St. Judes bow & a young hunter

[CRS]

I get a call from my 14 year old son on Wednesday at 5:00.

On the other end, an obviously flustered young man.  "I shot a buck, but I made a bad shot"

Where did you hit him?

"Right in the middle of the guts"

You know what to do, right?

"Wait"

Yes, I will be home in a couple hours.  We  will discuss it then, and figure out what to do.

[CRS]

I arrive home an hour and a half later.  Dig out the NBEF Whtietail shot placement guide.

Ian shows me where he saw the fletching disappear.  Definitely pointing to guts.

What was the deer's position?
"broadside"

How much penetration did you get?
"pass through"

What did he do after the shot?
"Ran into the canyon"  

How did he react to the shot?
"ran"

Did you see any blood?
"I think so, some off the backside"

Then he tells me that his brother got some video of the shot.  Well let me see it.

Pretty crappy phone video, can't see the arrow.  But you can see that the buck was quartering away, kicked and ran at the shot, tail was doing a death flop as he went over the edge into the canyon. Did not look like a classic gut shot with the deer hunching and then slowly walking away.

Things are looking up.

Ian asks if we can go look at 9:00PM, four plus hours after the shot.  I told him that we should wait, cold night, private property, should be no issues.

I am thinking this deer is dead, but with a self proclaimed bad shot, you wait.  Longer is better. No sense in possibly bumping this deer.  

On to a restless night.

[4dogs]

Good luck. Hope the young man finds his animal.

[RedShaft]

Good luck. Hope the best for your boy!!

[huntnmuleys]

in for the kill pics!

[CRS]

Bright and early the next morning, the family heads out to blood trail.

Hair at the shot site, pick up spots of blood five yards later.  Dried overnight, but it is dark, not watery.  No appreciable smell that I can tell.

Twenty yards from the start, a very bloody arrow.  Right at the lip of the canyon. Dark, no bubbles, I am starting to think liver.


Struggling with the trail a little bit, and finally lose it.  Three of us start circles, I send Ian over to check a steep cut.  Historically the deer tend to end up in the bottoms of two cuts, running into the canyon.

First one came up empty, so I send him to the next one.....


A very happy young man with his FIRST archery buck.
 

And a very proud Father that had to get into a pic, per Mom's orders.

 

Bow is a Sarrel's Blueridge S/R purchased off the St. Judes auction a few years ago and promptly confiscated by my son. 48 @ 28.  He is drawing 26", maybe a shade more as he keeps growing.

Arrows are Easton Traditionals, 27 1/4", Eclipse broadheads w/insert that weigh 200gr, with a total arrow weight of 514gr.  

The buck ended up traveling about 100 yards.  Upon autopsy, the liver was sliced open, and the back of one lung hit.

Entry was mid body, smack in between the hindquarters and ribs. Ian was spot on, but missed the quartering away angle.  Exit was 3.5 ribs in from the back.

Did not spend a lot of time with pics and such as Mom and Dad had work, the boys had school.

[Marc B.]

  Very Cool

[BenM]

That's an awesome story.  Quite the hunter you are raising.  Great job and a huge congrats to your son.

[TIM B]

That is awesome!  Plus you are teaching some lessons to a lot others reading this

[awbowman]

Outstanding and what a great deer.

Congrats

[djohnson]

AWSOME! Congratulations. You all will never forget the thrill. Blessings.

Darren

[underpowred]

Amazing story!! Look forward to making memories like that with my boy one day.

[Mike Gerardi]

Doesn't get much better than that!! Beautiful buck!

[tracker1]

Congrats Ian that is a beautiful buck that you will remember for a long time.  I'm glad your whole family could be there to celebrate.

[FerretWYO]

This is awesome. Always like when things work out. That smile says a lot.

[CRS]

Originally posted by TIM B:
That is awesome!  Plus you are teaching some lessons to a lot others reading this

With the two boys, it is always a learning experience, heck, I have been at this for three decades and am still learning!  Sometimes I still learn the hard way!          

This site is fantastic for learning.  Everyone sharing their experiences good or bad.

[drewsbow]

awesome congrats

[Big Ed]

That is awesome! Congrats to the whole family!!

[ChuckC]

Dude !  great deer.  Ya done good ! Congrat's

ChuckC

[CBergeman]

Congrats!   Great deer!