Time to punch my Kansas buck tag!! (Hard work and a little luck pays off "RECOVERED")

Gatekeeper · December 06, 2010, 09:17:00 AM

Good thread. Good luck with the does.

Chris, it's probably a Snuggie

wapiti792 · December 06, 2010, 09:27:00 AM

Tracy, there are many hunters that would shrug their shoulders and say oh well, then keep hunting. The fact that you know you killed this animal and couldn't recover him and are willing to punch your tag is just an unselfish act pal. My hats off to you. Sorry it happened, and I know you will recover from this. You're a sportsman and I am proud to call you my friend

R. W. Mackey · December 06, 2010, 11:37:00 AM

Hold your head high, my friend. There is not a bowhunter among us that has not experienced the same thing. Taking the high road and punching that tag speaks volumes for the kind of Bowhunter you are. Hope to meet you in person one day, would be my pleasure. RW

steadman · December 06, 2010, 12:53:00 PM

That's awesome Tom!

rlc1959 · December 06, 2010, 01:17:00 PM

My hunting friend in Ohio watched his son hit a good buck this season right behind the shoulder. The buck was quartered away. They were sure that this was a lethal hit. After days of searching with no success they gave up. Last week just prior to the Gun Season they got a picture of the same buck at the other end of the property on a trail camera. He looked fine other than a visible wound just in front of his shoulder. Very remarkable animals. RC

Fritz · December 06, 2010, 02:12:00 PM

I know the feeling, buddy! Thanks for being so open about it. That's a tough thing to do. Best of luck with the rest of your season.

Paul/KS · December 07, 2010, 02:26:00 PM

Sorry you couldn't recover that buck Tracy. Punching that tag was certainly the right thing to do...

Paul

xtrema312 · December 07, 2010, 02:53:00 PM

I think you did a good thing because it is what you felt you needed to do, but I wouldn't think any more or less of you if you shook off the disappointment and went right back to hunting down a nice buck. Stuff happens; it is hunting and there are no guarantees. I hope this is more about you having your sights set on two possible bucks you wanted this year and now you just don't have another buck you want to hunt, and not about feeling you need to punish yourself.

I hope he shows up later in the season to say high

and to make you wish you still had that tag. You can have a good laugh if that happens. I have seen it happen on an arrow shot deer. I had a friend that had a hit kind of like that. I think he just got the bottom of one lung due to the shot angle from a tree. He shot the deer two months later the last day of the muzzle loader season.

K.S.TRAPPER · December 11, 2010, 01:22:00 PM

Story to follow, Quick pick as he was found!!

Tracy

longbowben · December 11, 2010, 01:30:00 PM

What a find.Looks like you can sleep right again.I know the feeling once you hit a animal you cant stop thinking about what you did wrong.Congrats you are a true sportsman.

K.S.TRAPPER · December 11, 2010, 02:02:00 PM

First off,Thank goodness for Tradgang and all the fine folks that are on this site

Thank you for the support and understanding to the first part of this thread everybody. I know some of you thought I was to sentimental and maybe a little soft but you couldn't have been farther from the truth. Yes, I was remorseful in many ways that things hadn't gone as planned but I was more determined then ever to find out WHAT had happened to prevent this from ever happening again if possible.

Even though my boys are pretty much grown and out of the house I still try to teach them every thing I can when it it comes to nature,animals and woodsman ship skills. They teach me a few things now and then too and it means alot to me when they do. :D Ok, on with the story!!

As soon as I punched that tag I knew the rest of my season would be devoted to that buck and only that buck. I searched high and low brush piles, Ceder thickets, Plum thickets you name it I climbed in it and looked just to make sure.

That was the hard work!! Now comes the little luck... A few days after I posted this thread I get a phone call from a fellow Tradganger( Kirk Huckaby) that saw the thread after getting home from a night of shift work. He lives about a mile north of were I shot this buck and had just recently put out a trailcam mid-day on the Dec 1st.

A couple hours after hanging it he gets this pick of a buck that's sounds and looks alot like the buck I had shown on this thread.

He sends me the picks and I confirm 100% it's the same buck, Unbelievable 6 days later!!

Tracy

longbowben · December 11, 2010, 02:06:00 PM

Yes that is unbelievable.Now im really hooked.He looks out of gas and skinny, Where did you hit him?

greyghost · December 11, 2010, 02:08:00 PM

Great story and post. My hats off to you Tracy.

Your persistence, attitude, honesty and integrity are rare these days.

Finding your deer is a bitter/sweet victory of sorts. Even your dog shows it in his face.

Earl

longbowben · December 11, 2010, 02:15:00 PM

Sorry i went back in the post,I cannot believe he lasted that long on that shot.

K.S.TRAPPER · December 11, 2010, 02:20:00 PM

Correct Ben!! I send the pick to Guru,Steadman, My sons and a few other friends and they all say the same thing as I thought as soon as I seen the pick. He doesnt look good at all!!

By the time Kirk checked the cam it was Dec 6Th, I called immediately and stopped by on the way home from work to talk with him about looking for the buck as soon as I could get off work. He said no problem and would watch out for him and see if there was anymore picks on the cam which there wasn't.

A couple days later I get a picture text from Kirk and he has found the deer. Back to my first paragraph "Thank goodness for Tradgang"

Tracy

Burnsie · December 11, 2010, 02:28:00 PM

At least that puts some closure on the whole thing, I admire your determination to stick with it.

K.S.TRAPPER · December 11, 2010, 02:34:00 PM

Man, I couldn't get there fast enough!! Kirk said the coyotes had tore him up pretty good, I was just hoping would could piece him back together enough to see what we thought had happened.

Kirk's dog had shown him were the bucks was laying and that is the dog in the pick. Thanks Bubble's!! Good dog.

Tracy

longbowben · December 11, 2010, 02:40:00 PM

As i look at the picture again he i walking like a gut shot,He is humped up and head down.How far was the deer found from where you shot him?

longbowben · December 11, 2010, 02:46:00 PM

And is thier any sign of where the broadhead hit on the rib bones?

K.S.TRAPPER · December 11, 2010, 02:56:00 PM

I cropped as much as I could from the picks but you can clearly see were the arrow entered. The hide is not completely on the carcass but this is about were I saw the arrow disappear behind the elbow and maybe 6" to 7" above the brisket. Remember, The trail he was on was higher then the base of the stand and the angle was not that great. I was maybe 8ft above him.

The exit was low and right were the brown hair on his side meets the white belly hair and a cut in the back of the left front leg which I thought had happened when he started stepping forward with the right.

Over all this was not that great of a shot and was very low. Even though I perceived it to be a kill shot it was still a little lower then I wanted. The liver was mostly eaten so there was nothing to go by there, I don't think it was hit.. The arrow entered between the 7Th and 8Th rib and if you look at Terry's diagrams that puts it right behind the elbow even closer then I thought but still to low.

Tracy