I am home. I lost blood on a point that goes into the river after 350 yards. I started grid searching and didn't turn up anything the grass on the point is waist high and thick. Vultures were gathering on a tree across the river. I am sure he is dead. The only question is whether or not he made it across the river. If he is on my side, I may still find him. I can't search the other side. I randomly came across congealed blood about 30 yards from the river's edge during the grid search. I have called one fried with a dog but he is out of town until Monday. I am going to try another acquaintance. If anyone knows someone with a tracking dog near Little Rock, Arkansas, let me know. To add insult to injury, I dead not recover the arrow I shot him with and two of the three arrows in my quiver fell out sometime during the track job and I lost them.
Live from the stand selfie! Hoping momma deer comes by the grocery store to grab some apples before tomorrow's cold front sweeps in! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Well, I didn't see anything else this morning after the small 8 I rattled in. Got down at 11:00, moved my climber to a better tree for a NW wind tomorrow morning and scrambled to my brother's house for lunch. My sister-in-law made a Mexican lunch and all I could think was "Oh no." I ate, drove to a different spot and had just parked the truck when the Mexican food took hold. I'm just glad it didn't wait until I got to my tree. Now I'm all settled back in for another 4.75 hours.
I'm at a loss. We were on some really good blood coming across the side of the ridge. He went down the hill then up a steep incline bleeding constantly out both sides. We get to the top and stops completely. The last blood is less than 5 yds from the stand I shot him out of. We have grid searched the heck out of this with nothing. Still no arrow. Sent from my SM-N900V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Well even though I got skunked this morning. I think I'll head back out. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Back at home about 6 hours sooner than planned. Got back down and went back to last blood. Searched around and then lifted a leafy branch with no blood only to find blood underneath. She went off the main trails for a brief time. New blood lasted about 12yds. Found 3 more drops on a log she walked along. Then nothing again. Last image is the last blood I found. Got down on my hands and needs and did circles around it looking for another drop. She was basically paralleling the creek bed at this point. Where the blood stopped was a gradual transition tonthe creek bed so I searched it on my hands and knees. Nothing. I knew which way she had been traveling and which way I had tracked first go around and decided she wasn't going to back track. Stayed down in the creek bed and started walking it slowly. Figured I would scan both sides for a white belly, to my left was a steep ridge, on my right a flat shoulder at the base of a not as steep ridge. Each trail crossing the creek I stopped and looked closely for blood. About 50 yds down I spot a decent sized blood spot at a heavy trail crossing. First image is where she came down, blood lower left This shows the same blood spot and where she went up. It was a pretty rugged upward exit from the creek bed This one shows the exit path and the direction she went. I got really optimistic at this point. I thought she opened back up. Followed decent blood for about 25 yds uphill and then it started to dry up again. Kept sticking sticks in the ground as I went so I could keep a bearing on her track. She went straight up on a trail. Lost all blood about 15 yds later? So I continued up croasing the property line(without permission and did a grid search about 150 feet past the line all the way back down to the creek. What confuses me, is she did not bleed up high, nothing on elevated shrubs or saplings where she obviously walked through. At that point I was out of options for continuing the search. Uncle is having health issues and is in the hospital out of state and no way to contact the land owner for a blind grid search. I'm just not convinced she was dead, can't say she won't be, but I didn't see the impact. Now it leads me to believe I shot low somehow, there was litterally no blood off the ground and she was an adult doe. Walked through shrubs, brush and saplings several times. No sign of spray and she never bed dowm or shyed away from inclined terrain. So now sitting at home dejected and demoralized and in doubt of going out tomorrow. Deer were still on their feet when I left, had one cross the lane as I was getting out of my hunting gear at the truck. Several in fields just 35 minutes ago.
Tomorrow morning should be fun...low of like 26 here... I’m used to it still being 60-70 this time of year... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Just got in stand for round 2. Already have 2 does in the plot Sent from my SM-G920V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Yep. Actually got a promotion back in may. AST GM now... which is pretty much the same job I had before, only now they gave me the title, and a little more money, but switched to salary with the promise of reduced hours... I’m still waiting on the reduced hours part...but said they would make it up to me come bonus time in December...see if they stick to their word... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Heading out for the evening sit,53 degrees and 10 mph W wind,should be an awesome night. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
On a side note I'm going back to the same stand I shot my buck out of a year ago to the day,sure would be sweet to get it done two years in a row on the same day. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
You kill a monster with that thing out there and it’s gonna be the new rage.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I hear ya, just couldn't sit the rest of the day.took the shot about 10 minutes after legal time. Had to use flashlight on my phone to inspect the blood. I had a good visual of the deer, but I couldn't see the bolt or impact. Think I'm going to limit morning shots to 10 minutes before sunrise. Have one bolt that I can put a lighted nock in, found one in the center tray of my truck. All the rest have glued in inserts for some reason. I'll set the alarm for the morning, not sure if I'll go or not. Hate this feeling, almost forgot what it was like been a few years.
