That's a tough hunt Lou. You have to remember that you did the right thing though. You found her that night, where as she could have suffered many hours more depending on the wound. No matter how perfect of a shot you are, this can still happen.

I have a hunt that still brings me down. In 2006 I was hunting with my dad and we split up. Not long after he left I could here the leaves rustling behind me. I focused on the sound and caught movement of a herd of deer (5-6 deer) coming my way. One broke away and took the lead by several yards. She was a big, big doe. I leveled my 20 gauge and waited for her to make her way into an opening between some trees. She entered it and I shot. She dropped in her tracks. I was excited! It got cut short though. After I shot the rest of the herd that was following the Doe turned and got out of there, except for this tiny fawn. It started my way and picked me out. It came closer and closer, until it was about 10 yards away. It was just staring at me and bleating. It stayed for a few minutes doing this until it went toward the Doe I shot. It stayed by her for another couple minutes and then left. I felt so bad for that little fawn.

Paula, my husband did feel as horrible about this doe as I did, especially since it was his shot.

I think male or female most of us have compassion for others, including the prey we stalk. I feel like as women, we are more free to talk about things like this. I also think the guys move on quicker than we do.

Lou and Laura, Thank you both for sharing your experiences. I've been told that if you hunt long enough chances are that something like that will happen to you. My husband had an experience similar to Laura's, and he was pretty bummed out about it. He said he had to shoo the fawn away with his hat. I would have been sobbing!!

I shot a Zebra on the plains of Zimbabwe a few years ago. One shot, one kill. The rest of the herd ran, but then came back calling to him to "get up and run." It was a pretty sobering moment for me. My PH and trackers were elated, slapping me on the back, high fives, etc. My husband was thrilled and so proud that I'd made a 200+ yard shot. I felt a little sick....and it was all I could do not to burst into tears in front of everyone. That herd didn't leave until my trackers started out across the plain to retrieve the animal. And they just kept up that eerie calling. I know I'll never forget that sound. Needless to say we didn't film any of the commentary after the shot, like we usually do. I couldn't speak for awhile.

I'm not a woman, but I very much enjoyed the story and have been in similar positions before. I always feel bad when I shoot a turkey and when I get to him, he still has his head up looking at me. He's dead for all intent and purpose, but for that split second we lock eyes and I get a unique feeling, not remorse, but certainly not joy either. It is quite unlike any other emotion I have ever felt. If more people hunted and had been in these situations we would see far fewer suicides, murders, and so on. It certainly makes me appreciate my life that much more.

I also wanted to comment on how nice a blog this is. Thanks

Sorry, Folks....I must have hit "submit" twice! (Having computer problems and since I'm not so "computer savy", I'm at it's mercy sometimes!!!!)

I am not yet up to hunting big game, but I like to go pheasant hunting. The first ever hunt I went on with my husband and friends, I was handed a hen that was just shot down to put in my pack. I could see the life in her eyes flicker out as I held her there, wondering what to do. I had never seen an animal die up close before, never in my arms like that. It was really profound - I was happy, excited, and sad all at the same time. I reminded myself that the best thing I could do was to respect her life and the lives of other animals that I killed while hunting. I have since then been on several hunts that ended up being 1 1/2 to 2 hour searches for one downed bird, because we cared for the animal that was wounded. And yes, guys have those same emotions, it happened to my husband going elk hunting this year... he shot a cow with his bow but could not follow her blood trail, and found her two days later. He said it made him sick to think of her out there, and wasting her life. He stopped hunting elk for the season after that - just lost his passion.

My 35 yr. old son has also lost his passion for hunting. He lost a buck last year on Thanksgiving. It was raining, so the blood trail washed away. They know it was a good hit, the deer went down and left a pool of blood. But in his excitement, he forgot to reload his gun, so as he was walking over, the buck got up and ran off into the thick brush. They searched the area until dark, but never found any sign of the deer. He didn't hunt the rest of the season and hasn't expressed any interest in hunting this year.

It's so, SO frustrating that anti-hunters can't understand how conscientious and responsible most hunters are, and this blog is perfect proof. Lou, Laura, Jan, Jacee, Judy -- hell, all of us who have experienced something like this are just all the more respectful of the meat on our plates as a result.

And as for the men v. women response, I'm with you guys in thinking there's not necessarily much of a gender divide there. I know one male hunter who never takes pictures of his kills because he considers his harvests too solemn for photos. Of course, he's in a very, very small minority, but his compassionate side certainly informs his actions in the field. -K.H.

Thank you for writing about something most hunters try to ignore--the fact that a bullet or arrow does not always bring instant death (and that some wounded animals escape our best tracking/follow-up efforts--like the one that got away at http://ecorover.blogspot.com/2008/11/matts-mulie-buck.html).

As hunters, it is our moral duty to do the best we can. And as we accept the responsibility for where our meat comes from, we also have to accept the responsibility when things go wrong. How different that is from picking up an anonymous packet of meat from a supermarket case...