Here is the story, I have a little piece of property that my aunt rents a house from me on and yesterday I was talking to her and she said she has been seeing a giant buck for the past few days, so I go out yesterday at 1pm and set up a climbing stand and go get in it at 3pm after work, at 5pm here he comes out of a patch of timber not 20 yards away and walks to a scrape 10 yards from me, Whack and he was hit good, lots of blood, so I got out and waited till this morning and me and a couple of friends went out to trail him, we found blood, good blood. This property is small and the neighbors are tree huggers on one side and a doctor on the other, we trailed it to the docs property, I call him and he says go after it, moments later one of my friends hollers over here, I run over and there lies a Gut Pile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night at 12 midnight our coon season opened, it was in the middle of a 25 acre cut hay field, either with the full moon they saw it or there dogs did and then they did, I called the doc and explained and he says he has alot of problem with coon hunter trespassing on him, we followed the drag marks to a set of 4 wheeler tracks and then to the hard road.. I went from an incredible high to a all new low, Why one hunter would do this to another is beyond me!!!!!I feel like ****, should of looked last night, I knew it was a good hit, I can second guess myself forever but the result is the same, a 180 class deer is in someone elses house right now, a DEER STEALERS house!!!!!!
Unbelievable. Not the first time I've heard this story though. People suck. Stealing a deer is 100x worse than stealing a treestand!
People suck is right. Amazing. I would call the warden, tell them about it. If you can identify it....maybe when it shows up at the taxidermist locally you might have a chance at getting it back.
Stories like this have made me almost want to camp out near where I think a deer is bedded after I shoot it and just wait till morning kinda on watch of sorts....UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!!!
yes, that really sucks.....learn from your mistakes....if i know i put a GOOD shot on a 180 class deer, i'm not going home until i find it and tag it....
Sorry to hear that, stuff like this makes me want to puke. Agree with above advice, call the GW and see what, if anything, can be done.
I sympathize with you, hunteropel, but I've got to ask. If it was a "good hit with lots of blood" on a 180 class buck, why in the world did you let it lay all night? Granted, the coon hunters NEVER should have been trespassing (I can tell you of three major run-ins we've had with coon hunters over the years. I try not to stereotype them, but personally I've had more problems with them than anything else while hunting), but I would think they probably came across the buck thought it had been shot and lost/abandoned and took advantage of it. Again, they never should have been there in the first place, but if I came across a 180 class buck in the middle of the night (assuming I was allowed to be where I was), you can bet I wouldn't simply let it lay.
Wow .... that really sucks .... if people will tresspass, they will take what is not theirs ... that sucks, Bro .... from what some others have said, whether it's a bb or a 180 inch deer .... shot follow up SHOULD be the same ... you did what you thought you should Bro ..sorry it turned out that way
Wondering the same thing and agree with everything you said. I aint hunted land I didn't have permission to hunt on, but if I was hunting any of my properties that I hunt and walk across a 180 class buck - I might give it a couple yells to see if anyone is in the area looking for a deer and after that I'm guttin and truckin.
Agreed! But, the people that came acrossed it, do we really know what they thought. They found a dead deer in the middle of the night.. I'm not condoning them trespassing etc... but ask y'all selfs this... if you found a dead deer on your property, what do you do? Let it lay thinking someone might be trailing it the next day or do you just automatically think someone "lost" the deer? It's a tough call... I've never found one so I can't make that decision. But I'm not going to be quick to judge either. HunterOpel, I feel for you man, that sucks. I'd check all local butchers and taxidermists for any clues...
I hope you feel the same way on a lesser buck or even a doe... the antlers shouldn't matter, the life should.
[HR][/HR] no worries here....i'm not a trophy hunter....i hunt for the meat and for the love of bowhunting....trophy antlers is a bonus, that's all....
They shouldn't have been tresspassing in the first place, BUT If I were the coon hunters and came across that buck in the middle of the night, dead, probably stiff as a board..... My first thought would have been "unreal that someone didnt find this deer, some people just put no effort into tracking and give up to easily." Keep in mind that hunters that allow a deer to lay overnight based on their shot or other reasoning, although responsible, are in the minority I would guess. I wouldnt have just taken it but would have called the GW the next morning and asked if I could have the meat and rack.
Sucks you lost the deer, but there is more than one questionable part of the story. Live and learn I guess.
We had this happen on our land about 5 years ago as well. Same story where my uncle shot a buck, described it as a 170-180 inch buck with a drop tine on the left side. He shot it and we let it lay overnight. Came back the next morning to track the blood trail, thick blood trail by the way, over the next property's fenceline. Called the neighbor to ask if we could follow blood and he told us not to step a foot on his land. Two weeks later at a local liquor store I see a picture of the same neighbor who told us no holding the exact buck my uncle described to me. There's stealing treestands and there's stealing deer...and the stealing deer just makes you a lowlife. My uncle has never shot a deer over 130 so shooting a 170+ and having this happen is a lifetime buck gone forever. People really make me wonder sometimes. Sorry to hear your story and best of luck throughout the rest of the season.
