2-bucks
PMA Member
Had not seen any shooters at my farm in three sits, so I decided to hunt behind my neighbors house to change things up. I have a stand a couple hundred yards off the end of our subdivision that has been a nice honey hole for years. When I head out at 2:00, he is sucking up leaves. Not a huge deal until you consider he dumps them 50 yards from my stand. I debated not going but figured oh well, the deer are used to activity there and if he stops early enough it should calm down enough for the deer to still come out and maybe a buck will follow the normal does that frequent the neighborhood. Plus I had great "cover" noise so I could go in unheard. He stopped sucking up leaves at 3:00. I figure I'll play on my phone for 30 minutes and let things calm down. At straight up 3:00 I hear leaves rustle. Expecting to see one of the hundred squirrels around I look up and see a big doe running and a small buck in tow. I put the binos on him and see is NOT small. Not my biggest but looked like a nice 4 year old. Not sure if an 8 or 10. ( I never count points, I just see height and width and decide pass/fail.) he comes in to 25 yards and I hit him a little low. Looks like a heart shot. She comes in to 20 and I mess up and spine her. A second one to the heart and she expires quickly.
NOW to the maybe part....I give the buck an hour and start tracking. I saw the arrow in him as he ran off. (not a pass though) The arrow fell out after about 40 yards and he had a huge blood spot low and behind the front shoulder, about 1/4 way up the body. I thought he was broadside but may have been quartering away slightly. Shooting rage hypodermics. He is bleeding buckets, like someone is throwing full cups of blood every 15 feet. I expect to find him every time I look up but after 200 yards the blood is minimal so I backed out, plus it was getting to be dusk. The blood had bubbles but was a darker than a classic lung shot. I can see the exact penetration on the arrow and measured it at 14 inches. He was paralleling a creek when I backed out. I really expect to find him in that creek bottom in the morning but feel sick and afraid I won't.
The whole scenario just baffles me. All the blood and bubbles tells me lung and/or heart/artery. BUT 200 yards and not piled up tells me not. Maybe quartering away more than I thought and I got one lung and hit the off side shoulder, preventing the pass through??? Hope to post recovery photo tomorrow.
NOW to the maybe part....I give the buck an hour and start tracking. I saw the arrow in him as he ran off. (not a pass though) The arrow fell out after about 40 yards and he had a huge blood spot low and behind the front shoulder, about 1/4 way up the body. I thought he was broadside but may have been quartering away slightly. Shooting rage hypodermics. He is bleeding buckets, like someone is throwing full cups of blood every 15 feet. I expect to find him every time I look up but after 200 yards the blood is minimal so I backed out, plus it was getting to be dusk. The blood had bubbles but was a darker than a classic lung shot. I can see the exact penetration on the arrow and measured it at 14 inches. He was paralleling a creek when I backed out. I really expect to find him in that creek bottom in the morning but feel sick and afraid I won't.
The whole scenario just baffles me. All the blood and bubbles tells me lung and/or heart/artery. BUT 200 yards and not piled up tells me not. Maybe quartering away more than I thought and I got one lung and hit the off side shoulder, preventing the pass through??? Hope to post recovery photo tomorrow.