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Finding deer dead

U must have a ton of bow hunters next to u. I own several farms & have rarely found a wounded arrow'd deer. Maybe 3-4 times in 15 yrs? Now- after gun- oh my.... Going in a week later- I'd guess I've found 30-40 deer from gun shots on my land after the slugs flew. I had a tiny piece once I bet I found 2-3 bucks dead after guns pushed that never got found. Yes- next to a piece piss pounded by the truck load of guys all yr A circus worse than most anywhere. Cleaned out those rascally worthless 2-3 yr old bucks every yr. yes- ok, little frustrating but I personally think gun drives vs arrows r no comparison for the wounded deer out there IMO.
 
Sligh1 said:
U must have a ton of bow hunters next to u. I own several farms & have rarely found a wounded arrow'd deer. Maybe 3-4 times in 15 yrs? Now- after gun- oh my.... Going in a week later- I'd guess I've found 30-40 deer from gun shots on my land after the slugs flew. I had a tiny piece once I bet I found 2-3 bucks dead after guns pushed that never got found. Yes- next to a piece piss pounded by the truck load of guys all yr A circus worse than most anywhere. Cleaned out those rascally worthless 2-3 yr old bucks every yr. yes- ok, little frustrating but I personally think gun drives vs arrows r no comparison for the wounded deer out there IMO.
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Agreed. I find way more deer shot up after the gun season. I don't know if its because people pick the ones they want to keep or just don't care look for them when the run
 
CurtisWalker said:
Agreed. I find way more deer shot up after the gun season. I don't know if its because people pick the ones they want to keep or just don't care look for them when the run
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I don't want to get into the bow vs. gun hunter debate as I do both and am glad I have the opportunity to do so. There are obviously deer wounded by both bow and gun hunters (look at all the "what would you do after this shot" threads). I would venture to guess that there are more wounded by guns, as more opportunities to shoot usually arise in gun seasons (not necessarily good shot opportunities and not saying that people don't take "bad" shots at deer with a bow), at least for me. I limit my shots to a shorter distance with a bow than a gun, so some deer that are in the wide open without even a blade of grass between me and it get passed with a bow but shot at with a gun, so I tend to have more opportunities to shoot with a gun just based on range. Plus, many people can get more shots off with a gun than they can with a bow at the same deer or group of deer, so that may lead to more getting wounded by guns.

As for finding them dead later, I would agree that some people track what they want to track. I'm sure there are many that would spend 2-3 days or longer trying to find what they consider a big buck (time spent increasing with the estimated size) and go farther in their search than they would for a doe. So I'm sure a lot of does get wounded and run off, and if it's not what the hunter really wanted to slap their tag on (yes,they should not have shot), they get left. Especially if they cross a fence onto a piece they don't have permission to hunt. I would say even small bucks get this treatment as well if the hunter is after a giant. And even some deer (bucks and does) that are found, but just aren't "big enough" to put the tag on. Again, not a bow vs. gun hunting opinion as I'm sure deer shot by a bow or gun get this treatment.
 
StickersNKickers said:
I don't want to get into the bow vs. gun hunter debate as I do both and am glad I have the opportunity to do so. There are obviously deer wounded by both bow and gun hunters (look at all the "what would you do after this shot" threads). I would venture to guess that there are more wounded by guns, as more opportunities to shoot usually arise in gun seasons (not necessarily good shot opportunities and not saying that people don't take "bad" shots at deer with a bow), at least for me. I limit my shots to a shorter distance with a bow than a gun, so some deer that are in the wide open without even a blade of grass between me and it get passed with a bow but shot at with a gun, so I tend to have more opportunities to shoot with a gun just based on range. Plus, many people can get more shots off with a gun than they can with a bow at the same deer or group of deer, so that may lead to more getting wounded by guns.

As for finding them dead later, I would agree that some people track what they want to track. I'm sure there are many that would spend 2-3 days or longer trying to find what they consider a big buck (time spent increasing with the estimated size) and go farther in their search than they would for a doe. So I'm sure a lot of does get wounded and run off, and if it's not what the hunter really wanted to slap their tag on (yes,they should not have shot), they get left. Especially if they cross a fence onto a piece they don't have permission to hunt. I would say even small bucks get this treatment as well if the hunter is after a giant. And even some deer (bucks and does) that are found, but just aren't "big enough" to put the tag on. Again, not a bow vs. gun hunting opinion as I'm sure deer shot by a bow or gun get this treatment.
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Stickers I'm beginning to think we have the same views on a lot of things from our responses this last month
 
I found 13 dead deer on my property one year after gun season. So glad that hunting is no longer allowed on that public piece that borders my property. I would say on average we would find 8-10.
 
Sligh1 said:
U must have a ton of bow hunters next to u. I own several farms & have rarely found a wounded arrow'd deer. Maybe 3-4 times in 15 yrs? Now- after gun- oh my.... Going in a week later- I'd guess I've found 30-40 deer from gun shots on my land after the slugs flew. I had a tiny piece once I bet I found 2-3 bucks dead after guns pushed that never got found. Yes- next to a piece piss pounded by the truck load of guys all yr A circus worse than most anywhere. Cleaned out those rascally worthless 2-3 yr old bucks every yr. yes- ok, little frustrating but I personally think gun drives vs arrows r no comparison for the wounded deer out there IMO.
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I could not believe all the dead deer up there with slug holes when shed hunting some IA farms. Unreal finding so many dead deer and one was a beaut of a 3.5 typical 11....
 
Stickers

x2....Thats about the best way anyone can sum it up.


Dead deer

This years gun season I found 2 dead bucks. Too decayed to determine cause of death. Shot a buck that had an obvious arrow wound in the shoulder. Had an infection around heart and lungs. Buddy shot another buck that still had the arrow sticking out it. Last year I found 2 dead bucks each with an arrow in the guts. one during gun season and 1 while shed hunting. Both 130 inch 10's, both within a couple hundred yards of tree stands. Also found 3 dead spikes and 1 doe shed hunting(probably from gun season). Also found a 170 13pt too decayed to tell probably been there 2 yrs or more. I used to shed hunt some public real hard and always found a handful of dead ones I assumed were from gun seasons.

Loosing deer happens to the best and the worst hunters of all seasons. Some should be found and others can't be found.
 
Just my opinion-
More deer are wounded with arrows.

More deer are killed and not found by the hunter with guns.

I'm guilty of both I'm sure. Longer shots with guns make it difficult to find the track and determine what happened. Frozen ground. Blood trails are completely different. Flesh wounds become more serious with a hollow point then blades.

More hunters moving through the woods during gun season contribute to higher kills/finds as well.
 
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