Towards the end of the deer season here in So. TX I arrowed a nice old 10pt, with my new custom made longbow (this was my first deer with a longbow) that needed to be taken out of the population. The hunt was on a cool evening and I arrowed this buck quatering away and placed the arrow right where I wanted it. Well, we gave him two hours and began trailing and within 10yds of the shot we found blood and trailed him for 3hrs through some thick So. Texas brush country. (on my stomach at times crawling through brush on the blood trail). This old guy was doing some crazy unpredictable stuff. Well, we decided at one point we may have pushed him and the only option was to pick it up in the morning. It was 37degrees that night so the meat would likely be fine....right? I mean comm'on you see those guys on the hunting channel shoot deer, somewhere up north, in the arse with nearly the entire arrow hanging out and decide the shot was "marginal" and back out to find the deer fine the next morining. NOT where I live! (See pic below) Less than 12hrs and nothing left but the neck and head. You guys becareful not to take a little nap if you're hunting So.TX or you might wake up with a Yote or Bobcat chewing on your leg. The following week I shot a nice sow and watched her go down in a field about 100yds away. No more than an hour had passed and I looked up to see four bushy tailed yotes eating my sow! No more "when in dooubt back out!"
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h166/aggie1993/Bows/Harvests/GetAttachment.jpg)
Congratulations on taking a fine buck, glad you found him, too bad about the meat though. Were you able to salvage anything edible? Seems like a guy could do pretty good predator hunting in your area!
We have some places like that up here too. Most of the time, you could probably get away with it, but in some areas, backing out means giving up. The deer would look exactly like yours. Most of the time, those guys on TV only want the antlers anyway. They don't even field dress the ones they do find right away, so coyotes are not much of a concern for them.
It's getting like that here in east Texas as well. The yote population here has gotten way out of hand. They are getting brave also, coming closer to the house...our miniture fox terrier dog just last week got killed by a pack of yotes.
Yep, if you leave a deer out overnight here,,,good chance most of him/her will be gone by morning.
I understand I have had two animals hit by bears,my brother had a cougar eat one in camp. It's never fair.
Up on the Haul Road, I refuse to leave a bou lie, especially in the river bottom willow. Our critter eaters don't run off when you come on the animal the next morning.
Where did you actually hit the deer since I don't imagine it would have gone so far if you hit it where you wanted to.
This is one I shot in sept of 08. The deer ran 150yds and piled up in some heavy brush. the shot was at 8am and I was standing over him at 8:30am! Now thats a yote problem!
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g167/skipmaster1/Hunting/IMG_0572.jpg)
As for "don't back out"....on a marginal shot I will always take my chances and back out. I would rather find the deer chewed up and maybe learn something and hope the yotes don't find it, than to push it, never find it or learn what I can do better next time and give it to the dogs for sure
QuoteOriginally posted by Aggie1993:
I arrowed this buck quatering away and placed the arrow right where I wanted it.
Aggie, Where did you hit him bud?
Just wondering because you say "right where I wanted it", but then had to go thru all you went thru...
Do you really think you would have recovered him, in the dark, with a sparse bloodtrail, had you kept pushing him?
Coyotes or not, with a trailing job that you described, it sounds to me like backing out was your only option.
Your shot must not have been as good as you thought or you'd have found him after a short trailing job...
Just my observation from what you described......
Broadside, broadside, broadside..........
Nice buck sorry about the bad luck, but always best to wait if you don't think you hit both lungs.
QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
Broadside, broadside, broadside..........
I've got to agree with Biggie on this one. I also shot a buck this year quartering away and the arrow hit the opposite shoulder and stayed in him. Now only one hole and it has a shaft in it. He only went about 100-125 yards but the blood trail was nill. Two holes are much better than one filled with a shaft. A good european mount would look good on him. Congrats on a fine buck.
Too bad about loosing all the meat, but it seems like you took the right approach.
Biggie, Biggie, Biggie's, got it, got it, got it!
I had a javelina last year in Texas that I questioned my hit on a little bit so left it for a couple of hours before tracking. Turns out it hadn't gone far, but the yotes had already found it.
Even after that though, I do agree with backing out if you aren't 100% sure. Yes, you run a chance of having the yotes find it first, but if the hit is not 100% and the deer ends up getting pushed, my experience says it is much more difficult to ever recover the animal. Once pushed your odds go down dramatically.
I do not leave them over night. I will dog the trail until I get the animal.If someone hits one at the end of the day we "get the lanterns" I figue I can sleep anytime. I hate those TV shows where they double lung an animal and decide to wait until the morning ! May make good tv but not real life !
I had a very similar story this year, shot my Illinois buck in coyote heaven and hit him quartering away, shot was farther back than i like but looked like i may have got the back of both lungs. When he didn't go down right away but stood at a 100 yards for a couple minutes before heading into the brush i was concerned and made the hard decision to let him lay. Well I was up all night worrying about the coyotes and sure enough when i took up the trail I found a very much eat'n buck, man was i bummed. Upon investigation i learned i apparently got the liver and one lung, so i still don't know how long i should have waited. Between me and my hunting buddies sometimes we have deer go not far and die pretty quick and other times like in the case of my brothers buck a few years ago it jumped up after 3 hours and ran a mile before recovery. So ultimately the lesson is practice, practice, wait for the right shot, and placement placement a few inches mean everything.
The coyote problem is going to get worse too. Anyone try to get ammo lately?
I shot a deer this year at 15 steps and he was guartering toward me just a little bit. The shot looked good and when the deer ran off he stumbled a little and slowed down to a walk.
I thought i heard him pile up so i only waited 15 minutes, big mistake.
I eased up to where i though i heard him fall and jumped him out of his bed.
Looking back at the shot i think i hit him a little to far back with the angle i had.
We came back the next day and never did find my deer and let me tell you i was sick.
Im new to trad hunting and i got to excited and wanted to go see my trad kill.
Lesson learned i will always wait at least a hour like i have done for years when i was shooting wheel bows.
Only if i see the deer fall will i take up the trail right away.
Troy...know how you feel about goin' after them ASAP.. I don't have a picture, but I shot a spike early in the season here. 1/4 away shot...arrow went between the last 2 ribs on the left side..exit on the right side right behind the shoulder! I had 16" of arrow hangin' out on the exit side!! Blood trail on both sides of the deer that Ray Charles could have followed! He ran 'bout 100 yards stopped and saw my wife workin' in the garden. He turned and ran....It was 5:10 PM (sun set was@ 6:00PM) I gave him until sun set before I started on the trial. Still had a blood trail on both sides..found 2 stops with 25 yards where he bedded. I decided to "back out" and get the next mornin" temps would be in high 30 during the night. Pickedup the trail at first light. Found him about 10:00am, the BUZZARDS had just started to work on him!! Deer found but no meat from this guy! I feel like should have continued on at night. Sometimes we have make decisions on what we know and have learned, sometimes they turnout good, some bad. Here in the "Hill Country" you have to consider the buzzards and the Yotes. We have plenty fo both!!! :campfire:
I have never lost one to yotes but know plenty that have even after a couple hours. I had a tricky trailing job this year but thankfully came back to an intact deer 12 hours later. But this big yote was in the neighborhood. I saw him during bow season and couldn't get a shot. Shotgun season was a bit different.
(http://sticknstring.webs.com/photos/2009%20Gun%20Deer%20007a.jpg)
Yeah, I know, odds are, broadside is the best shot for a double lung quick recovery but 5 of the last 8 deer I have shot have been slightly quartering away and all has gone really really well, except for this guy. I actually prefer the quatering away because you can wait and catch the deer looking AWAY.
What can you learn from a scenario like this - except make the perfect shot (we all know that does not always happen) wait as long as you can and pray you beat the scavengers to the animal? There was no deer left to investigate the actual shot placement.
I have been bowhunting, mostly this same area, for over 20yrs and never seen it like this. I guess it is time to bust out the smoke pole and a dying rabbit call.
QuoteOriginally posted by joevan125:
I shot a deer this year at 15 steps and he was guartering toward me just a little bit.
Lesson learned i will always wait at least a hour like i have done for years when i was shooting wheel bows.
Well since we're all trying to learn things here...
Joe, I would say the "lesson learned" in your scenario is that you took a shot at a bad angle in the first place....and not so much that you didn't wait(which I agree with also).
Lets remember, it all starts with shot selection in this sport fellas :thumbsup:
Thanks for the picture. Im glad you found your buck. We have a bad yote problem where im hunting as well.
If only every shot could be perfect. :(
Take Care
Gilbert
Posting this for Jim Curlee.....
Deer left overnight in Minnesota....
• (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/curleedeer.wolves.jpg)
"Coyotes snack on deer, Wolves eat them!"
Not so sure about that Curt. There was nothing but bones left from the neck down on my deer. No internal organs or trace of anything except fur, hooves, and bones. Enough ravenous coyotes will surely EAT a deer.
I think many of us can relate and testify that the problem is not just South Texas (note the "yote issue" photo in Greg's (Skipmaster1)post from NY.
Southern NY is inundated with yotes. While I had no issues this year (thankfully all fell within sight of my stand), last year on the same property, I shot a doe (not a marginal hit). I walked in the direction of where she entered some thick timber and jumped her. I decided to back out, go home to eat something and come back after dark. I was gone no more than 2.5 hours and walked straight to the deer or more precisely what was left of her. Everything was gone up to the head on the side facing up and amazingly, quite a bit eaten on the side on the ground (curious how they do that). Now I have been hunting on this property for about three years now; it is essentially in a limited housing area (6 houses on about 120 acres). In all that time, I have seen 1 yote. This was last year and it was a mange-ridden young of the year. I have never heard a single howl or yelp in the evening. But I can tell you one thing.....it took more than one to eat a huge portion of that doe in the matter of 2.5 hours.
Hey the meat wasn't wasted really - nature does what nature does...how many hungry nights do the predators have..hmm.
You gotta give yourself a break and you need to know the country you live in. Up here in the Yukon you never know..
You can shoot something and get attacked by a big grizz that wants to take it over (yes it's happened here).
If you shoot something better have a rifle - scatter gun (I would love to have a revolver, but it's friggin illegal here :rolleyes: )because you could have something coming after hearing the shot (if you gun hunt) they have to smell it if it's a bow kill.
We have taken hinds from moose on the first trip - setup up the tripod with flagging and came back within 4 hours and a grizz or a friggin wolverine is on it and if a wolverine is on it or has been anywhere near it...you can kiss the meat goodbye...they urinate on it..welll it's over
So what I am saying I guess is that be prepared to loos some game to predators at some point in your hunting career.
Cheer up maaan...there are lots of chances out there...hey hunt predators...hmmm
Jer Bear
E.D. Thomas said, "It's not meat until it is in the freezer." He got that right.... Joe
If the deer was doing strange twists and turns right from the get go, and it was not pushed by the bowhunter, it`s very likely the coyotes were on it`s trail immediately.
One time i shot a doe too high. Spinned her. You know what that sounds like. Yotes got within sight by the time i could get down from my tree to make a finishing shot. I think the country is overrun with yotes. Bill Mc
Nothing wrong with sharing if it means having more chance of recovery. If all the meat is gone you can keep hunting. I know it sounds selfish but coyotes are a part of nature. I hear a lot of guys complain about them but very few actually hunt them, they only take shots if lucky enough to see one in range while hunting deer.
I'm sick of hearing people complain about coyotes, if you want to rant then go hunt em and make a few bucks. (done venting)
Who wants to go coyote hunting with me? :archer:
Actually, until this century coyotes were only part of nature for the southwest.
If you're not afraid of the dark, wait in the dark as long as you can. If the yotes find it, they always howl and you can move in.
Every bow hunter should have a coleman gas lantern and if possible one of the metal reflectors that attaches to the lantern to put the light forward. Then you can trail in the dark.
Don't forget to put tissue on the blood trail as you go so you can find your way out in the dark.
I'm headed to Cotulla for some coyote hunting next weekend. Can't wait!
While Bear hunting in Ontario some years ago I shot a bear and waited for app. an hour before getting down. As I was following the trail down hill through the Canadian bush, And I mean BUSH. if you've hunting in Canada you know what I mean...it can get thick! after hearing it moan and not being able to judge just how far away it was. I ended up waiting for a buddy to help track it. Just as we picked up the trail again it started to rain Very hard. We backed out and waited to the next morning. Once we found it the Wolves had eaten the entire hind quarters up to the lower shoulders. No bear skin rug but a nice head/shoulder mount. The same trip a buddy shot one and we went to help him after only 45 min. something had eaten the hind quarters out of it too! It was laying 50 yards from where he shot it. We heard something run off as we approached the bear. He never heard or saw a thing while on stand after the shot. To this day he's still glad he waited for us.
I have hunted in Indiana and remember hearing the coyotes just after my shot. had to run them of as I was dressing out the deer.
I've said this before on here and some may contradict me..... I leave a sock or T-shirt hanging out if I have to leave a marginal hit out overnite. Haven't lost one yet while doing this, and thankfully not very often.
I've seen a doe carcass stripped to nothing but a spine in 6 hours. We have a lot of the dirty rotten fawn eating %#@*+'s.
I'm watching about a dozen Bucks feeding on my neighbor's horse hay. Only seen two does and one fawn so far. Is our herd out of balance? :(
I got a buck with the wheels years ago. Double lung hit, watched him run 30 yards and lay down. I backed out a bit, called my bro and had him come with a latern. The blood was profuse. Both sides of the trail, like someone was trying to run with a filled 5 gallon bucket. Then, after about 200 hundred yards, nothing. Not even a drop. We heard leaves crunching now and then while trailing, and didnt give it much thought. After a solid hour of looking, no more blood. Backed out, called a dog search guy and I waas amazed at how quickly he responded. Within an hour of backing out, we were all back in there, and found my deer. It had run straight up a very steep hill leaving not a single drop of blood.
We found his skeleton. The shoulder he was laying on and the head were about the only things left. I called DEC in and was bluntly told I needed to kill coyotes, and sorry about your tag.
The best I can figure is that the yotes jumped him out of his bed and ran him until he fell over dead, about 300-350 yards from the shot, mostly UPHILL.
Moral of the story, sometimes the coyotes get the deer, even when the shot is perfect. They capitalize on every meal they can, and a mortally wounded deer is easy pickings for them.
An old pic of the only time this has ever happened to me. I think 1991'ish. Drove home quick from college on a Friday evening and ran for the woods. As I was pulling up my bow here he came. Got the shot off and hit him perfectly broadside. I was using those newfangled Puckett's broadheads. I can't blame them because they opened but this is the ONLY deer I've ever killed that I did not have a pass through shot on.
He ran off and I couldn't hear him go down. Looked a while in the dark then backed out and came back first light to find this....
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/JDS3_2006/Animals%20-%20Wildlife/Puckets.jpg)
To this day I still and only use Zwickey Eskimos.