Z Barebow - Jan-21 Mobile live hunt from ND
Whitetail Deer
2:58 PM LIVE from ND*
Hunting a corridor this afternoon. Never hunted this spot before. I let the sign and wind to dictate where I hunt tonight.
Pro Spot isn’t close to where the deer bed so a few branches breaking to hang stand isn’t a big deal.
Con Since the deer aren’t bedded close it could be a last minute encounter. Also a fat tire bike trail less than 10 yards from my tree. Could have people coming through.
Good luck dude! Any action so far?
Not yet. I don’t expect things to get serious until 4 pm. The deer I am most likely to encounter are in Minnesota right now. They need to get up, cross the river,and become legal. Hell if the Pauls boys can get a couple of moose to swim a river, a couple of deer crossing the ice isn’t too much to ask!
The main crossing is just below dead limb at the top of the pic.
Deer activity could be delayed. Kids are now sledding at House next to deer trail. Hopefully Mom is making them hot chocolate.
Just had fat tire guy and his dogs come by. Also father pulling his daughter on a sled. The little 2 year old is the one who saw me! Her dad didn’t see me until she pointed up.
Probably not any topless hiker chicks?? Enjoy the heat wave
Fat tire guy just came back through. Hot chocolate must be ready because the sledding kids are now in the house.
With sunset at 514, I still have over an hour and a half for deer to make there way by me.
This is like a CT hunt. Nothing yet.
Hang in there Brian & good luck bud!
ElkNut/Paul
Arrow launched.
May have deflected on branch.
Might have shoulder as I can see deer standing. Will back out when I can.
You can see how much is broke off against my other arrows.
You can see how much is broke off against my other arrows.
Here is the pile of hair after the tree branch hit (And after I found the arrow) Initially didn't make sense)
Here is the pile of hair after the tree branch hit (And after I found the arrow) Initially didn't make sense)
Sorry about mixed order. This is the limb that she bombed under. 5' is the pile of hair.
Sorry about mixed order. This is the limb that she bombed under. 5' is the pile of hair.
OK Here is how it all went down. I told you about the people activity. As it typically goes, deer movement was late. Around 5 minutes after sunset, I see a deer across the river ~ 120 yards away. Within moments, she is in an opening at the river bank above the trail. She slides down the bank onto the ice. I see another deer across the river, but farther down the bank. A 3rd deer, fawn is trailing the deer that is on the ice. The lead doe is at the bank below me. The fawn starts crossing bringing up her rear. The doe pops up the bank, but she is cautious. I am on my feet with fingers on the string. My breathing is causing my range finder to click on my harness! I tried breathing shallower. She works up the trail slowly. As she passes behind a tree, I draw. She pauses and there are a couple of twigs in the way. I try and settle on her chest. She starts moving and I release. She is off like a shot. There are 5 more deer that crossed the river 100 yards upwind of me. They snort and bolt at the shot/deer fleeing. As I replay the shot, I don't think she had clearly the limbs enough and I think I clipped one. The arrow seems to be hanging out of her way more than I want. She stops up at the field edge (Behind a tree so I don't have good visibility. I waited 10 minutes. I felt she was still up there but I couldn't see her. It was now after shooting hours but I can see with the snow on the ground. I see her finally moving. She is hurt. Seems to be favoring her left shoulder. Not good sign. I watched and she eventually went out of sight down a draw. I snuck down and walked out as quietly as I could. Time to go home and eat. Give her some time.
I returned around 2 hours after the shot to pick up the trail. I don't see her tracks right away, but I know once I reach the field, I will be able to find her tracks. (Plenty of other deer tracks. I find where she was standing. Blood but not the kind you want to see. Red blood but no bubbles. Definitely not liver either. Appears to be muscular. Even though she was walking, I find a drop every 5-10 yards. I track her as she gets on a trail in the draw. She turns right. I confirm I am on her track. Blood drop is on left side. Getting even more sporadic. I left my head up (Headlamp) and I see what looks like headlights. I put my hand in front of the lamp to confirm it is a deer. It is directly on the trail I am on ~ 60 yards up. I back off. I kick the snow to make the spot and see a double tree I can get a line on in the morning. I don't know if it is her or another deer. I will return in the morning to find out.
I now back track the blood trail to the shot location. I find a pile of hair ~ 15 yards after the shot, which initially doesn't make sense. About 5 yards closer to the shot, I find my arrow snapped off. It looks like shoulder, but the hair doesn't make sense. I pull my stand and sticks and hike out. As I reflect, I think I have the lowdown.
In the morning, if that was my deer in the headlamp, I will find her close. If it was another deer, my deer is on her feet and has a sore shoulder.
Here is the arrow.
Hair appears to be back hair. Doesn't make sense with what I was seeing with shot and deer reaction. Here is what I think happened. Arrow deflected and she is hit in shoulder. As she tore out limbs are flying. She hit that tree limb, tearing out a big clump of hair as she fled. I think the hair has nothing to do with the shot other than she was running at Mach 2 after the shot.
Not looking good, but I owe it to her to follow up in the morning.
Best of Luck on the recovery, Brian! Hope it was your deer you saw in the headlamp.
Sorry for late report. Been a long day.
I went out this morning to follow up. I went to the marked spot where I spotted a deer in the headlamp. Everything was as I pictured in the dark. I looked where I saw the deer and found nothing. There was no bed. The last spot I found blood was back where I marked in the snow. I covered the area. Checked every bed. The woods are fairly open where she was headed. I did find another kill site from a couple of weeks back. (An old gut pile with a softball sized chunk of frozen gut with no skeleton in the area) But nothing else. The blood trail lasted about 250 yards. The memory of the hit/fleeing deer, arrow, blood evidence, and no bed all point to shoulder. It sucks when you hunt hard, a plan finally comes together, and you blow it. Rookie mistake on not being patient enough. And your mistake is public. You don't have to make the same mistakes to learn from them.
Sucks, Z. Better luck next weekend.
It happens, you'll make it happen next time.
Thanks for getting back. It sucks for sure! Been there as well.
Back hair looks cut,probably a hit to the backbone. No blood or very late blood is typical.We all been there
