My second tag is filled

[jtram]

Anybody who has hunted for a length of time with a bow has or will eventually lose a deer, it is an unfortunate reality. You just have to learn from your bad experience and apply that to your next opportunity. IMO not waiting long enough after the shot is the #1 reason for lost deer. I made a bad shot last weekend on my personal best bow deer and pulled out until daylight the next day. He was still (barely) alive. Had i looked that night I would have bumped and likely lost him. 

[Johnsfolly]

Marty - great deer!

I haven't been back out with my bow. Too much work. Did take my son out in the fog during the youth season. We found a great scrape line, but no deer were spotted. I couldn't get him off of the computer to go out that afternoon.

I have moved towards using lighted nocks to be able to see if and where I hit the deer with my shot. Maybe its just bad eyesight, but I have trouble following the arrow in flight without the lighted nocks. They have helped me both during normal and low lighting situations. Also I like to post the lit arrow at the spot where I figured the animal was standing when I shot it. That was a tremendous help after dark finding our way out of the woods after we recovered a doe that I shot on a piece of public property that I had never been too prior to that evening.

[BilletHead]

 Thanks for the complements guys and the good discussion on the hits or miss hits. Taking your time, paying attention to making a good shot and the follow up after that shot good or bad. One thing is that contrary to belief deer don't jump the string they duck the string noise. They have to drop to jump up thus you will shoot over them every time even though you might have your yardage right. The longer the shot the worse the problem will become. When I was able to shoot my self bows I was lobbing arrows out there at maybe 125 or a little more feet per second, yes I could shoot, drop my bow arm and be able to see the hit . So add slow speed to this and see how the arrow goes over the deer pretty easy. You all might think about aiming a bit low. I would much rather shoot under a deer than high on one. If you hit that deer on the low side you can still clip that heart, a hit high on the back is not going to do you any good. Use a good broadhead. I mean good. When expandables first came out they were  junk and some still are. When I had to change equipment because of my shoulder. I looked at many heads. Finally decided on the one hundred grain swacker. New bows now are so fast they can drive right through. Blades on this head are thick and I have taken four deer in four shots. No broken blades, some bent but not broke. I have even resharpened a couple of blades. Devastating wound channels. Guess not exactly a wound channel but kill channel through the animal. You see videos where after the hit blood gushes and sprays out of the animal? All four of these deer in the last two years have done that. I mean sprayed and gushed out the sides of the deer making death as morbid as it sounds quick and more humane. So my point is especially to you newer hunters is practice, don't shoot beyond your capabilities and use a good head,

BilletHead

[sms_alum]

Great advice! People think bow hunting is a sport they can just pick up with a new bow at the sporting goods store. It takes a lot of time practicing, scouting, and setting up.