At 6:20 this evening I arrowed what I think is a very nice Va buck! I'll give a little story then beg for prayers, and hope some of you have some words of encouragement!
I had a couple button bucks around me for over 2 hours this afternoon, so I had been pretty pinned down and unable to make any calls. Finally about 6:15 I decided to heck with the BB that is 10 yards away, I'm calling! I made a few turns on my can call and within 3 minutes I heard a deer coming. I look around and see him coming on a string from about 40 yards. The buck is approaching from behind my tree and closing fast. I get ready for him to come out on the other side, behind and to my left.
He gets to within 2 yards of my tree and stops. He finally come out, I let him walk until he's slightly quartering away at about 3-4 yards then shoot him. Arrow placement looks right on the money considering the steep angle, and I have at least 1/2 of the arrow inside him. The buck of course bolts aways immediately.
My friend was in a tree stand about 70 yards away, up on a small white oak ridge. The buck ran right past him! I felt I heard him crash---maybe another 100 yards away, but my buddy didn't think he heard it crash (must warn you-he is a very inexperienced hunter though). I gave it until dark then slipped up the ridge to my buddy. There was no apparent blood where it past his stand, so I don't think I have an exit hole--this deer looked to have a huge body for the area I hunt.
After collecting my thoughts, I decided to give it until the morning...since I may have just got one lung with the steep angle.
It will be a pretty sleepless night! We are going to start tracking right after daylight....
Stay tuned!!
:pray:
Best of Luck to you Allen !!!
good luck man, sounds like a good hit, hope ya get him!!!
Good luck and stay focused. I'll throw one up for ya!
When in doubt...back out.
I had a Basset hound who could trail wounded deer, and that dog recovered several deer that would have otherwise been lost.
He also taught me a great deal about wounded deer.
An important lesson he taught me was that it did not matter if it was a bullet or an arrow,
severely (mortally) wounded deer will not travel far from the point they were hit IF they are not pushed. They put distance between themselves and the percieved danger, and I believe they watch their backtrail for a time, and then locate a suitable place to lay down.
What you describe is a solid chest cavity hit(certain death), and you handled the situation perfectly.
I am confident that your deer is within two hundred yards of the hit location, and with a general idea of the direction it took you are sure to find him.
BEST OF LUCK.
best of luck :0)
Thanks alot guys! Hey BB, I have a young Jack Russel pup that I am training to track wounded deer. If I don't find the deer pretty quick in the morning, I may bring in the pup (on a leash) and see if he can help.
I really feel like he couldn't have gone very far at all.
Get some rest. Breath. Best wishes on tomorrow's recovery.
Good luck Allen, get some sleep. You will find him in the morning, I have faith. :thumbsup:
Brent
Good luck Allen. It sounds like he's down for the count. Just take your time when you get back there in the a.m. Give me a call when you find him. I want to hear all the details!
Telling you to get some sleep would be a waste of time....however I will tell you that your hit sounds real good and you definitely did the right thing in backing out. He ran a bit and then stopped to figure out what happened ...then probably laid own and since you didn't push him...stayed down. Good Luck in the morning.
Did your buddy see it do a 90 degree turn or anything? I believe you will find it. This just may be the perfect training tool for the pup.
Bill Tell, my buddy said it ran past him a short bit then sounded like it turned---not sure how much. It's pretty thick stuff where he ran.
Bill W, I'll give you a call. May need help draggin'.....lol
Sounds like you did the right thing. I had the same thing happen with the buck in my avatar. No exit hole. The buck only went 150 yards or so, but it still took us over 8 hours to find him. You'll get him. Way to keep cool on the moment of truth.
Best of luck finding your deer A.S. It will all work out in the end.
Allen, hope you find the buck in the morning, know about restless nights but you handled things the best you could. Best of luck this morning and take your time in the search.
You guys are all great for the suport. I'm just waiting for daylight now. I'll update as soon as possible!!!
Good luck,I hope you get him..ED
A.S. By all means, take your Jack Russel.(if legal)
Everyone knows how smart they are, and if you take him he may figure out what it is you are doing, and what he is supposed to do.
Again best of luck.
Well.....
It's daylight.
We're waiting :pray: :pray:
Best of luck, and by all means, take the dog! They don't take long to figure out what they are supposed to do- and its best if you give them the scent prior to walking over it and spreading it.
I wish I had a dog 2 years ago in MO. Smae shot, same resulting hit, no low hole, and 10 hours later, no buck either. I feel a dog would have made all the difference. Good luck and post some pics.
I'll bet it isn't too far from where your buddy heard it turn. I think when they turn it really slops all of the cutting around and really takes it out of them.
UPDATE!!!! Well, we went in to the spot where it ran past my buds stand. We started to just do a grid search. There is a small stream that feeds a lake just below his stand. I just had a hunch to check it out before we started. I didn't walk 50 yards and found him piled up next to the stream! We had actually walked within 60 yards of him last night getting out of the woods as he made a big semicircle.
Thanks again for everyones support. Bad news it will be a couple days before I can post a pic. Wifey is out of town with my camera, and my friend will have to get pics to me. Hopefully late tonight or tomorrow I can get a pic up.
The buck has a broken mainbeam right where his right G3 would be...making him a 7 pt. 16" inside spread, 10" G2's, 6" G3. Brow tines are 7" and 5"-pretty nice for the area I hunt. Nice mass overall, and I would extimate about 160-170# dressed.
Thanks again. Oh yeah, I didn't take the Russel. He's only 5 months old, but I'll keep working with him. He has quite the sniffer!!!
:clapper:
Oh yeah, the shot took out one lung and the heart. The deer travelled probably 150 yards all together.
COngratulations!!!
Awesome.....now go get some sleep. :D
:thumbsup: Brent
:clapper: Great Job !
Congratulations ! From the sound of it, I knew you'd find him.
Congrats! Glad to hear it.
Way to go.
Congratulations! Looking forward to the pics!
It's amazing how many times they go to the water to expire. Make a note.
I know how nights like that are! Congrats on the recovery.
Congrats!
Did you by chance have an exit hole?
Get some pic's up too.
Ok guys...finally the pics are here. To answer someon's Q's, no there was no exit hole. The BH stopped against the breast bone after piercing the heart. Not a spot of blood to be found on the ground anywhere...even where he was laying!!
1st pic is where I found him, not the small stream behind him.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w3/bowcrazy_photos/DSCF2081.jpg)
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w3/bowcrazy_photos/DSCF2089-1.jpg)
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w3/bowcrazy_photos/DSCF2091-1.jpg)
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w3/bowcrazy_photos/DSCF2093.jpg)
YEAH MAN!!! way to go!!!!
Very nice.
:archer:
NICE ONE !! Whats up with the end of the main?
Kenny, his main beam is broken right where the G3 should have been.
Congrats :thumbsup:
Great story and a GREAT DEER...I can't help but shed a tear for a happing ending....lol
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!
ALLRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I`ve been pulling for you all day, I just got in from work.
Congrats...A job well done.
Nice buck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD JOB ALLEN!!!!! :thumbsup:
Congrats Allen!
Looks like the antler was damaged during growth...
Congratulations!! Looks like you did everything right and were duly rewarded. Great job!!
Nathan
Congratulations, you did good!! Leaving one overnight always worries me. I once left a doe overnight and found nothing but the skin the next morning; the coyote's had found it sometime during the night.
Nice job! Congrats.
Your long, sleepless night was rewarded handsomely!!! Congrats. on a great deer and a good decision to let him lay.
thats a nice deer !
Glad it ended well.
Very nice buck! ;)
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper: good job and very nice buck! congrats!
Congrads man, that is a very nice deer. I have finally over the past few years have gotten a lot better about backing out you could not have beaten me off a trail years ago even if I was unsure of the hit. Well after some bumped deer and almost losing them I finally learned to leave them for awhile, it has been much better since then. Again congrads that is a nice deer.
Thanks again everyone. I don't think I mentioned what I shot him with.
Morrison Cheyenne 50@27, Carbon Express Thunderstorm shaft, WW broadhead.
What a great experience all around, but it's time to get back after them this afternoon!
Good luck everybody.
Allen
Good job Allen, congrats on a nice buck!
Nice buck Allen, congats.
:thumbsup: :clapper:
Congratulations Allen!
Congratulations! Nice buck!
Awesome deer.