I've been hunting locally almost every day since October 1st. It's been terribly slow, and I've only seen a fork and a button since the opener. This weekend I had the first and only chance to make it out to our lease. I had Friday off from school, and a half day on Thursday. We headed up Thursday afternoon, and settled in. I hunted on Friday morning and didn't see anything. I went back out early that afternoon, and sat in the foodplot. I saw two big shooters and had 4 smaller bucks in range, but I couldn't get a shot off. Saturday morning I decided to do the same thing. I got in my stand about an hour and a half before light. I didn't see anything until about 8:45, when I heard some thrashing. I looked in that direction with my binoculars and I saw it was a shooter. I got my bow ready and waited. He came running into the foodplot where I was set up. He had his nose to the ground and was looking for does. I moved my pin to 20 yards as he trotted closer. He came in range, and I waited for him to turn broadside. I drew back, and got a good anchor. I thought I was calm and collected for the most part. When he turned, I settled then pin behind his shoulder and touched it off. My arrow flew low, and hit some brush in front of him. Somehow it deflected, and hit him way low and way back. He bunched up, walked 30 yards and stood there. I grabbed my binoculars and watched. He turned and I could see that he had guts hanging out of his side. He stood there for 5 minutes and then trotted off out of sight. I waited a while, got down and quietly went over to the neighbors house. We decided to give him until late afternoon at the earliest. We figured that if we left him, the coyotes would have him shredded to pieces anyway. In the meantime, we went to all the surrounding neighbor's and asked permission to walk on their property of the deer crossed into their land. Fortunately, all said yes. Around 3:00 P.M. I picked up the track where I shot him. I looked for the arrow and never could find it. Then I moved up to where I saw him standing. I found blood and started following it. After about 60 yards the blood stopped all together. I knew what trail he was taking, so I followed quietly hoping not to push him. I lost blood for about 3/4 of a mile. So, I kept on that same trail looking around for blood or a white belly. I was now on the neighbor's property. All of a sudden, I heard a voice. I looked around, and I saw a bowhunter up in a tree about 60 yards away. He motioned for me to come. I eased closer, and immediately started apologizing for ruining his hunt. I told him that I would leave and come back some other time. He looked at me and said "no that's not why I called you over here". He asked me if I was the guy looking for that buck. I said yes, and he said "finding your buck is far more important that my hunt. Don't worry about it". Then he said that when he was walking in at about 10:45 that morning he had bumped my buck out of the area. He said that his guts were hanging out of his side and that he looked ready to die. He told me that he found where the blood started up again by mistake. He pointed me up the ridge and told me to make a right after the pine trees. He said that I couldn't miss the blood, and that it was a nice buck. I thanked him and apologized once more. I listened to him, and continued up the ridge. After about 20 minutes, I found the blood. I was just specks to start with. As I continued, I found a piece of intestine. Thereafter, the blood started pouring out. I was now in a totally unfamiliar area, and it was some of the steepest ravines imaginable. And it was thick. I followed for about 600 more yards and then the blood trail started looking like a red carpet. I was now hopeful. I looked up from the trail, and about 100 yards up on the side of the ridge he laid dead. He ran a little over 2 miles from where I shot him. I tracked for a total of about 3 hours going slow. I was thrilled to get my hands on him, before the coyotes got to. The meat was still good, and I had to quarter it there and pack it out. It took two trips to get it all out. There was a little bit of ground shrinkage, but I'm very happy with him. He's my second biggest archery buck to date, and my 5th ever. There is no way to sugar coat it, my shot was terrible. I misjudged that distance by 8 yards, which threw it off. I shot him at 28 yards. That led to me hitting some brush. I got very lucky that it ended the way it did. I'm so thankful for the selflessness of the hunter I encountered. This was by far the most exciting hunt of my life, and an emotional rollercoaster. I'll never forget it, that's for sure. Sent from a piece of paper, tied to a rock.
Man that is one great story I'm glad it ended well and successful recovery. That other bow hunter is a type of guy ya want to run into that situation
Wow I was shocked to see the pics. You're just a kid. You write very well. Well done sir. You have a bright future
Congrats to you for sticking with it and on your deer. Unfortunately things happen but you did everything right and should be commended for all that you did, including getting permission from the neighbors. Sounds like the hunter you ran in to was a stand up guy as well. Thanks for the example you set for all of us who hunt.
great job buddy, the only mistake you made was the shirt your wearing. now your location isn't a secret any longer. lol. Da bears.
