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Recovery videos

Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
1,776
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Linn County Iowa
This thread is meant for posting recovery videos. I know most folks are more concerned with trying to get the kill shot on video, but I think recovery videos are just as much fun to remember as you can re-live the walk up and re-experience the emotion. They are a bit easier to capture also!

I’ve only got three recoveries on video, so need to be a bit more diligent in remembering to capture the moment. I’ll post them and their associated stories in the order they happened.

This first one is from the biggest whitetail I have taken. It was the fall of 2010 and we had been watching this deer for three years. The first year we assumed he was a 2 year old in the high 130s/low 140s. The following year he exploded into a mid-170s 3 year old and we gave him the name ‘Frankenstein’. He was pretty core to the farm so we decided to pass him that year. Glad we did as he survived and looked to be over 200 that fall.

It was November 2nd and I had taken the day off work. I had hunted that morning (can’t remember what stand) and headed back out around 1pm for the afternoon sit. It was a real goofy wind that day as it was blowing directly out of the east. We of course don’t have many sets for that wind, so with my limited choices I decided to do something completely different than what I usually do. During the rut I typically like to sit in the timber in a well known travel area or pinch point to catch cruising bucks. But this day I grabbed the decoy (I never hunt with a decoy…) and decided to sit in a stand we had set on the west side of one our food plots in hopes a buck up on his feet may see it from across the field and come to check it out.

The first action for me that day was around 2 when my buddy who had worked that morning passed by me on his quad while heading to the stand he was going to sit in at the back of the farm. He stopped as he passed, we chatted from 22 feet away for a bit, and he moved on.

It was a few hours later when I heard what sounded like a deer approaching from the edge of the timber to my right. I stood up and grabbed my bow for whatever might happen next. A few seconds later I saw a good buck step from the timber at about 45 yards and start to stare at the decoy. I raised my binos to check him out and saw a forked G2. My first thought was it was a buck we called ‘the forked G2 10’ who was on our pass list. But then upon a second look I realized it was Franky. And he was just staring at the damn decoy! I immediately wanted to kick myself for bringing it as I assumed he was going to freak out and haul ass. But boy was I wrong! After a couple minutes he lowered and cocked his head, laid his ears back, bristled all up, started licking his nose, and began stiff-stepping right towards the decoy which was only 15 yards in front of me. I was like ‘this is going to happen!’ He was so focused on the deek that I think I could have started playing a drum set in the tree and it would not have mattered. I drew and he stopped just a couple steps from the deek. He was broadside and quartering away ever so slightly. I released and the shot looked perfect. He immediately took off directly away from me, but I could see the arrow sticking waaaay out of him! Like it was only in a few inches. He ran about 10 yards straight away, turned right and basically did a semi-circle and ran back into the timber pretty close to where he had come from. I sat quietly and heard the tell-tail crash of a deer falling maybe 10 to 20 seconds later. I was like HOLY SHIT!

I immediately called my buddy and said ‘I just shot Franky!’ He could tell by my voice that I was not messing around and he said ‘I’m coming right over!’

I got down and he showed up about 15 minutes later. You will see in the video we took to the track right away since I had heard him fall, but I stopped and asked if we should wait a bit longer. He turned the cam off at that point, but we proceeded towards the edge of the timber where we could see his belly and that is when he turned the cam back on.

We did send the teeth in and confirmed he was 4. The shot was perfect (actually went through the middle of the heart) and hit the offside shoulder. The arrow was sticking way out as it had pushed out as soon as he started to run. The Thunderhead remained in his offside shoulder. I have never had him officially scored, but the average of the 3 folks who have measured him comes to 215 gross. Deductions against the typical frame are around 10 inches, so he would net ~205 non-typical. Field dressed at 216lbs.

The videos start with the overall view from the stand, my buddy arriving for his hunt, then the recovery. Now join me for one of the best hunting days of my life! Hope you enjoy it.

And please post up any of your recoveries. Ones with kids are the best!





 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Great concept for a thread. Never put much thought into it. You definitely started it off right! That is an awesome deer Larry!
 
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Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
This thread is meant for posting recovery videos. I know most folks are more concerned with trying to get the kill shot on video, but I think recovery videos are just as much fun to remember as you can re-live the walk up and re-experience the emotion. They are a bit easier to capture also!

I’ve only got three recoveries on video, so need to be a bit more diligent in remembering to capture the moment. I’ll post them and their associated stories in the order they happened.

This first one is from the biggest whitetail I have taken. It was the fall of 2010 and we had been watching this deer for three years. The first year we assumed he was a 2 year old in the high 130s/low 140s. The following year he exploded into a mid-170s 3 year old and we gave him the name ‘Frankenstein’. He was pretty core to the farm so we decided to pass him that year. Glad we did as he survived and looked to be over 200 that fall.

It was November 2nd and I had taken the day off work. I had hunted that morning (can’t remember what stand) and headed back out around 1pm for the afternoon sit. It was a real goofy wind that day as it was blowing directly out of the east. We of course don’t have many sets for that wind, so with my limited choices I decided to do something completely different than what I usually do. During the rut I typically like to sit in the timber in a well known travel area or pinch point to catch cruising bucks. But this day I grabbed the decoy (I never hunt with a decoy…) and decided to sit in a stand we had set on the west side of one our food plots in hopes a buck up on his feet may see it from across the field and come to check it out.

The first action for me that day was around 2 when my buddy who had worked that morning passed by me on his quad while heading to the stand he was going to sit in at the back of the farm. He stopped as he passed, we chatted from 22 feet away for a bit, and he moved on.

It was a few hours later when I heard what sounded like a deer approaching from the edge of the timber to my right. I stood up and grabbed my bow for whatever might happen next. A few seconds later I saw a good buck step from the timber at about 45 yards and start to stare at the decoy. I raised my binos to check him out and saw a forked G2. My first thought was it was a buck we called ‘the forked G2 10’ who was on our pass list. But then upon a second look I realized it was Franky. And he was just staring at the damn decoy! I immediately wanted to kick myself for bringing it as I assumed he was going to freak out and haul ass. But boy was I wrong! After a couple minutes he lowered and cocked his head, laid his ears back, bristled all up, started licking his nose, and began stiff-stepping right towards the decoy which was only 15 yards in front of me. I was like ‘this is going to happen!’ He was so focused on the deek that I think I could have started playing a drum set in the tree and it would not have mattered. I drew and he stopped just a couple steps from the deek. He was broadside and quartering away ever so slightly. I released and the shot looked perfect. He immediately took off directly away from me, but I could see the arrow sticking waaaay out of him! Like it was only in a few inches. He ran about 10 yards straight away, turned right and basically did a semi-circle and ran back into the timber pretty close to where he had come from. I sat quietly and heard the tell-tail crash of a deer falling maybe 10 to 20 seconds later. I was like HOLY SHIT!

I immediately called my buddy and said ‘I just shot Franky!’ He could tell by my voice that I was not messing around and he said ‘I’m coming right over!’

I got down and he showed up about 15 minutes later. You will see in the video we took to the track right away since I had heard him fall, but I stopped and asked if we should wait a bit longer. He turned the cam off at that point, but we proceeded towards the edge of the timber where we could see his belly and that is when he turned the cam back on.

We did send the teeth in and confirmed he was 4. The shot was perfect (actually went through the middle of the heart) and hit the offside shoulder. The arrow was sticking way out as it had pushed out as soon as he started to run. The Thunderhead remained in his offside shoulder. I have never had him officially scored, but the average of the 3 folks who have measured him comes to 215 gross. Deductions against the typical frame are around 10 inches, so he would net ~205 non-typical. Field dressed at 216lbs.

The videos start with the overall view from the stand, my buddy arriving for his hunt, then the recovery. Now join me for one of the best hunting days of my life! Hope you enjoy it.

And please post up any of your recoveries. Ones with kids are the best!







Awesome Whitetail Deer Harvest (y)

Congratulations & I appreciate you sharing, thanks!
 
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Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
191
Ross County, Ohio
Here’s one…

Here’s a recovery of a Missouri youth that lost his dad the year before in the line of duty (Police Officer) that I took bow hunting for his first Whitetail Deer back in 2016.

I took him and his guardian out for a four-day Whitetail Archery Hunt at my place.
20161103_152831_001.jpg


His very first sit, he got to see his very first Ohio mature buck within 40 yards during his first 30 minutes.

I put him on deer every day, however he just couldn’t close the deal for several different reasons.

One of those reason was because he was sound asleep at the time two deer, a real nice buck included, walked right underneath us during his third morning hunt. It was a real cold morning and I could tell he was tired from the get go before we even headed out that morning.

On his last morning hunt, (which he had to get it done because his flight was scheduled in the afternoon to take him back home), it was extremely foggy and very cool temperatures.

Shortly after sun-up, I did a few buck grunt calls and a little bit of rattling. It wasn’t even two minutes afterwards when I heard tree thrashing, twig snapping and leaf crunching coming straight at us quickly.

Sure enough, two mature bucks showed up chasing a small button buck, that I thought was a doe at the time.

When I kind of yelled down loudly to the youth from my tree stand above him, the two bigger bucks heard me and stopped in their tracks approximately 45 yards to our north, while the button buck continued, then stopped approximately 20 yards closer to us.

I watched the two larger bucks continue heading away from us slowly after a few minutes standing there as the young button quickly walked right past our best shooting lane headed south.

I told the youth to hold off on his shot because I knew the deer was going to turn back around to head towards the other deer he was originally with, and sure enough, that’s exactly what he did.

As the deer turned as started headed right back towards the direction he originally came from, I told the youth to get ready.

As the deer walked slowly, I called the ranges out for the youth man in a quite voice – 45,40,35,30.

When the deer reached the ‘Pine Licking Branch’, approximately 25 yards away, our best window ‘TOO’, I told the youth to go ahead and take him.

And that – he did! I even yelled, “YES!” on impact :LOL:

I watched the arrow hit right behind the shoulder while the deer stood perfectly broadside for the youngster.

He put a great shot on that deer that’s for sure!

Then I watched the deer quickly spin around and headed away from us, right towards the bottom CRP field at the speed of light.

I watched the deer entirely, right up until he finally crashed approximately 100 yards away from us.

I was ecstatic for the young man and I could tell he was very thrilled ‘TOO’.
20161107_071230.jpg


We waited for approximately 30 minutes before we climbed down and after we texted my other guest of what took place.

The rest is self explanatory in the following video regarding the recovery, field dressing and dragging of his deer harvest. (It's a raw unedited video, so please keep that in mind.)

I couldn’t have been prouder of him.
20161107_080112.jpg


That was his very first Whitetail Deer Harvest. He did everything right that morning. Memories for life!
DSC_0029.JPG


He's a deer hunter for life now and the following season he got to harvest his very first big buck in his home state with a rifle.
IMG_20571[1].jpg
 
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OhioWhiteTails

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,482
191
Flatlands
Awesome idea for a thread Larry! Great buck TOO by the way, that's going to be tough to beat. Well, maybe not for you..:cool:

Denny- Great story and well done on getting the young man outdoors. I'd definitely say he's hooked now.

Cool footage TC, I'm sure you'll have another recovery or two to add this year :cool:.
 

Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
1,776
85
Linn County Iowa
This one is from November 8th 2012. It was a morning hunt and I was in one of the best stands on the farm. We call it ‘The Peninsula Stand’ as it is on the north end of about an 80 acre peninsula where it necks down to 100 yards wide or so (between the river and a backwater). It is a great pinch point to sit in during rut.

There was constant movement pretty much all morning. Over along the river I could see a deer we called Ape-hangers who had a doe pinned down. He was an 8 point with big matching flyers off his G2s that looked like handle bars, and he was constantly chasing small bucks away.

Around 9am I heard a deer coming from behind me on my downwind side. I looked and saw a deer we called ‘R9’. Although he was a mainframe 12, we had named him the prior year when he as a 9 point with the G4 being on his right side. He was standing in my wind at about 30 yards and offered no shot. He was pretty focused on a small buck who was out in front of me and probably didn’t move for close to 5 minutes. He finally started towards the small buck and I shot him quartering away at about 15 yards as he passed me. The shot entered his left side at about his last rib. He took off back the way he came and stopped at about 30 yards directly behind my tree. I assumed he was going to tip over, but he didn’t. I raised my binos and could see some blood dripping down his right leg. After a few minutes he walked away and disappeared into some tall, thick grassy cover.

I then called my hunting buddy who was out of town on travel for work and told him what had just happened. As I was on the phone I heard a chase coming from the north. I hung up and grabbed my camera. It ended up being a 6 year old buck we called Holyfield (due to a torn ear) who was pretty much a ghost on the farm although it was his core area. He had a beautiful chocolate rack and an offered me every shot a bow hunter could ask for. He is lucky I do not hunt like Chris Brackett. He ended up leaving his doe and wondered off towards Ape-hangers direction.

I climbed down and called a couple buddies to see if they wanted to help track. We picked up the track after lunch as I assumed he was dead due to where I had hit him. Well, about 10 yards into the track job I looked up and saw him walking away….. My buddy got it on video and we were pretty sure he had bedded down, so we backed out and came back the next morning. As it turned out, he hadn’t bedded where we thought, but it was rather a little drop he had walked down that made it look like he had. I found him about 10 minutes after we spread out and started basically doing a grid search.

The first 3 videos are what I captured of Holyfield, then R9 walking away after we bumped him, and finally a video after we found him.





 
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Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
1,776
85
Linn County Iowa
I have a recent one to share.
This is from 12-23-18. Late muzzy opened 12-17 and the 23rd was the first day I could get my daughter Shea out. I had got her a LM doe tag and was super excited to get out since getting her buck during youth season.
IMG_9793.JPG

This doe and her yearlings were the first ones on the scene. She put a real nice shot on her and the 290 T-EZ did the job.



IMG_9801.JPG


Thought I would include these also. No recover video, but what the hell.
These 2 does are from last Wednesday, 1-2-19. My buddy shot the first and dropped her where she stood.
About 40 minutes later we had another 30 or so back in the field and I shot one of the other does. If you look to the right as she is finishing her death run you can see a good part of the remaining gang getting out of dodge.



IMG_9824.JPG
 
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