caj4isu
New Member
I sat in my stand over my turnip plot on Saturday because the wind was right. I saw nothing until 4PM and heard what I knew was a buck walking in the creek bottom. I hit the bleat can 2x and grunted. I kept looking into the bottom for movement, but saw none - it's thick and brushy down there. All of a sudden I looked in front of me, and this huge buck was sneaking out of the cedars 30yds in front of me into the turnip plot. He was cautiously creeping directly towards me with the sneak on – head stretched out. I think I about crapped myself! He got to the edge of the plot (10yds in front of me) and took a hard turn to his right, still creeping. I drew back, waited until he got past 2 cedar trees and let the arrow fly, which was about a 15yd quartering away shot and what I believe was good arrow placement. The arrow did not pass through, but went in a ways. He took off, made a hard left turn, and ran through the brushy timber behind my stand. Did not hear a crash and watched him until he was behind all of the brush. I backed out since the arrow did not pass through. I heard the neighbor discing his bean field, and went to talk to him. He said that a big buck and a 6pt buck came running out of the timber and crossed his field into the CRP about the same time I shot my buck. I found their tracks, but no blood at all – none on the ground or on the CRP grasses where they entered the CRP. I went back and looked for blood where he entered the woods where I shot him. I found none, but saw my arrow (lighted nock) in the timber and looked it over. Good dark blood 10” onto the arrow (tipped with a Rage 2-blade), but no blood on the bushes or ground. I backed out and went to sleep. I looked all day Sunday both in my timber and in the neighbors CRP, cedar thickets and timber - found no sign of blood and no deer. I was thinking maybe my deer bumped those two bucks out of my timber and across the bean field since I found no blood at the CRP or on the ground. It’s 500+ yards from my stand to the CRP, and thought it would be bleeding by then. I left work early yesterday with a machete and searched the gnarly multiflora rose and cedar thicket about 150’ behind my stand, as well as grid searched everything from the thicket back to my stand – nothing. I’m stumped. I feel I should keep looking, but I’m burning out my timber walking every inch. On the other hand, I had an experience that most hunters dream about, and I just want to put my hands on those horns because the 7 seconds that he was that close and the image of his mature rack are burned into my brain. I'm sure the meat has gone south, and the coyotes have been chewing on it for a couple days.
