Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Trailed one to a gutpile

Im not trying to say this is wrong but the first thing that came to mind was that the guy thought no one was looking for it. Alot of people dont know about leaving it lay over night and would of came back out in the middle of the night to look (My stepdad was one of these until i started doing my research). So just to give a little benefit of the doubt the guy might of just taken it so it wouldnt go to waste. If he came across a dead deer the next day it is possible he just thought no one found it. I have heard stories like this alot and most end with finding a headless deer. If the guy is just looking for the rack he probably wouldnt of taken the whole thing.

It sucks but what if the guy meant no harm and thought he was doing good by not letting the deer go to waste. He should of talked to adjacent property owners but they might of not been home and he might travel along ways to the land.

I would just keep looking for trucks parked in the public land and leave notes with the story and contact info.

Sorry about the loss, just playing devils advocate here. My opinion better to find no deer than headless deer (not going to waste).
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Highmark</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
biggest buck said:
Sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately I had the same happen to me this year. Would have been my biggest deer to date. He was a huge, probably 160 inch 8 pt I had seen two nights in a row in the same spot chasing 2 does. I ended up moving closer on the 3rd night(Oct. 30) and at 530 he came out in the exact same spot with the 2 does again. I took a 53 yard frontal shot and buried the 29 inch arrow deep into his chest, he had about 5 inches sticking out when he ran by. An hour & 15 mins later my nephew and I began tracking him. We found 2 of the largest pools of blood I have ever seen, we continued to follow the trail in the dark for about an hour thru the thickest crap you could imagine, up and down the ravine directly within 10 yards of someone elses stand. At this point we had crossed into an adjacent property. We had a solid blood trail that abruptly came to an end in a small patch of switchgrass on the upper side of the ravine. (only 50 yrds from the other stand) Looked as though he laid down, lots of blood, piece of lung and the remains of my arrow sticking straight up out of the ground.. NO other sign of what should have been MY deer! I just dont get it. </div></div>

If you keep on taking shots like that your never going to find your deer. always stay within your effective killing range.
Click to expand...
 
I've made that shot before trust me. And, I have found both those deer just as dead as the other deer I have taken in my lifetime! Been bowhunting since I was 17 years old, thats 24 years now plus I shoot 7-8 months out of the year in my yard. So this is in MY effective killing range. I AM NOT A ROOKIE. Now I am in no way saying this is the perfect shot by any means, but its one I can and have made. If you saw the amount of blood this thing lost you'd know the shot was a fantastic hit. If I thought it was a bad hit I would have let the deer lay overnight, not just an hour.
Oh and If I do get that shot again & I feel I could cleanly kill it, I will take it, again!
 
For trips out west for mule deer I was told to be ready for 50,60, and 70 yard shots. Would not have believed it until I seen it done, and these guys wer'nt shooting new bows either. Its just a mind set in the mid west that anything past 30 yrds let it walk, most places I hunt my stands dont allow for anything past 40, but you start shooting your bow 50,60 yards it makes 20 and 30 seem like nothing. Everyone should now thier range, just like rifles, I feel good out to 300-350, have a lot of exmilitary friends shooting deer 500-600 yards. They dont just pick thier gun up opening morning. Too bad on the lost deer, it happens. Go shoot another !!!!
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gibbo80</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Im not trying to say this is wrong but the first thing that came to mind was that the guy thought no one was looking for it. Alot of people dont know about leaving it lay over night and would of came back out in the middle of the night to look (My stepdad was one of these until i started doing my research). So just to give a little benefit of the doubt the guy might of just taken it so it wouldnt go to waste. If he came across a dead deer the next day it is possible he just thought no one found it. I have heard stories like this alot and most end with finding a headless deer. If the guy is just looking for the rack he probably wouldnt of taken the whole thing.

It sucks but what if the guy meant no harm and thought he was doing good by not letting the deer go to waste. He should of talked to adjacent property owners but they might of not been home and he might travel along ways to the land.

I would just keep looking for trucks parked in the public land and leave notes with the story and contact info.

Sorry about the loss, just playing devils advocate here. My opinion better to find no deer than headless deer (not going to waste). </div></div>

Yeah it is possible that they didn't know someone was looking for it. However, I believe most honest people would try to find out who had shot it. At least that's what I would do. I know 99% of the people that hunt in this area, most of them hunt private ground, and no one has approached any of them about a found deer. So my opinion is that if they tried to find out who shot it, they didn't try very hard. Myself and others have spoken to most of the local landowners, and two dnr officers, and no one has reported finding a deer. The other thing that seems suspicious is that when a big deer is shot in the area everyone knows because we are a pretty close knit bunch. It is just weird no one has heard anything. It just sucks and I'm quite bitter about it, if you couldn't tell. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif
 
aw man!! If I could get a 53 yrd shot @ a deer I'd definately pull my pants down and pee myself then pull out my rifle otherwise forget about it cause thats plenty far beyond effective archery harvesting range! Good Luck!!!!
 
Not defend the people that took the deer but here is another scenario.

A few years ago I was at a freinds when we heard a bunch of shooting and noticed some deer along with a buck running through the backside of his property. We could tell the buck was wounded and walked out to see if there was any blood. Well there was. Sadly enough no hunters ever came through that afternoon to track this deer. The next day we went out and found this deer laying dead a few hundred yards from where we had seen it last. We called the DNR and reported it and they came and gave us a salvage tag. It wasn't a trophy buck.
I have come along alot of deer in our timber that the neighbors have shot and just layed there to rot. It is unfortunate for both the animal and the hunter.
I agree it is unfortunate you lost your deer, but seeing the situation from another stand point can help you see someone may have taken it because no one immediately recovered it. Perhaps they thought no one was coming for it.
I would try to find out who was in the area, discuss the events and perhaps the person who found it will reward you with your deer. I always call the neighbors to see if they shot something they didn't find. Just make sure you can describe what you shot.
GOOD LUCK!
 
Aw shucks dude! If you pulled ur pants down, how would you piss yourself, not that I'd object if you did? Anyway, do you seriously think the buck walked about 100 yds roughly, laid down, pulled the ineffective arrow out of his chest with his little paw, stood back up and again with his little paw shoved the arrow into the ground and walked off?
That was a dead deer walking and thats that!
/forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif
 
I know there are a lot of scenarios that could've happened, but bottom line is I wouldn't have done anything any different. On a hit where the trail is hard to follow at night, you have to leave the trail til the next morning, with bow for sure anyway. Shotgun season I may kept on the trail, maybe not. If we'd have jumped the deer that night and if it was still alive, we probably would have a lot longer trail to try to follow. All of us thought it was a kill shot, but you never know for sure. We stopped tracking at around 7:00 that night and found the gutpile by shortly after noon the next day, so it was not like the deer layed there for 2 days. Anyway, it is what it is, and there's not much we can do about it now, other than keep asking around.
 
Had two of my buddies in a similar situation this year. One guy shot a nice buck on some private land at the tail end of shooting hours. Next morning other guy shoots and kills very badly wounded buck. Bumped him on the way to his stand. Looks like he would have died by noon that day if not for 2nd arrow. Goes to show if you take the shot, make sure it counts. A 50 yard shot is impressive, don't get me wrong, but getting in close and personal has it's benefits, like no tracking and not losing your deer. Very sorry about your loss, some guys have no respect. Doesn't sound like you'll have a problem getting another. Happy hunting
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom