bigten05
*Supporting Member*
I took a walk last weekend saw 3 bucks with both sides still so I will wait a few more weeks before I go again.
Shed season 25'
- Thread starter giles
- Start date
- 25,285
- 261
Looks to me that the smaller lighter colored piece is the main beam piece that broke off the bigger main part of the shed in his hand.
- 25,285
- 261
One horn. Hit by a mower and bent over but still hanging together when I picked it up.
Bowhunter57
Senior Member
Found him....and wish I could've found him back in December. 
Biggest buck I've ever shot with my Ruger 450 Bushmaster. He hid himself, very well and a lot closer to my house than I would've possibly imagined. Makes me sick, but at least I found him and can put the rest of the story to rest.
I attempted to reassemble him as best as I could, but his legs with the hooves were missing....I assume coyotes.
Biggest buck I've ever shot with my Ruger 450 Bushmaster. He hid himself, very well and a lot closer to my house than I would've possibly imagined. Makes me sick, but at least I found him and can put the rest of the story to rest.I attempted to reassemble him as best as I could, but his legs with the hooves were missing....I assume coyotes.
Wiley E Coyote
Active Member
Glad you recovered him! Do you mean December 2023?
Congratulations on closing the book on him but dang, you have a serious squirrel population problem.
Typically most deadheads I find aren’t gnawed on if they’re less than a year or two old but will get sun bleached if they’re out in open. IMO
Typically most deadheads I find aren’t gnawed on if they’re less than a year or two old but will get sun bleached if they’re out in open. IMO
Big_Holla
Senior Member
Man what a buck. At least you know what happened to him. Those squirrels sure did a number on him.
Bowhunter57
Senior Member
@Wiley E Coyote
Nope, it was this past December, mid-week, the 4th if I recall.
I hit him head on in the brisket, favoring the right side, at 25 yards and he went down hard. Then he got back up, ran into the woods that I was standing in and fell again. It was very thick and I was attempting to get a second shot, when he fell a third time and rolled over a log, got back up and ran another 30ish yards and fell a 4th time and slammed into another downed log. He actually pushed that log a couple of feet, but got back up and took off running hard into the thickest part of the woods. I was stunned that he kept getting back up as I was watching his rack thru the brush and then he fell a 5th time.
I waited an hour an a half, before tracking him....blood trail tracked him, along with scuff marks in the leaves. He went a solid 160 yards, before the blood and scuff marks disappeared. I left the woods and came back to look around, at 4 p.m. and never found him. According to where I found him, today, I had to walk within 30 yards of where he hid himself. Until this event, I've never had any animal walk off, after being his with this 450 BM. A second shot and/or better first shot placement would've made the difference. However, as we all know.... "shoulda woulda coulda in one hand and a doughnut in the other, and you've got breakfast". Live and learn.
@Big_Holla
Yeppers, there's a silly amount of squirrels in this woods. Greys, blacks (same family), fox and red squirrels. My neighbor hunts this same woods with me and he took a day off of hunting deer with his longbow, to bring his suppressed 22 and had his limit of squirrels, within 45 minutes. I was hunting that same area the very next day and you'd never have known that any squirrels were missing.
Nope, it was this past December, mid-week, the 4th if I recall.
I hit him head on in the brisket, favoring the right side, at 25 yards and he went down hard. Then he got back up, ran into the woods that I was standing in and fell again. It was very thick and I was attempting to get a second shot, when he fell a third time and rolled over a log, got back up and ran another 30ish yards and fell a 4th time and slammed into another downed log. He actually pushed that log a couple of feet, but got back up and took off running hard into the thickest part of the woods.
I was stunned that he kept getting back up as I was watching his rack thru the brush and then he fell a 5th time.I waited an hour an a half, before tracking him....blood trail tracked him, along with scuff marks in the leaves. He went a solid 160 yards, before the blood and scuff marks disappeared. I left the woods and came back to look around, at 4 p.m. and never found him. According to where I found him, today, I had to walk within 30 yards of where he hid himself.
Until this event, I've never had any animal walk off, after being his with this 450 BM. A second shot and/or better first shot placement would've made the difference. However, as we all know.... "shoulda woulda coulda in one hand and a doughnut in the other, and you've got breakfast". Live and learn. @Big_Holla
Yeppers, there's a silly amount of squirrels in this woods. Greys, blacks (same family), fox and red squirrels. My neighbor hunts this same woods with me and he took a day off of hunting deer with his longbow, to bring his suppressed 22 and had his limit of squirrels, within 45 minutes.
I was hunting that same area the very next day and you'd never have known that any squirrels were missing. 
Darn nice buck. Sorry to see him not recovered until now. Any thoughts of having a taxidermist repair the antlers?
Bowhunter57
Senior Member
I'm already looking into it. I've even given thought to doing it myself, but I'd rather someone with experience did it right.