I Know Something
- Thread starter giles
- Start date
Joel
Senior Member
mercercountyhunter
Junior Member
Well, I've had my eye on ol two piece since he first showed up in late July. He was a regular at the minerals. Around the end of August he disappeared for a couple weeks and then reappeared hard horned and looking nice! I figured he was bedding in the corn on the neighbors. I had been dumping apples up in the corner of the field about 300 yards from the corn, and he was a regular. He'd show up anywhere from 3 minutes to an hour after legal light. I hunted that corner of the field opening day with no sighting of him. My next move was a stand in a pinch point along a path he would of taken if he was in the corn, I hunted that on that cold front we had around October 16th, no sighting. So now I know he is not in the corn, he's bedding in the woods, and I'm not going in there, no way am I blowing him out. I stayed patient, monitored the TC he was on, and plotted my next move. The cold front Wednesday night was it, so I lined up a driver to get me to and from my stand in my ranger. I had second thoughts about being dropped off right at the tree because from my TC surveillance it seemed that he wouldn't show up until at least an hour after dark when I came through to check the camera. That Intel right there told me he was close. So instead of getting dropped off at the tree I opted to depart 150 yards from the tree and carry my mobile setup in. Once I got to the the tree I had to cut down a small sapling that was in my way, then I hung my stand. This tree is perfect, it's split right where my stand sits and provides plenty of cover. Soon after getting set up I had a mama and fawn enter the field to feed at 5:00. They fed for about an hour and then I notice a little 4 point cruising down the field edge, he stopped by where I had the apples but there wasn't any left. At 5:45 another doe and fawn enter the field. They fed peacefully for 15 minutes until I see their heads go straight up. Wondering what alerted them I pull my binos up and see a nice buck running full bore behind a doe right across the middle of the field. They disappeared but I got ready just in case they made an appearance over my way. Nothing showed, they disappeared into the woods. The does eventually feed up the edge of the field to a part that just recently got planted in winter wheat and is nice and green. It's now 6:45 and I look up to see a nice 8 point working his way down the tree line to my left, he stops to work a scrape and then heads directly towards me. As soon as he gets almost right in front of me I hear a hell of a buck fight going on in the woods to my left where the 8 just walked by. The 8 passes right in front of me at 20 yards and as soon as he passes I look left and see two piece coming out into the field, and he's pissed. He takes the same path as the 8. His hair is bristled up, head cocked down, and he starts that sideways walk that they do before a fight. At this point I have literally 3 minutes of shooting light left. He gets to what I guessed 22-24 yards in front of me and I stop him with a "meah" and release the arrow. I was immediately disgusted with the shot, it didn't sound good, he hunched up, and I pulled the shot trying to look at my arrow. He bolted through the field, went 90 yards, slowed to a walk, and then bedded down. I knew there was no point in trying to do any sort of tracking, I waited until dark, and snuck out. After I got out I made a couple attempts to set up a tracking dog with no luck, and called a couple buddies. While texting with Giles he mentioned a guy I should contact and insisted that a dog would be a good idea, that contact didn't pan out. While on lunch break on Thursday I found a guy from Jefferson county. His profile said he only tracked Jefferson, columbiana, and Belmont. I texted him anyway, and he replied within a couple minutes. The texting was cut short by my lunch break so I told him I'd be in contact at 3 when I clocked out. Called him at 3 and explained the situation and gave him all the details. He said he would take the track if I was interested. He told me his dog was young (2 years old) and his oldest track was 19 hours, but he's found 29 deer in his short career and has never not found a gut shot deer. I agreed to take him up on his services and he said he'd leave immediately. I got home and J was sitting in my driveway waiting, we took off for the farm shortly after and met up with my buddy Ron out there. At 4:45 Jared and his dog buck showed up and we immediately headed for the location in the ranger with J and Ron following in my truck. We got out at the location I shot him and he let buck go to work. After a little sniffing around for a few minutes buck got on a trail and led us up the field where two piece ran. Buck struggled for a couple minutes to pick up a track but he led us to the tree line that is 20 yards wide. In there was a bed with blood in it (the only blood we saw the whole track) and our hopes were a little higher. Buck went up and down that tree line for what seemed like 20 minutes looking for scent. I hung back about 20-30 yards trying not to pollute the area. After sniffing around in the tree line buck led us down a steep bank where there was a pond. At this point I'm thinking he's gotta be laying down here, he wasn't. We went up the other side and crossed into a thick patch of young trees and tall grass. Almost immediately buck took off hauling ass down a trail barking his ass off and led us down into a section with a creek. We ran up part of that creek and found nothing. Once getting back up into the taller grass buck cut a track again. He led us to a hill that overlooked a small ravine that was literally 80-90 yards behind my stand. I looked down and there he was, laying on his side. Jared tried giving me a high five and I said hell no, give me a fuggin hug dude! I couldn't take it, I had to get down on my knees, emotions just took over and I damn near cried. I'm going to spare the details on the next part but he was still alive, and barely breathing ( which I didn't know until I got up) so I finished him with another arrow. I'm not proud of how this all ended up and I hate like hell that he had to suffer that long. But what myself and others can learn from this is backing out and not pushing a deer is crucial, watching the reaction of the deer post shot is crucial, and following through on your shot is crucial. I didn't sleep much Wednesday night, and I didn't sleep much last night. Thoughts of how this buck had to endure the night would not leave my mind. I hope I never have to go through this again. The fact that he was still alive meant that the meat was good, and I am grateful for the meat he will provide my family. I had my eye on this deer for 3 months and this is not the way I wanted it to end, but I have learned a lot from it, and I hope it will help some of you. I will say this, we would not of found him if it wasn't for Jared and Buck. We would of ran out of daylight, if and when we did find him there's no way the meat would of been good. Maybe he stayed alive so he could provide for my family, idk. But that's how I'm going to think about him from now on. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the huge ramble.
Excellent write up. Always something we can learn. Sorry you had to go through this, but so happy for you buddy. Thanks for sharing so we can all learn from it.
Dogs are amazing. 100% of gut shot deer die, finding them is the hard part. With a deer of this caliber, I’m glad you made that call. Backing out and staying out...you da man for doing that! Congratulations again brother.
J, well done sir. Way TOO be there for a brother in need. Even just for the emotional support. Well done sir!
J, well done sir. Way TOO be there for a brother in need. Even just for the emotional support. Well done sir!
Maxxis31
Junior Member
Great read, telling the story just how it unfolded is what makes the hunt memorable, Congrats on your recovery and success, Hats off to Buck the tracking Pup.
It was a hell of a evening too say the least.... Glad I could be part of it...
What Chad drives home in all of this is when I doubt pull out, regroup and talk it over with some friends.... Nothings worse then bumping an arrowhead deer....
Jarrod and Buck did a hell of a job and I can’t say enough about his work ethic on that track job, dude literally is ate Up with track deer, and I think the only reason he took the track job was due to your backing out and NOT polluting the area up..... Ron and I had our doubts after the first hour but Buck pulled it out in the end....
Dave, I’ve spent time with Chad over there groundhog hunting so somewhat knew the lay of the land.... Wouldn’t hesitate too make the drive again.... This is what too brothers do buddy....
What Chad drives home in all of this is when I doubt pull out, regroup and talk it over with some friends.... Nothings worse then bumping an arrowhead deer....
Jarrod and Buck did a hell of a job and I can’t say enough about his work ethic on that track job, dude literally is ate Up with track deer, and I think the only reason he took the track job was due to your backing out and NOT polluting the area up..... Ron and I had our doubts after the first hour but Buck pulled it out in the end....
Dave, I’ve spent time with Chad over there groundhog hunting so somewhat knew the lay of the land.... Wouldn’t hesitate too make the drive again.... This is what too brothers do buddy....
That's a great buck Chad, and an excellent write-up! Congrats buddy!
As a hunter, it's the hardest thing to do to back out when you've shot any deer, let alone a trophy. To admit that your shot wasn't perfect, back out, and immediately call a tracker says a lot about your ethics IMO. Nobody wants to put a bad shot on a deer and lose one, so my hat is off to you for going the extra mile to make sure you were able to recover this deer. Well done buddy. Congrats again!
As a hunter, it's the hardest thing to do to back out when you've shot any deer, let alone a trophy. To admit that your shot wasn't perfect, back out, and immediately call a tracker says a lot about your ethics IMO. Nobody wants to put a bad shot on a deer and lose one, so my hat is off to you for going the extra mile to make sure you were able to recover this deer. Well done buddy. Congrats again!
