Sick sick sick to my stomach. I had a DANDY 10 pt 110 yards out last night. Pulled the trigger, the smoke cleared, and he had only ran 30 yards and stopped. He stood there for 5 solid minutes. I couldnt get another shot. He eventually hunched up and hopped his rear end into a thicket. Short, painful hops. I assumed I just hit him too far back and the bullet will take care of him. I was wrong. I backed out. I didnt even look for blood. I came back 14 hours later and started trailing him. The blood trail was disappointing. Just small drops. Followed him 400 yards and found a bed. Followed drops of blood from there to another bed 100 yards further. Very little blood in each bed. There were coyote tracks all over and around that second bed.From there it was just tiny specs and he was running. He had a faint blood stain in one of his hoof prints. I think the coyotes were chasing him. It all led to a creek crossing and I couldn't find any more sign from that point on. 4 hours of searching. This one is going to haunt me for a long, long time. He was a stud. Big ten with a beautiful 5 inch flyer off his G2. I have no idea where I hit him and how I missed that badly.
Edited to add what I thought he might score. Solid 170. I need a beer.
