Long Range hunting versus bowhunting wound loss rates?

[Muskox]

Aaron from Gunwerks made the comment on a podcast recently that long range hunters get a lot of flack for wounding animals, but bowhunters seem to talk about it as a right of passage and an acceptable problem set.

My follow on question would be do you punch your tag in North America, after you can't find it for several days?

 

[Betterinthebush]

I lost a whitetail buck when I was 16 in archery season. I never recovered for use, but only found it 3days later watching the turkey buzzards. Kept the antlers.

I didn’t tag out. I was 16 and full of blood lust. Today I would have tagged out.

 

[Firebird]

Depends where the arrow hit and what kind of damage could be expected. In 35 years with a bow and a rifle I have missed afew, lost afew with both a rifle and arrows. Most all when I was younger.
I love to shoot long range rifle. The problem as I see it is that guys simply don’t have time and access to long distance ranges/places
To work on those skills and the equiptment to do it well.
Most want to practice on the desert floor then hunt in the mountains. . .

 

[Hunt anything]

I lost a giant whitetail around 1990. I had been hunting him for a few days and when I shot he bolted and fell after about 50yd, I collected my gear and watched him for 10 minutes. I stood up in my stand and he got up and was never seen again. Recovered the arrow a few days later. Spent a lot of time looking for him , never even found any blood from what looked like a good hit . Hope he recovered but I didn’t and never picked up a bow again . I have started hunting with a crossbow a little though.
Back then we had a buck a day limit so no reason to “tag” him, today we have a 3 buck limit and I would probably claim him as I do with lost game birds.

 

[skydiver386]

Everyone who spends a lifetime hunting will eventually lose an animal. I've lost animals that were well hit in what should have been a vital area, only to have them run long distances. Finely honed tracking skills were the only reason some of these were recovered.

In my experience, more animals are lost to firearms than archery. Properly tuned and razor sharp broadheads will leave a blood trail rifle hunters would find shocking. Rifle hunters simply expect an animal to go down in short order from tissue destruction or bones broken by the bullet.

 

[BryceM]

I for one would like to see some actual data…. But it’s ridiculously hard to obtain. Everyone has their opinions and biases. Most likely, lots of people are wrong.

 

[Flbt]

I now hunted one year.
I made 2 good shots one on a coyote and the other on a deer.
Recovery both with no problem.
But the length of time from the shot till they died.
It was not for me.
I put the bow up and never tuched it again and have zero desire to hunt with one again

 

[Muskox]

Getting good data is going to be tough.

Montana adjusted an elk season for archery based on wound lost rates in a higher demand about 10 years ago. I have not done any research on it since then.

I have never lost an animal with a rifle. All of them were recovered.

I have only killed a few animals with archery equipment. I had probably whiffed 5-10 arrows before I finally connected. I recovered ll my arrows. I have a shoulder injury and am not able to hunt with a bow any more.

My last secretaries husband is a die hard bow hunter. I met him and we know one another, but he rarely talks hunting with me. He lost 3 bull elk in New Mexico in 3 consecutive years. She told me he didn't. I never asked him about it.

I am going to buy a crossbow when I get back to America to take advantage of those archery seasons that allow it. Mostly because the kids are older and I need more opportunities to get to hunt when there isn't kids sports going on. They are killing my seasons.

 

[Mauser78]

I do bow hunt. Have not lost an animal yet. But it is in South Africa on Bow hunting farms with bow blinds on ground level and shots at 20 yards.
Hoyt 70lbs
Rage 2 blade on Easton arrows. From Axis to Bloodline arrows.

 

[K-man]

If you believe the hunting shows no one ever misses.....
I believe the cameramen and women that are blunt about the wounded ones not shown to the audience.
I also believe many people don't even know they wounded something at long range.
I see far too many deer walking around with big gashes in their flanks and brisket after opening week of deer bow season.
I blame a lot of it on not enough practice with the equipment and not enough patience to wait for a proper shot. And the hunting shows for promoting a false sense of perfection. Hunters should know what happens when they wound an animal, most just move on to the next one.

 

[HankBuck]

Aaron from Gunwerks made the comment on a podcast recently that long range hunters get a lot of flack for wounding animals, but bowhunters seem to talk about it as a right of passage and an acceptable problem set.

My follow on question would be do you punch your tag in North America, after you can't find it for several days?

@Muskox - very good Questions you raise. I would think all Bow Hunters wound/lose an animal More Frequently then Gun Hunters and might be similar to so called “Long-range-shooters”. Bow Hunters that hunt often (40-50+ days a year) and shoot multiple animals (5-10+ a year) in multiple States likely lose an animal every few years and some more often then that ——I’ve Never met a Bow Hunter that Never lost an animal. I would think that long range rifle shots (over 350 400yrds) have a similar Failure rate that varies based on the skill & discipline of the shooter —-every guy with a $15,000 McWhorter Rifle is NOT a great long range shooter under real Hunting conditions, just like Me shooting 3” groups of arrows into my 40 yrd target does NOT mean I can do it under Hunting conditions.
Regarding “do you Punch your tag” if you can’t recover a wounded animal? Depends on the State and Laws: Follow the Law and your Own ethics. Many animals recover from an Arrow wound - especially Bear. A hit in the muscle area is likely to stop bleeding quickly and that animal is Unlikely to be recovered but has a good chance to “live”. Many Guided Hunts & Camps have a rule “Draw blood = Hunt Over” but that might Not be the State Law. I’ve been in a Bow Camp in Illinois that sometimes allowed hunters to continue hunting after wounding & losing a deer “if” the Guide deemed the hit was Non Lethal and deer was I likely to survive.

 

[HankBuck]

If you believe the hunting shows no one ever misses.....
I believe the cameramen and women that are blunt about the wounded ones not shown to the audience.
I also believe many people don't even know they wounded something at long range.
I see far too many deer walking around with big gashes in their flanks and brisket after opening week of deer bow season.
I blame a lot of it on not enough practice with the equipment and not enough patience to wait for a proper shot. And the hunting shows for promoting a false sense of perfection. Hunters should know what happens when they wound an animal, most just move on to the next one.

@K-man— good points and agree. On the Long-Range Hunting shows I’ve watched some 700 to 900 yrds shots taken on a Bear that resulted in a clean Miss - then they took a 2nd shot and killed it?? If you can completely Miss a Bear and THEN follow that up with a One-Shot-Kill….how many are WOUNDED that get “Edited Out”. Same on Bow hunting shows where a deer gets “spined” and the next thing you see is the hunters standing over the dead animal….what happen inbetween is rarely shown, gut shot Non recovered deer rarely ever make it onto the TV Show. Bow hunters that are GREAT bow shots still wound deer due to the deer’s fast “reaction time” and hearing the bow sound-jumping/moving before the arrow arrives. Deer taken at over 25 yrds often move slightly before the arrow arrives (string jump) and that can cause a Miss or Wounding even though the shot was “Perfect” when-it-left-the-String.
TV Hunting shows can distort what Real Hunting is as much as Playboy Playmates are like real girlfriends.

 

[NoStepOnSnek]

I’ve lost 2 with rifles, both when I was a teenager. Best assumption was that I hit “no man’s land” between the top of the lungs and the spine. Both dropped, both got up and ran away after climbing out of the stand. Both shots were over 200 yards, but within 250

 

[Hunt anything]

I also wonder how many animals are actually hit, show absolutely no sign of being but walking off and dying.
Back in the late 80’s I shot at a doe whitetail with a bow twice at about 15 yds, she just kept feeding on acorns so I shot again. She walked about 20 yards and fell over dead, no sign whatsoever of being hit. Both holes were about an inch apart.
Have had that happen with rifle shot deer as well and a black wildebeest recently. I had taken a 300yd shot at the black wildebeest bull in a herd, no reaction at all. The herd ran off we caught up with the herd a mile or so away with a bull lagging behind it. My PH said it was a good bull and to take it, he went down at the shot, when we got up to him we saw my first shot had clipped the back of both lungs. If we had not come up on the same herd we never would have found him even though I insisted we go look for blood even though we thought I had missed. This is something I always do no matter how sure I am of a shot missing.

 

[Philip Glass]

I have lost an animal before but not regularly and I don't bow hunt anymore. With the record population of whitetail deer in Texas we would never "punch a tag" for something that got away. Go shoot more!

 

[ftrovato]

I was a proponent many years ago. Then, I had a nice whitetail buck duck the arrow (around 40 years ago).

That was it for me, I just cant get behind the increased risk of the animal running off and suffering.

 

[skydiver386]

I can certainly understand those who have had bad experiences with archery equipment, but I truly believe there are easily explained reasons for the failures associated with it.

First is equipment.

I see a lot of archery gear sold that is bound to give problems, but hunters that have limited experience can't discern bad gear from good. Take cheap dull broadheads for example. Every year a new crop of cheap Chinesium broadheads come on the market. They are dull from the factory and can't be brought to any degree of sharpness no matter what you do.

Then there are quality broadheads that are so sharp you can easily cut yourself badly just screwing them into your arrow shafts if you aren't careful.

The cheap dull broadheads will likely result in a lost animal, even with a good accurate shot. The shaving sharp broadheads will leave a blood trail Stevie Wonder could follow, and it's likely to be a short one.

Second is training.

Others have posted that beginners don't practice enough, and I agree 100 percent. I'll add that anyone that hasn't harvested 10 animals with archery tackle should keep shots to 25 yards, and only move out farther after you've put a good number in the freezer.

A big point on training that I can't emphasize enough is having an experienced mentor. If you can find an older hunting buddy that has years of experience bow hunting, he can help you avoid most of the pitfalls discussed in this thread. Buying proper gear, bloodtrailing, etc. are all things we've been taught when gun hunting, but I've seen a severe lack of it in the Archery World.

We as hunters need to help each other to do better.

 

[HankBuck]

I was a proponent many years ago. Then, I had a nice whitetail buck duck the arrow (around 40 years ago).

That was it for me, I just cant get behind the increased risk of the animal running off and suffering.

@ftrovato it is certainly harder with a Bow and especially a “Real” Bow ie: compound or traditional wood-recurve-long bow etc.. Understanding you had a lost animal and not clear if you wounded it or just missed? While wounding rates are higher with a Bow - would you Stop gun hunting if the same miss/wounded & lost occurred? Almost every hunter that hunts often has wounded/lost an animal - the experience should help make us better Hunters and better shots —- Better NOT Perfect. For Me Bowhunting made Me a better Hunter overall and especially better blood trailing and recovering animals, trapping also made me a better hunter - reading sign, habitat, & more precise travel patterns. I like the entire experience being Outdoors and always learning but Never learning it All. Another nice thing about Bowhunting - you spend more days in the woods and are often Unsuccessful - seeing game but Not getting a shot opportunity…makes me appreciate Success even more. But, you and everyone must hunt the way you enjoy most - it’s All great.