It will be a sleepless night - buck yet to be recovered

[j-bird]

Well My boy was home from college this weekend and as soon as the rain let up we headed out this morning. We had been in the stand less than 15 minutes - I didn't even have the muzzleloader loaded yet and a really nice buck steps out. He got to 50 to 75 yards but heading straight at us an not wasting much time. Best I got was a quartering toward shot - I took it. Buck took off. We tracked blood from roughly 8:30 until 1:00 in the afternoon. We found where he bedded down but got bumped. I am certain the shot is mortal, due just to blood loss, but I have yet to find him. He headed into some flooded creek bottom and a flooded creek. Starting again at first light and see if we can find him. Will take the dogs and see if they can find him as well.

I hate loosing a deer - regardless of size or sex. It just makes me sick. I really hope to lay my hands on him in the morning. I will update if we find him. From what I saw of him he is a good deer - not a monster, but a good one. If anyone has a direct line to the deer gods I would appreciate a little moral support.

 

[foggy]

I'm betting on you finding him. Take those dogs along. Good luck!

 

[bat man]

After hundreds of blood trails, 500 yards became a pretty sad guideline for us over time, and blood on the ground meant less than blood in the body cavity.

I hope you find your buck-

 

[OkieKubota]

j-bird good luck on the tracking him up tomorrow. I know what you are going through and anyone that has hunted a lot can certainly relate!

 

[TMIL]

That's always rough. I hope you find him. Good luck!

 

[chickenlittle]

Good luck. I managed to find the buck my father shot on Monday. It traveled a half mile over 4 neighbors. Dad got a bad shot and just hit its right leg. The neighbor's buddy didn't shoot it when it stopped on the edge of the field because he saw a big exit wound. He thought it was about to fall over and didn't want to ruin any meat for us. Then the buck took off three legging at full speed down across the fields. He kept waiting for it to stop but it didn't. He tried 2 shots before it got to the brush on the far side. From where he last saw it, I tracked it down to the creek but was having trouble picking up the trail when that neighbor showed up. He said it had gone up stream and up the side of a ravine. Glad he was able to provide that info because I would have been looking downstream. The buck was bedded down about 20 yards from where he last saw it. It jumped up and stumbled back down into the ravine and I was able to drop it for good there.

 

[Tree Spud]

J-Bird ... good luck! Start slow, find the spot that he was shot at and then work slowly for blood, sign, etc. ... I am sure you know the routine ...

 

[wklman]

Good luck j-bird. I found mine 9 days after I shot it this fall so it can happen.

 

[SD51555]

Don't get down yet. Those stories can end successful with a heck of a tale to go with it. I once shot a deer right through the heart with a rifle. Found very little blood, and not near enough to track because it ended up dying about 20 feet away from where I was standing scratching my head. It fell between two logs with it's belly sticking up (snow on the ground).

 

[foggy]

I believe most hunters have been in this situation a time or two. It is what it is. Good luck!

 

[huntall]

good luck...hope to see pictures this morning!

 

[biglakeba$$]

Hoping there is a set of pics posted this morning!

 

[tooln]

Good luck I hope you got him in the truck by now.

 

[j-bird]

Well no luck today. I took the dogs and walked far more ground than I ever thought I would. Looking back this is self-inflicted. I wasn't thinking clearly and made some major mistakes. #1 - 2 holes are better than one - I should have waited for a true broadside shot - with gun in hand I was over-confident in its ability. #2 - when the deer ran off - we started to track - I should have given the deer some time to expire - I was too anxious to lay hands on him - if I would have waited a few hours this post would have been in the successful hunts thread. #3 I think we dumped the deer tracking it - at the time I thought we spooked a doe, but looking back I think we bumped the bedded buck. #4 That led to another mistake - we went to the dogs too soon. By not realizing we bumped the buck once and using the dogs we bumped the deer yet again - this time a far greater distance it seems. I have found no more additional sign of blood or otherwise. The deer torn into a flooded area and as such we lost the blood trial. I think the deer even crossed the swollen creek. We went into the area we thought the deer went today and nothing. I worked circles and grids at the last sign of blood and still nothing. Now with work Monday and all week I won't have any time to resume the search until next Saturday - I refuse to hunt anymore until I determine I have exhausted ALL options. I am considering trying to locate a true tracking dog, but I am not sure the flooded conditions will even be worth while. Dogs only make things worse if the deer isn't dead - I know this, I knew this, but cooler heads did not prevail - the deer hunting gods are making sure I remember these lessons and am not quick to forget them!!!!

 

[tooln]

Sooner than later it happens to all of us. Hopefully he'll live for you to get a crack at next year.

 

[Bill]

Sorry it didn't turn out better.

Waiting is the hardest thing for me to do. I have to talk myself into it. Backing off is probably harder.

 

[Tree Spud]

Well no luck today. I took the dogs and walked far more ground than I ever thought I would. Looking back this is self-inflicted. I wasn't thinking clearly and made some major mistakes. #1 - 2 holes are better than one - I should have waited for a true broadside shot - with gun in hand I was over-confident in its ability. #2 - when the deer ran off - we started to track - I should have given the deer some time to expire - I was too anxious to lay hands on him - if I would have waited a few hours this post would have been in the successful hunts thread. #3 I think we dumped the deer tracking it - at the time I thought we spooked a doe, but looking back I think we bumped the bedded buck. #4 That led to another mistake - we went to the dogs too soon. By not realizing we bumped the buck once and using the dogs we bumped the deer yet again - this time a far greater distance it seems. I have found no more additional sign of blood or otherwise. The deer torn into a flooded area and as such we lost the blood trial. I think the deer even crossed the swollen creek. We went into the area we thought the deer went today and nothing. I worked circles and grids at the last sign of blood and still nothing. Now with work Monday and all week I won't have any time to resume the search until next Saturday - I refuse to hunt anymore until I determine I have exhausted ALL options. I am considering trying to locate a true tracking dog, but I am not sure the flooded conditions will even be worth while. Dogs only make things worse if the deer isn't dead - I know this, I knew this, but cooler heads did not prevail - the deer hunting gods are making sure I remember these lessons and am not quick to forget them!!!!

J-Bird ... you are an honest man and have already identified many issues ... too often with deer hunting, our hearts over rule our heads. Chalk this up to the learning experience and incorporate this into future hunts ... hopefully the buck survives and you can encounter him again ...

 

[THunter]

I lost a deer one time because I thought he had crossed a flooded creek. He actually turned back on his track instead of hitting the water. We passed him twice and didn't find it to the next spring. Only one out of 123 that I ever lost. Still bothers me and it was just a small guy. Even worse it was a pretty good shot, just made bad assumptions.

 

[j-bird]

I am simply down -but not out! I intend on looking more this coming weekend - the meat may not be good, but I owe it to the deer and myself to ensure I have done EVERYTHING I can to find it.

Looking back there is one thing hat happened that I have NEVER had happen before - I shot the deer, but it never fell down while I saw it. Even those I have had run either fall first and get up or take only a few steps and fall. Anybody else ever put a good hit on a deer and had them truely run off???

The deer gods are really makin sure some of the things I listed above stick in my mind for a long time - it may end up costing me my largest buck to date of my hunting career.

 

[Terrific_tom]

j-bird what were you using for ammo in your muzzleloader? I have heard of many horror stories on a particular brand that leave no blood traill and lost deer.