/2007/01/the_xray_buck.html

I'd say if this buck can make it so can your bull.
Just plain crazy.
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jersey boy
digger you said your bow was dead on and then when season came around you were off thats what happened with my bow i mean when i shot my buck it was dead on but two weeks after i took some shots and was literally hitten 5 inches off it was ridiculous i asked my sport shop they said the string wears out some strings can last 3 years some will only last 1 year it sucks but you just got to keep taking practice shots!!
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Even if he did die, its still not a loss, you fed the coyotes, mountain lions, birds ect. It sucks but if you hunt long enough its going to happen, I lost a bull a few years ago, shot high and spined him, he went down like a sack of crap but got back up and took off. never did see him again, looked for two full days with my uncles dog no blood nothing we couldnt even see where he beded down for the night or anything, The only conclusion we could come up with was it was high enough to miss the spinal cord but it hit hard enough to temp. paralize him. After I couldnt find him I thought about just calling it a season, and thats when my uncle told me what I just told you.
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THATS WHAT YA GET FOR HUNTIN IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE..... lol
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