Just the other day I wrote this in a reply to MGH... I arrived to the property with my LW stand and sticks and headed over to a really nice spot I have been saving for the right conditions for the last few years. This was a view from my setup, taken from the live from stand thread. I was setup, thinking about how uncomfortable of a tree I was setup in was, but it was the right tree, it was in the right spot so I had to make due. Then at 6:30 I see a deer through the thick foliage, little buck... Then I saw two more, little buck... Big buck! They came from the nasty clear cut regrowth. The nice buck bounded off 35 yards to my right, stood there and then walked right back at me perfect broadside at 6 yards. He looks up and locks his eyes on me, BUSTED. He put his head down, then picked it back up looking at me again, I am already at full draw. He take three bounds away from me and stops again, I release the arrow. I hear the loudest thwack I have ever heard from an arrow impact. He runs off, I can follow his general path for about 75 yards. I call my buddy Frank (buckjunky) he is on his way. I gather all of my stuff and carry it out to the field edge and wait on him. He gets there 45 minutes later and I retrace the events for him. We cannot find the arrow or blood at the impact site. 10 yards later we do find blood and follow it for maybe 150 yards. We backed out for the night. Yesterday morning we arrive back to follow the blood trail around 8AM. It was an easy blood trail to follow for the most part. Evidence showed us it was a high one lung hit. The blood was red in some spots pink with bubbles in it in others. We ended up following the trail for I would guess 1500 yards and at 1030 AM we jumped the buck from his bed, this was16 hours after the shot. He took off covering serious ground with each bound. We found a couple small drops of blood in his bed, and no blood at all along his escape trail. The soil was wet and very soft so we had no trouble following his tracks. I am pretty upset about the situation, I know this happens but that sure doesn't help. Here is a trail cam photo of the buck.
Sorry to hear that Scott. That is always a tough pill to swollow. Hopefully that buck survives the hit. Keep after it and best of luck the rest of the season.
Scott, is there any chance you can bring in a tracking dog tomorrow? Where do you think you hit him? I am VERY sorry to hear of this, I know how heartbreaking this can be man. Please keep at it and best of luck this season.
I know the EXACT frustration your going through, sorry to hear of the news. Maybe you'll get another crack at this buck and put him down and then you'll know for sure what you hit the 1st time. Best of luck Scott.
We've all been there, don't let this bad shot mess up your next shot. Let it go, it's over and done with.
Yea like the others said. Sorry to hear it, pretty much all of us know how it feels. Definitely not fun. Hopefully you can shake it off. I know sometimes that’s easier said than done.
Been there. Tough stuff man. Long season. Man.....reading your post, brought the feelings back. There has honestly been maybe 10 or 15 days this past year that I didn't think about last Halloween night.
That's a tough one Scott. All you can do is hope he survives or you find him in the next couple of days. Sorry to hear about that.
You could try any dog with a good, deep nose. Thought I lost one the other night but my dog found it. Tough trail too, one 20 yd stretch with no blood in a critical spot. Get a dog and show it the blood on the trail back a ways so you know right away whether it is following or not. Worth a try. Good luck.
