Save a sick day!

[JPH]

Every year I run into a hunter who tells a story about wounding a deer and tracking it into the night, only to give up and not return the following morning because they had to be at work or school. I am a big advocate of holding off on tracking questionable hits or sparse blood trails. Barring rain or snowfall, the job is almost always easier at fist light than it is in the pitch dark.

If you hunt evenings, before you have to be somewhere, save a sick day! I admire people who maintain a perfect attendance record, but recovering a deer that you have wounded is more important. You made the shot, now you need to do everything in your power to recover that animal!

I do not want to encourage anyone to lie but remember, you can be "not well" and still be physically able. How sharp are you going to be at school or on the job knowing that your deer might be lying 30 yards from where you gave up the night before?

Yes, we lose deer. I've lost them myself. But never walk away from a trail until you've done everything possible. If you can't spare a sick day on Monday, don't hunt Sunday night!

At least that's how I see it.

[Goose]

I agree, I have called in to work (unpaid) to recover an animal.
 
I honestly cant describe how I feel from the time I loose an arrow to the recovery, no matter what the shot looked like.........all I can say, is that it is a bad feeling.

[DoeEyed]

"I honestly cant describe how I feel from the time I loose an arrow to the recovery, no matter what the shot looked like.........all I can say, is that it is a bad feeling."

Does'nt matter where the shot was, if I used a bow or gun, or if I hear it crash or see it fall. Until I get my hands on that deer I am a nervous wreck. Pace ,chatter, smoke like a chimney. Or on the other end of the spectrum I say nothing at all cuz I just feel "sick" with doubt.

[69Viking]

I have to agree with you JPH and it's for this reason most of my camp trips end after the morning hunt on Sundays! This gives us plenty of time to pack up and leave camp to get back home for work and school the next day. The only time I can see putting myself in the situation you describe is if it's the last hunt of the season, then I might stay for that afternoon hunt but even then in most cases I'll at least plan to have the next morning or entire day off. Right now though I'm just itching for the season to get here, 2 weeks and counting!

[DeanoZ]

Concur, we owe it to our quarry to exhaust all resources (to the extent possible) to track and recover....I still look for that 8 pointer I shot last year and will always carry a bit of guilt/remorse over not being able to din him.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: DeanoZ

Concur, we owe it to our quarry to exhaust all resources (to the extent possible) to track and recover....I still look for that 8 pointer I shot last year and will always carry a bit of guilt/remorse over not being able to din him.

 
You are not alone DenoZ. I've got four deer that I remember this way! One taught me not to take a quartering toward shot or to bow hunt in the rain, two taught me not to take a walking shot with a bow, three taught me not to shoot straight down with a bow, and four taught me not to hunt with a handgun until I get a LOT better with it.
 
Three of the four cost me sick days, with still no recovery on any one of them. That and the fact that I have vowed not to make those mistakes again are the only way I can "pay it back".

[MoDeer]

 My family owns the only store in a small town and I couldnt tell you how many times we had hunters in late sunday evening on their way home talking about the deer they just lost. It has always irked me if they cant invest the time to find there deer they should not hunt sunday afternoon . I have always been fortunate my bosses think a cold front during deer seasson is a holiday and if I have to take off work to track a deer the next morning the big boss goes with me . I got great parents

[danesdad]

I shot a doe two years ago. It was a solid hit, but i never recovered it. I searched for several hours, went to an appointment, then returned to search some more. It still bothers me. I'll always feel like, maybe if I'd looked for another 15 minutes.....

What I learned: When you feel you waited long enough after a hit before you start searching for the animal...give it another half hour.