... well boys. When in doubt back out... Going to be a long night. He's no Giant but given the circumstances I'd be proud of him. Please keep your fingers crossed. No blood after more than 80 yards. Entry was high and I think I buried it in the off side shoulder with no exit
Yes sir. I'm not sure what he is, 6 or 8. I have no pictures of them because this is that hang and hunt I did on a whim in Indiana. Went deep, scouted my **** off, and found that little spot where I sent you the pictures earlier today. There was a scrape about 20 yards in front of me right on that trail Edge that he was working like crazy. I heard him before I saw him, I was looking behind me to try to pick out what I was hearing behind me. Then I hear him kicking up dirt 20 yards in front of me. He was working that scrape and licking Branch pretty good. I figure I've only got two days to hunt and $150 tag in my pocket so it wouldn't get any better than that
He's a dead deer, I have no doubt of that. But as he ran off into the bean field before he curled around Brushy Edge out of sight it looked like I didn't get as much penetration as I would have liked. Definitely not a pass thru. I gave it a half hour before I even got down and looked for blood grid searched plus or minus 20 yards of where he went into the soybean field and nothing. Last year I punched through the near side shoulder blade and broke the offside front leg bone with the exact same setup at 50 yards. Shaking my head now, nowhere near giving up but can't believe I didn't punch right through them at that range. Headed home now to have dinner and a beer and decide if I'm going to come back up after midnight or wait till morning. I'll probably wait till morning even though this area is crawling with coyotes
[QUOTE="dnoodles, post: 1377547, member: 14847" View attachment 78852 [/QUOTE] He was working a scrape right under that green oak tree. Less than 25yds. After I shot him he ran fairly deep into the bean field to the 2 o'clock, then curled around left out of sight. I think he crashed through the 12 o'clock hedge row and back into the cornfield to the left.
Anything? Went out this morning, didn’t see anything. Now I’m in the same spot this afternoon. Been playing it safe so far this year, so it’s been a slow start to the season. Going to go hang cameras on a public piece tomorrow and test out the bike access. Might start doing that more often. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Negative. I ran into another hunter this AM and he helped me grid search. Neither one of us found a speck of blood or any hair. I know exactly where he was standing when I hit him and where he went into the beanfield. Not a drop. I found what I believe are his tracks running into then curving thru the field. Nothing. Walked the length of the hedgerow where I heard him go into. Nothing. That hedgerow is so thick I don't know how he would've made it thru to the corn on the other side. I walked the corn some but not the whole thing as there was another hunter in a ladder stand the other side. I'm in the stand now. Tonight I'll walk the standing corn field see if I get lucky see the Nocturnal or find blood.
Found nothing last night either. I went into the corn and found nothing, even got into 2 other hunters ladder stands on the perimeter of the fields hoping to see the nock. I hate losing wounded deer especially when I know they're going to die. I passed on 2 big does because I was still holding out hope. I'm in the stand now. I know things like this happen, and I've lost my share of deer but I could always pinpoint how- bad shot, equip failure, deflection, etc. This one? Maybe the shot was a touch high, but at this distance and angle should not have made any difference. I have punched thru 2 of the 2 biggest bones before on bigger deer at longer range. Confidence is shaken for sure. Both my judgement and my equipment. My last morning in the stand until next Friday in WI. assuming I don't drop one today I'll have all week to think/do something about it...
I got 11 different bucks on camera in the last 3 weeks all between 140-160 hopefully I can get it done Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Saw a lot of deer tonight. The one I wanted to come close stayed out about 80 yards. Two new bucks on camera tonight. One 8 and one ten. The 8 I would maybe drop the trigger on. Small bucks are harassing the doe bad. The big bucks are taking inventory.
if you guys want anything added to any pics you have or need a logo made hit me up just started up my graphic design stuff ill post examples
Cold front moving through right now. Plan to be in the stand tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night and Wed. morning. I will not be able to get back into the stand due to other commitments until next week. Hopefully this drop in temps will get them moving a bit more.
Keep after it...that stuff happens to everybody. I lost a 160 class buck last year after sending an arrow clean through him.
Last night's hunt was as good as it gets without killing one. saw 30 deer, half were bucks. passed 2 different 150 class 3 year olds. heard 2 bucks fighting in the timber south of my blind. It was awesome.
