Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Opening day doe...kind of?

Creamer

Active Member
1,584
81
Athens
This is a weird one to write up. I'm still not exactly sure how to feel about it. Things went right, things went weird, things went wrong. I hunted private ground where I have a feeder on opening night because I had a large number of does using the area in shooting light. I got settled in the saddle early, around 3PM. About 6PM, I had does working my way. They bypassed the feeder and skirted me for the field edge above me. I passed up a shot chance at 28-30 yards. The woods were dead calm and she seemed a little edgy, I waited it out.



They worked their way, ironically, right towards my Jeep on the field edge (it's a small property). They got a little nervous and single-file walked back almost exactly the route they came from. A few minutes later, three more does came down through the field coming right to me, two adult does and a fawn. I had the fawn nearly under me, and I held out for a shot at one of the bigger ones. One bigger doe finally gave me a slight quartering-to shot at about 14 yards. I inched the bow back, anchored, and released what I thought was a really good arrow. I watched the arrow impact her just behind the lead leg and bury to the fletchings. In my head I said "she's dead."

I did not see her fall, and I couldn't hear her after she sprinted just out of sight. Confident she was hit hard, I slowly put my gear away and climbed down. I gave her 20 minutes or so and took up the trail as light was fading. Blood was easy to follow at first, but not obscene by any means. As she slowed down, it got better. I found the arrow, it had been snagged on brush and pulled out the exit hole. The arrow was not painted, and that gave me my first concern. I'm thinking one lung, liver, exit through guts possibly. The blood kept getting better, then it just stopped.



I marked last blood in fairly thick cover, and tried to grid slightly out in the direction she was headed. Nothing. Now I'm thinking maybe the hit wasn't as good as I thought and I don't want to bump her. At that point I had not jumped her. I backed out and decided to come back in the morning. I went to where I marked blood, continued to grid out in the direction she was headed, still no sign. The only thing I hadn't checked, what if she doubled back? Sure enough, I found blood.



It was fairly easy to follow, and I went maybe 25-30 yards and thought "I smell her." I smelled deer. A couple more steps, and I found her. One issue, someone else had found her first. Several someone else's, from the looks of it.



Coyotes did that in less than 12 hours. I was shocked, she was GONE. No meat was to be found or saved. You can see the entrance hole on the rib cage there. I hit her about where I thought I did. When she doubled back, I just couldn't figure that one out in the dark. I walked maybe 25 yards from her leaving the woods last night, and she died inside 60 yards from my Jeep. I spoke to the Athens County game warden because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to tag her or not. He said I was fine not tagging her because nothing was able to be saved from her.

So it's a weird start to the season. My setup was good. I got close, got drawn, executed a pretty good shot, did the smart thing (I think) when I lost blood, did find the deer...but come home empty handed. The song dogs ate well last night, that's for damn sure.
 
Last edited:

Creamer

Active Member
1,584
81
Athens
Holy smokes did they work her over!! Double backs on a night track are tough to find sometimes. You did what you could and have to leave it at that.

I've hunted that property for 5 years now, I think, but that's the first deer I've ever had to track in that direction. It's up towards the road and I don't really go up there much. I didn't realize in the dark that there was a natural travel route back in the direction she went after she stopped and turned back that led right back towards where she had originally come from before I shot her. It made more sense in the daylight. Had I gone shortest route back to the car I might have found her that night. I had left my arrow with lighted nock jabbed in the ground where the arrow had come out, went back to retrieve it, then went to the car. That meant I walked back past her to get my arrow, instead of taking the same hole through the brush back to the field that she took where she died.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
She wasn't wasted. You did the right thing all the way around. Sometimes nature just can't be beat.
This right here.

That's either a shit ton of yotes, or a handful of really hungry ones! Hard to imagine them treating an adult doe like a pack of wolves, so it's pretty eye-opening. Good write-up despite the final results. Time to get back in the saddle, pun intended 😂
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
I don’t think you did the wrong thing, Jeff. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Something we should all consider though, is whether the old “when in doubt back out” rule should continue to apply. More and more these days we see or hear of coyotes cleaning up a carcass in a matter of just hours. That was never the case during my younger years of deer hunting. I think maybe we should be a little more aggressive on our searches and not follow the traditional rules so much.
 

Creamer

Active Member
1,584
81
Athens
I don’t think you did the wrong thing, Jeff. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Something we should all consider though, is whether the old “when in doubt back out” rule should continue to apply. More and more these days we see or hear of coyotes cleaning up a carcass in a matter of just hours. That was never the case during my younger years of deer hunting. I think maybe we should be a little more aggressive on our searches and not follow the traditional rules so much.

An experience like this certainly makes you think twice. What was still fresh in my head, and helped sway my decision, was the first deer I shot with a recurve a couple of seasons back. Unsure of the hit (thinking it was back), but finding sign that led me to thinking she was hit better, I pressed on. I bumped that deer from her bed and never found another speck of blood, or the deer, knowing full well she was dead somewhere. I knew if I had been more patient and given her some time, I would have found her dead in that bed. Since I didn't see or hear this deer crash, and losing the blood trail, my immediate thought was "she might not be dead and I don't want to bump her."
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
An experience like this certainly makes you think twice. What was still fresh in my head, and helped sway my decision, was the first deer I shot with a recurve a couple of seasons back. Unsure of the hit (thinking it was back), but finding sign that led me to thinking she was hit better, I pressed on. I bumped that deer from her bed and never found another speck of blood, or the deer, knowing full well she was dead somewhere. I knew if I had been more patient and given her some time, I would have found her dead in that bed. Since I didn't see or hear this deer crash, and losing the blood trail, my immediate thought was "she might not be dead and I don't want to bump her."
Yea man, it’s a really tough call… especially with that particular case fresh in your memory. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
This right here.

That's either a shit ton of yotes, or a handful of really hungry ones! Hard to imagine them treating an adult doe like a pack of wolves, so it's pretty eye-opening. Good write-up despite the final results. Time to get back in the saddle, pun intended 😂
Not necessarily... coyotes will eat themselves full, slip off to a cache and regurgitate their meal. Return to the scene of the crime and do it all over again repeatedly. It does not take an entire pack to pick a carcass clean.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MoonLab and Creamer

OhioWhiteTails

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,482
191
Flatlands
Not necessarily... coyotes will eat themselves full, slip off to a cache and regurgitate their meal. Return to the scene of the crime and do it all over again repeatedly. It does not take an entire pack to pick a carcass clean.
I did not know this. So they will essentially stock pile regurgitated meals for later?