I finally got a NW wind (and a day off) to hunt a stand that is on the bend of a creek on a property that myself and others have hunted for a good while. Granted, there were NW winds, I just wasn’t there at the time they were blowing, nor was I in this stand at all in 23’.
I had worked late at my new career with the local gas company and just about talked myself out of going down all together Saturday morning. I mean, sleep in, watch sports, get things done around the house, have another bourbon… nope! I was in bed by 10:30 and awake and on the road by 4:30 am. Rolling down south with the old 2005 Bowtech, I really did have high hopes something good would happen. Maybe it was the fact it rained all day Friday, maybe it was because I hadn’t hunted that stand at all this year, maybe it was because this buck in the photo showed up on us out of the blue, just 5 days prior? Likely not the last because many big deer simply come and then they go. Never to be seen again.
There’s much more to the story than another deer as well. There’s tracking, and dogs, and being patient, and a learning experience. At least for me.
I won’t stretch it out very long. Just gonna get to it. But do note: my writing skills are that of a 7th grader that drops his pencil every paragraph and when they pick it up, they start a new topic. So, bare with me. :)
Anyhoo, where was I? Oh yea, on my way to hunt! Strap the safety harness on, throw on the pack, grab the bow, and I'm off to the stand. 40 degrees and a very light NW wind, I get to the stand and climb in at 10 mins til 7am. Let’s go!!
Winds were very light at sun up and I could see my breath rising up and away with thermals rising.
My set was on the bend of a major tributary that straightens to my right and bends to the SW to my left. One thing about this stand is you better be on your toes. Super thick and deer can come from many directions. Head on a swivel.
Please hang onto that pencil. And no more bourbon till you finish!
Except the briars grabbing my bow and clothing on the walk in, I got in pretty quiet and was up in the stand ready to go. Bow hanging, quiver off, arrow knocked, pack hanging behind the tree at eye level.
This new stand we put in here in early September for a bit more comfort and longer sits. It even had a foot rest. Although, I had planned on hunting until 1pm and head back to the truck and eat a bite and jump in a NW wind stand on the main side.
The sun is rising. The birds are talking, buzzards that like to roost on the creek are taking flight. I see my first of many squirrels jumping from tree to tree and watch as it knocks off the heavy dew and residual rain from the trees.
At about 9:10 I heard commotion to my S/SW down in the creek, which sounded like deer jumping in and crossing. By then my wind was very consistent and falling to my SE. If there were deer coming, they would miss my wind by 10-15 degrees to the West.
Looking back down a lane to my SW, I see heads bobbing up and out of the deep creek bank. Here comes 6 BIG horse head does…
It’s pretty good, I think.
Yes, I made those crude tags years ago. Still got a few. I just wipe the old date off and write in the new one with a sharpie. Name and lifetime license # on the other side.
This deer actually gave me hope that he’d taken up residence on us and moved from an adjacent property to find natural food, does, and unmolested area of woods. Where would he would be? At this point we really had no idea. Two camera sightings is not enough to run down to stand A or B and jump in, plus the winds were likely all wrong for stands A or B where he may or may not be. I would soon find out where he was.
As the big “horse head” does (that’s what my wife calls them) came in and were in front of me about 15 yds, they kept watching their back trail. They nervously moved through left to right and were now staged to my NW about 20yds. I looked back down the lane they walked down and noticed antlers coming out of a ravine SW of the stand at about 50 yds. It was an 8 point in the 135-140 range and one I would be happy killing. I clipped on to the d-loop of the old Bowtech Tomkat and waited for him to make his way to the lane out in front of me which was 20 yds, tops.
As he approached my lane, I was at full draw and waiting for the shot. About the time he got to the lane, he ducked his head down and went charging off to the does, and scattered them. He finally stopped at 25 yds but there wasn’t a shot I liked. He walked off to my north and I was still at full draw. Knowing there was still one doe to my left, I held and peaked to my left finding the doe, and she was not alerted. So I slowly let down.
As the doe walks to meet up with the others, I look back to the SW and see more antlers. This time it’s a 10 pt in the 125” range and he’s coming fast. He marched towards the other does and disappeared into the group of cedars to the north. He will be a good buck next season.
If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought the 16th of December was the 16th of November. Crazy rut action… scraping, rubbing, chasing does. Silly!
As I sit there thinking about what just transpired, I wasn’t that upset about not getting a shot at the 8 point. Heck, he’ll be bigger next year. His brow tines were small anyways. :)
No longer did I soak in those thoughts and I caught movement to the left. The same place the does had originally came from. It was another 10 pt in the 100” range… followed by “The new guy”. They were both making their way down the same lane all the other deer came from, moving NE from the SW.
I’m trying to get a good look of the larger buck but he folds back into the thicker stuff, but still moving towards the lane out in front of my stand…
The new guy makes his way to the tree and lays into it. It was then I knew he was big and a buck I was going to shoot given the opportunity. He turned a 180 beating up the tree for a few minutes while the smaller buck moved out in front of me at 12 yds or so.
My thoughts are racing, just don’t let this opportunity slip by. Finally after getting his aggression out on the 2” sapling, he started towards my lanes out in front of my position. I was clipped on and this was about to happen!
As he stepped into the lane, it’s as if his hackles came up. Their second sense? I don’t know but his pace slowed and then sped up. As he got through the first quadrant of my lane, I attempted to stop him, but he kept moving. At this point, I had about 5 feet or a few steps to get him stopped.
I hit him with a bit louder “meh” and he stopped. I put the top pin above his elbow, held for a second or so and released.
As the arrow zipped through him, I knew it wasn’t good.
I do know this… the shot was 5-6” up from the bottom of his torso and behind the diaphragm. At this point, I knew a few things. 1.) I was going to have to give him time. 2.) the shot would kill him. What I did from this point would determine if I recovered him, and most importantly, recover the meat.
So, after an hour I got down, grabbed my arrow, and walked the 1/2 mile or so back to the truck. The thoughts of “what to do” were racing through my mind.
Minutes later while trying to keep an eye on the deer, I saw the bottom of a deer moving across the right of way at a slow pace. I was sure that was him, or was it?
If I went after him in 8-12 hours, that would put me in the dark with no way to truly determine if I jumped him or not.
What if I only got stomach? He could live 12 hrs, 24 hrs, and even longer? In the end, I felt it best to come back in 24 hrs to look for him. Plus the temps were good overnight in the low 30’s.
I also tossed around getting a dog involved because I’ve heard good things about some of our local vetted trackers.
Gonna be a long night.
If the coyotes have found him, it will just be a rack recovery. But, with a dog, and finding it quick, we could possibly salvage the meat.
We meet up with my buddy Aaron Johnson early that morning and head down… and meet up with the tracker around 11am.
Wendi and her dog Zeus had confidence we would recover the deer and off we went.
This is first blood where the buck stopped in the stretch of timber before the right of way. At this point, we let Wendi and Zeus take the lead. Dogs are awesome!
Here’s some blood across the right of way where I thought the buck had went.
We advance towards them into the thick stuff just as Zeus is moving a bit toward the NW. Wendi puts the reins on him for a second and you can see Zeus raising his head as to carcass smell. She then says… “We’re close and my bet is we find this deer in the next five minutes.”
My thoughts were soaring at this point. That was great news!
You don’t know what those words meant to my heart! After the roller coaster of emotions and the horrible shot I put on this animal, those words were just beautiful!
Apparently while standing there in this thicket (which is the thickest part of our property), the buck was lying just 50 yards away while Zeus was upwind of the deer. Him being West of the buck with a South wind, he was likely just grabbing bits of the bucks scent. One thing is for sure, he narrowed him down and the team of Zeus and Wendi found him.
Let the hugs and celebration begin!
Getting him out was a pretty unique situation and I’ll touch on that tomorrow, gotta get some sleep. Plus, I’d like to mention what I feel were the defining moments/situations that led me to not only recover this animal, but salvage the meat as well.
I can see that deer may invoke a few strong emotions, during and after. But that's a good thing :)
We need a couple of side pics!
It really sounds like you did everything exactly right after your shot and I'm so happy it worked out for you. It's also really nice that you had the extra help of the trackers, the dog and a loyal friend.
Thanks for sharing your story (even though it took you too dang long to finish it LOL). The pictures and write ups were excellent and hopefully they can help someone down the road that might find themselves in a similar situation.
Again, congrats and kudos all the way around. I love a happy ending!
He traveled around 250 yards and had made 7 or 8 beds. He was also somewhat limber too, which tells me that he likely died around the 20 hour mark. That’s hard to say or write out those words because we strive for quick humane kills. But, I hope this recovery can help others learn from this circumstance.
Could I have found him myself, most likely, because I knew where he was likely to die. But, how long would it have taken me without the dog?
Another truth bomb… I knew the buck had trash/abnormal points on his left side, but when I shot him, I didn’t realize it was the buck we had on camera earlier in the week. He was caught on the same camera two hours earlier and .66 miles away as the crow flies, before I killed him. It was pretty funny when we found him, myself, Aaron and my wife immediately knew which buck it was. He was much bigger in person than on camera. :)
Is Tater Tot looking older?
Rod, I told myself I wasn’t going to mount another unless it’s over 160” or it’s a very unique deer. This one falls into the latter. :) Since he was turned hard right, I’m going to do a mount like my 18’ recurve buck, but right turn.
The shot did in fact hit his stomach and left a perfect 4 blade slice through the lower portion of his liver. The timeframe in which he died is debatable, but I feel he didn’t die in the first 12 hours or so. I feel it was closer to the 18-20 hour mark. One thing I do know, I don’t want to go through that again anytime soon, or ever again.
Another thing I will say, if you’ve ever debated using a dog to aid in recovery, don’t hesitate. They are a great tool given a sub-par shot.
Rod, I did find another cool shot compliments of the wife. :)
I taught high school English for thirty three years. Rick, you do not write like a seventh grader! That was the only thing you were wrong about!!! ( notice I ended the last sentence with a preposition).
The primary reason I wanted to highlight this hunt was to maybe help someone else out. This is the first buck that I’ve hit in the guts since I started bowhunting in 1992. I was fortunate to see immediately where I hit him and assess quickly what needed to be done. The thoughts flooded my brain about what to do and making the right call. Even to the point of hashing out old threads from bowsite and other reads about doing the right thing. I knew what to do.
Getting my arrow and walking the opposite way was 100% the right decision. Was there thoughts of advancing forward and looking for blood? You bet! Intuition took over and led me to my truck and back to the house. I’m not gonna lie, it was tough.
Lastly, I just want people to learn from what I went through. If it had been a heart/lung and down in 50-100 yds, I would’ve put a pic on the meat pole thread. And… if tracking dogs are legal in your area, DO NOT hesitate to utilize one. They are a great asset.
Merry Christmas and hope you all have the year of your life in 24’.
