Chat
10-23-2016, 08:53 PM
Thanks guys! Actually the hardest part of the hunt was tracking him. I was posted up in a cut wheat field where I had noticed the deer coming in the evenings to eat the off fall from the harvest. This boy strutted in like he owned the place. Pushing a couple of spikes and a half dozen does away from the best scrape. Though he did allow a older fawn to eat with him. Which wasnt good for me. Another set of eyes and ones that had already tried to bust me 20 minutes earlier. So she was on alert and that bled over to the buck as they ate. So one he turned broad side I took the shot. He was slightly quartered front to me. Easy double lung shot... Or so it shoulda been. I let the arrow loose. But with his heightened alert, he heard it, leaped forward and turned slightly quartered away from me by the time the arrow hit. Instead of a double lung, I hit him with a double back leg!?!?!? (which I didnt find out until I found him) Watching try to run off with an odd limp, I was sure I had hit him in the lungs.
Sun was already getting pretty low at this point. Gave him a 15 minutes and off I went after him. Was easy enough to pick up the blood trail. At points there were softball sized blood pools. Track him about 75 yards and see with the amount of blood it was a good shot but was going to give him a little extra time. Expected to have already found him in that distance. While standing there waiting I make a noise and not 20 feet in front of me outta some tall grass, he busts up, jumps, tumbles over a fence and off he goes. So I head back to the truck and grab my crappy little head lamp. Its beyond shooting dark now and its going to need what little light I have to find him.
Start where I last saw him running and for the life of me can not find his trail. This is on the edge of a pretty steep canyon wall no so he literally could of gone in any direction. I spend an hour and a half trying to pick up his trail before I kick something on a little path I found. My arrow!!! Good deal. Got a solid starting point. But with the yotes howling in the not to distance (worry they will find him before I do) and with bears and wolves in the area, me without a side arm, blood all over the place, I decide it would just be better to come back in the morning.
So morning comes. I talk to the land owner and let him know I am going to pick back up where I left off. I start where I found my arrow last night. It had sprinkled a little during the night but not enough to wash away the trail. The buck had thankfully found and seemed to kinda stay on a cow trail. But at many areas, this trail would split off in to 3, 4 and more trails. Not wanting to miss the trail, I would check each one of these sub trails before going back to the main cow trail. I lose his blood trail many times and had to go back to the last known drop on the ground or rub on a blade of high grass. At one point I completely lots the blood trail. Loosing faith I would find him and now very sure it wasnt a double lung shot, I had to once again go back to my last know blood sight. And slowed down my pace to a crawl. Was finally at this super slow pace, able to start finding the smallest of signs. He must of been running at this point cause after about 40 yards I started to see decent blood sign again. And then that cow trail comes to an ATV trail that runs down the length of the draw into the canyon far below. Here I get held up awhile trying to figure out which direction he went. But end up finding a drop every 10 feet or so. Figure he has to be about outta blood at this point. And thats when I notice the slipping marks in the flatter atv trail. The ground was just wet enough to make it kinda slick and there were obvious tracks of him loosing his footing and slipping. I get another 30 yards up the atv trail and all sign vanishes. I take a look around and across a steep run off bed that pretty much resembles a dry creek bed, under a tree there is my boy 20 yards away from me.
No predators had found him! Its at this point I notice where I had actually hit him. Not in the lungs or chest at all. But right in the back legs! Arrow penetrated all the way through. So he must of caught the head of it on something and pulled it out where I found it. Crazy! Do a quick field gut job on him and drag him the 20 yards to the atv trail, drop him and start the walk back to the truck. When I get back up to the road who do I see? Yep, the land owner on his quad. Hope on and drive right up to the deer. Done.
Tracked him for a total of 4 and a half hours for a distance of 450-550 yards through dense undergrowth on a steep grade canyon wall. And the drag out was the easiest I ever had to do
Sun was already getting pretty low at this point. Gave him a 15 minutes and off I went after him. Was easy enough to pick up the blood trail. At points there were softball sized blood pools. Track him about 75 yards and see with the amount of blood it was a good shot but was going to give him a little extra time. Expected to have already found him in that distance. While standing there waiting I make a noise and not 20 feet in front of me outta some tall grass, he busts up, jumps, tumbles over a fence and off he goes. So I head back to the truck and grab my crappy little head lamp. Its beyond shooting dark now and its going to need what little light I have to find him.
Start where I last saw him running and for the life of me can not find his trail. This is on the edge of a pretty steep canyon wall no so he literally could of gone in any direction. I spend an hour and a half trying to pick up his trail before I kick something on a little path I found. My arrow!!! Good deal. Got a solid starting point. But with the yotes howling in the not to distance (worry they will find him before I do) and with bears and wolves in the area, me without a side arm, blood all over the place, I decide it would just be better to come back in the morning.
So morning comes. I talk to the land owner and let him know I am going to pick back up where I left off. I start where I found my arrow last night. It had sprinkled a little during the night but not enough to wash away the trail. The buck had thankfully found and seemed to kinda stay on a cow trail. But at many areas, this trail would split off in to 3, 4 and more trails. Not wanting to miss the trail, I would check each one of these sub trails before going back to the main cow trail. I lose his blood trail many times and had to go back to the last known drop on the ground or rub on a blade of high grass. At one point I completely lots the blood trail. Loosing faith I would find him and now very sure it wasnt a double lung shot, I had to once again go back to my last know blood sight. And slowed down my pace to a crawl. Was finally at this super slow pace, able to start finding the smallest of signs. He must of been running at this point cause after about 40 yards I started to see decent blood sign again. And then that cow trail comes to an ATV trail that runs down the length of the draw into the canyon far below. Here I get held up awhile trying to figure out which direction he went. But end up finding a drop every 10 feet or so. Figure he has to be about outta blood at this point. And thats when I notice the slipping marks in the flatter atv trail. The ground was just wet enough to make it kinda slick and there were obvious tracks of him loosing his footing and slipping. I get another 30 yards up the atv trail and all sign vanishes. I take a look around and across a steep run off bed that pretty much resembles a dry creek bed, under a tree there is my boy 20 yards away from me.
No predators had found him! Its at this point I notice where I had actually hit him. Not in the lungs or chest at all. But right in the back legs! Arrow penetrated all the way through. So he must of caught the head of it on something and pulled it out where I found it. Crazy! Do a quick field gut job on him and drag him the 20 yards to the atv trail, drop him and start the walk back to the truck. When I get back up to the road who do I see? Yep, the land owner on his quad. Hope on and drive right up to the deer. Done.
Tracked him for a total of 4 and a half hours for a distance of 450-550 yards through dense undergrowth on a steep grade canyon wall. And the drag out was the easiest I ever had to do