What Does Knowledge Of The Animal's Anatomy Tell The Bowhunter?

Sunrise in the mountains
All photograph credits unless otherwise noted: Dave Barnett

Equally hunters, the all-time fashion to strop our skills and knowledge of the field comes from learning experiences. Sometimes these experiences will be grand and memorable and other times they can be negative and ugly. Some of the most successful hunters I know are constantly yearning for this knowledge and never reject an opportunity to acquire—no matter how small or big the lesson may be. I've often found that, for myself, some of the most negative and simply plain atrocious situations I've experienced have become some of the all-time lessons in life. These situations can ascend in the form of a miss, blown stalk, or even merely the difficulty in finding animals on a tough hunt. However, across those, losing an creature after a shot for whatever reason is absolutely at the top of my list when it comes to undesirable situations.

This is a state of affairs that I feel ofttimes gets swept under the carpet and pushed away into the dark recesses of our memories. Many hunters endeavor to hibernate these situations, largely due to the embarrassment I suspect, but discussing these tin can illicit fresh thoughts on the situation and provide valuable lessons. I'm non saying that you should jump onto your favorite social media platform and proclaim your predicament to the world, but discussing information technology among friends or family can be salubrious.

They say that if y'all hunt long enough you'll eventually reach a point in your career where you'll do everything right and still lose an animal. While this may not be an absolute truth, it does bear a heavy possibility. If and when this happens it's going to destroy your conviction, brand you question everything, and strength you to take an honest and real evaluation of what you're really doing in the woods. This is ane of those "everyman of the lows" events that will lead you lot into a hunter'southward depression. However, information technology should be noted that there is a real opportunity here.

The offset 24 hours

The commencement 24 hours following the terminate of the search are going to exist disturbing; there's nothing yous can do about it. While I can't speak for anybody reading this I tin can say that in my own personal experience you lot will get a social recluse. I shut out everyone around me and more often than not go but miserable to even be around. You're going to fall into an atrocious funk equally you constantly replay the situation in your caput, constantly asking yourself the question, "Why?" At this point, I'll question my ability and skills in the woods and even contemplate selling everything and taking upward a new sport. Y'all'll basically plough into a manic pubescent teen throwing a fit.

Instead of being totally shut out, I try to force myself to reevaluate the situation while the encounter is still fresh in my listen. I may write every particular down that I tin can call up, written report beefcake charts, or talk through the state of affairs with a friend or family member. During your initial search while in the field, y'all will likely become desperate with hopes of finding the brute and may overlook pocket-sized details that could insinuate themselves to what actually went wrong. Talking through the event with a fresh mind can foster questions and evaluations that could shed some calorie-free on this unfortunate event.

The why?

When evaluating the encounter, hunters should be constantly asking themselves "Why?" rather than, "Why did this happen to me?" They should focus on questions like, "Why did I miss my marking?" or "Why did the creature react like that?" Many times, if a person looks at all of the facts and accepts everything with an open up mind, a very probable explanation will become obvious. There can exist a one thousand thousand and one reasons that cause a shot to become errant and sometimes these issues could have have been prevented; other times they may have been totally out of our easily.

Identifying the trouble

Mule deer blood dropping on rock
Tracking mule deer claret after the shot. Photograph credit: Brady Miller

More often than not speaking, the primary culprit of non recovering an animate being will fall in the initial shot placement. First, I like to identify why I missed my mark. Was it improper pes placement? A rushed shot? Did I hold at full draw on my bow besides long? Or did I have an unsteady remainder for my rifle? The possibilities of cause are endless, but identifying the chief outcome can shed some calorie-free on what went incorrect and what to piece of work on for next fourth dimension.

Beyond the shot, many hunters will likewise brand the mistake of taking upwardly the bloodtrail too early on. Fifty-fifty with a lethal hit, some animals may require up to 12 hours to pass. Picking up their bloodtrail as well before long can increase the risk of bumping the at present wounded animal and could lead to a long and fruitless tracking effort. On mortally wounded animals, hitting anywhere other than the heart or lungs, the brute will generally cover a brusque altitude (50 to 300 yards) and bed downward if undisturbed. At this bespeak, the wound volition jell up and the animal will but bleed internally. Bumping your quarry at this point means that you now accept an adrenaline filled animal bailing off the side of a mountain all the while not leaving a single blood drop to runway. The odds of not recovering that animate being just got very high.

The lesser line here is that there are literally thousands of possibilities that could lead up to an brute not being recovered. Looking at the entire situation subjectively tin can assist you lot identify what went wrong, whether it was your error or non, and how to forestall this from ever happening again.

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Taking action

Not every missed opportunity on an fauna will result in the hunter coming to some sort of moment of clarity where all that went incorrect will go obvious. Sometimes, it'southward just a matter of fact that you lot'll never know. That being said, there is ever an opportunity to better on something—whether information technology may lead to recovering an fauna or not. The of import factor here is to identify something, anything really, that you lot feel could have improved the event of this situation. Actively seeking solutions and interim on them tin can only help you in the futurity.

Personally speaking, this generally boils down to more fourth dimension at the range and familiarity with my equipment. Simply because your bow is still on at 50 yards or your rifle at 200 doesn't mean that your body remembers how to correctly execute a shot when your adrenaline is carmine lining. In my stance, musculus memory is far more important than any piece of gear for improving accurateness and consistency. Along with familiarity with your gear I also believe that a potent mental game can go a long way when everything starts going sideways.

Physical practice

Going to the range should be at the top of the listing for any hunter, merely information technology is also important to realize that the ideal shooting conditions found here will not always exist the case in the wood. Real earth practice can directly relate to your success each autumn and getting creative can exist both insanely beneficial and enjoyable. Claiming yourself during the offseason with some scenarios you lot may find in the woods. Take a portable target to your favorite public land spot and practice shooting at odd angles, through obstacles, or at unknown distances. Heighten this experience past bringing a family member or friend and you will find that competition can button you out of your comfort zone and really test the limits of your abilities. The bottom line here is that we are trying to train our muscles to perform under pressure level and adverse conditions when our minds may not be able to exercise the same.

Mental practice

Reliving past hunts with family

Reliving by hunts with family.

Along with physical practice, I also hold a lot of merit in mental preparation. This can take many meanings to everyone, but, for me, I strongly believe that if my body thinks information technology has been in a particular state of affairs before, then my brain can procedure what needs to be done much faster and more efficiently. This tin be equally rudimentary as watching your favorite hunting shows and imagining how you would handle whatever given state of affairs or just daydreaming yourself into a scenario and executing a shot. This can be as elementary or circuitous as you brand information technology, but I've always been in a house believer in the "your body cannot perform what your mind has not" railroad train of thought.

Get back out in that location

Garmin GPS while hunting

At the end of the day, no corporeality of words that I tin can blazon or a friend can say will ever make this feeling go away—at least not immediately. Losing an animal sucks, plain and simple. This is a hard situation to get over and simply feeling the drive again tin can take weeks or fifty-fifty months. Like all things in life, a lesson tin can be learned here and information technology's upward to u.s.a. every bit individuals to squeeze every ounce of knowledge out of it. I've always kept in mind that everything happens for a reason. Sure, you may have lost an animal this season, but the knowledge gained from that one experience tin lead to many more than recoveries in the future. Once you're upwardly to it simply lace your boots back up and hit the hills; sometimes some tranquility time in the woods is all you need.

A great example of all of this heartbreak is what Brady Miller encountered on his 2015 high land Colorado archery mule deer chase. Y'all can check out the video below from his chase.