Silverlax
Active Member
Went out this morning and the place I hunt was 80% underwater. The rain last couple of days did it in. Mosquitos were pretty rough so I did not stay long.
Went out this morning and the place I hunt was 80% underwater. The rain last couple of days did it in. Mosquitos were pretty rough so I did not stay long.
Went out this morning and the place I hunt was 80% underwater. The rain last couple of days did it in. Mosquitos were pretty rough so I did not stay long.
What's the rub on here with killing fawns? I killed one last year because I wanted a small one to try butchering a deer myself without being too overwhelmed. It was perfect. I would kill another fawn in a heartbeat.
At the butcher now. Probably 90-100lbs live weight, pre-dressed. About 70lbs or so dressed. Maybe a bit bigger.
Came up empty in round 1. 16yds and the arrow went right under her. I am very, very, very confident it was a clean miss. Zero blood. Arrow didn't deflect. Whole herd ran off. After some searching and much cussing, I pulled out my archery bag and said F it and put a mechanical broadhead in to it. It was low and left by about 6 inches at 18yds.
WTF.
A few more shots and they were mostly still low and left.
As I was finishing up and tweaking the scope, I could see the deer back in the woods starting to come back in to my corn. Closed up the blind and waited. Took half an hour because momma and her baby came in right after a spike and Momma kept chasing off the spike and the two big does that came in tail end Charlie (the smaller doe and button buck from earlier never came back, but they seemed to be traveling partners, just like Momma and the doe were and the two does and the spike (I've been seeing all 7 of them out there at the same time, but they don't seem to be herded together except when eating). Took 20 minutes before one of the big does presented a good shot.
Quartering away a bit. Arrow zipped in, deflected off and buried itself at the edge of the meadow. Deer didn't look like she'd been hit other than the arrow visibly deflecting from its flight path several feet after passing "by" the doe. Went out, and nice blood trail starting at the edge of the woods where she entered the stilt grass and the arrow was coated in some nice dark blood. Waited 20 minutes, took the boys out and found her 100yds or so away in the woods. Nice blood trail. Arrow entered a couple inches back from where I swore I was aiming still and went "up". Though I think the "up" was as much because she was leaning over eating and quartering away. Nicked the gut barely, sliced the liver and weight straight through the Aorta. Somehow did not apparently clip or hit either lung. Somehow. Went out the opposite shoulder. Only hit ribs, no leg/shoulder bones involved.
Anyway, I'd been sweet talked in to quartering away shots being better for archery rather than broadside (every other archery shot I've taken) to avoid hitting the leg or shoulder and exposing the vitals better. I think I am going to go back to broadside shots. Been worried about it. But even my older and slower crossbow both leg hits, also hit ribs and both managed to poke through the opposite side exiting the hide, though not a complete pass through (both deer smashed the arrows limp-running away before they expired). New crossbow is going WAY faster (380fps vs 330fps).
I think I did figure out the accuracy issues. Looked closer at my NAP Shockwave instructions. "The SHOCKWAVE is designed to open with very little pressure yet stay closed in flight up to 310 feet per second. "
Their performance I've been impressed with, but I think my new crossbow is shoving them too fast and causing them to open sometimes in flight. I'll probably start a separate thread, but I'll be looking for new arrow heads. Mechanical? Fixed? Recommendations? I hate to move away from the NAP Shockwaves as I've never had them fail to open and they've got a good cutting diameter and penetrate deep. But it sounds like I either need to save them for my older, slower crossbow, or for a vertical bow.
At the butcher now. Probably 90-100lbs live weight, pre-dressed. About 70lbs or so dressed. Maybe a bit bigger.
Its legal, so I won't knock anyone doing it. To each his own. But I'm not about to waste an arrow on something that walks up to me in my yard like its a dog.Killing fawns - C'mon fellas, do you wanna' just give the Bambi-huggers ammo? That is an embarrassment to all fair chase hunters!
Its legal, so I won't knock anyone doing it. To each his own. But I'm not about to waste an arrow on something that walks up to me in my yard like its a dog.
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Killing fawns - C'mon fellas, do you wanna' just give the Bambi-huggers ammo? That is an embarrassment to all fair chase hunters!
If you can visualize where the exit will be you can sometimes pick a spot a little farther back on the side the impact will occur.
Stop and look at some cattle or another four legged critter(s) that are standing around to get an idea how far back you need to be.
Sort of like when they demonstrate with the rods when they determine where the shot originated from.
If you hit the deer that far back,and hit the aorta,that deer was at a sharp angle when the bolt hit(either the deer was standing that way or moved at the shot) or the bolt deflected to the right.Either way,I would take a quartering away shot over a broadside shot any day.I have never lost a deer where the broad head went in and forward.There are a lot of good things to cut into liver,lungs,heart ,major arteries and veins to make a quick death.
Not sure with the broad heads,I never shot a deer with an expandable
Lol. Exactly. I'd rather kill a fawn than to go home empty-handed.