I'll try to tell the whole story now. It has been a good year but I have to honestly say I have not seen the numbers of deer that I usually do and Laura has yet to see one except for the one with the spike I shot on opening weekend.
I was hunting the same stand i shot the 10 pointer from. I am a stone's throw away from several homes in the neighborhood I used to live in before Laura and I married. The neighborhood is bordered by a huge swamp and my stand is in a narrow funnel between the houses and the swamp. I had gotten a new Cuddeback trail camera the week before and set it up for a couple of days just to see when the deer where showing up. As usual the date and time indicted right after dark which did not surprise me. Here's a pic of the buck and one of his buddies.
I decided that I needed to hunt the stand as the muzzleloaders and shotgunners push the deer into the swamp which no one hunts...it is called Dismal Swamp for a reason.
The evening hunt that I killed him on started off with a doe coming directly to the stand at about 4:15. It was a 12 yard shot and I simply was so confident that I neglectd to go thru my pre aiming sequence and proceeded to shoot right over her. She pranced to the edge of the swamp and continued feeding until she was out of sight. I got down and checked the arrow and it was clean. With enough shooting light left I got back into the stand to wait til quitting time.
A short while after getting resettled I heard a deer approaching from directily in back of me. I could barely see him over my left shoulder and if he proceeded to walk in a straight line he would walk past me on my left at about 10 yards so I did not even get up from my seat. However, he decided to walk uphill towards the houses for reasons I do not know and then he proceeded to come my way again but seemed happy feeding in back of me over my right shoulder. No shot possible and I was afraid to stand up at that point and risk spooking him.
While I was trying to decided what to do or for him to move another smaller buck showed up in front of me but kept himself safe by feeding in a dark patch where the fading light was a problem and he also seemed to know he was safe staying behing the oak trees between us. I decide I needed to make a move. I stood up and the smaller buck was startled and trotted off towards the swamp. The buck in back of me was still feeding in a well lit area. All I had to do was turn and shoot. Something happened as I turned and the buck started to run. He headed uphill a bit and turned to his left . Having just seen Barry Wensel on TV doing the "snort /wheeze" I had decided to try it next chance I got and this was it. I snort/wheezed and the buck locked up immediately at 15 yards, slightly uphill and broadside. The lighting was good enough and the lumenoked arrow disappeared right behind his shoulder. He ran for the swamp and I could hear him gurgling as he ran. Surprisingly I did not see him or hear him fall. I was puzzled about that. When I went to get the arrow and was surprised at not being able to find it I started to scratch my head. Since the swamp is what it is and I didn't want to disturb him or the homeowneres by roaming in back of their homes in the dark with flashlights I backed out til mornig light.
Next morning revealed no arrow at the spot he was standing and more surprisingly, no blood. I was thinking maybe I hit the shoulder and did not get any penetration but that just did not add up with what I saw. I followed what I knew his path to be and started to find drops of blood so I started to flag it with TP. About 80 yards from the shot I found the arrow which told me I had a dead deer on my hands.
About 20 yards from the arrow the blood just stopped. I obviously had no exit hole. I made circles for about 2 hours (I lost my watch in the process as the plastic band had been threatening to break...and it did). I went back to the arrow and could see that if he was going to go in a straight line he had decided not to enter the worst part of the swamp. My guess was he wasn't up to the rough going in there...hummocks, blow downs, muck holes, etc. The TP trail indicated a path on the edge where the traveling was easier and he was now walking. I lined up the trail on a distant tree about 200 yards away and started to walk a straight line sweeping the area in front of me for blood sign. After about 30 mins or so and finding no blood in 100 yards I decided to call Laura. I needed to know the time ( I had dentist appt.) and to update her on my progress. As I reached down into my cargo pant pocket to get the cell phone I looked down and saw 3 tiny specks of blood.My call to Laura was now to cancel the appt. and to tell her that I could be at this for a while but from the arrow I knew the deer was dead and I was not going to come home without him.
I kept in a straight line and about 30 yards later found a small speck of blood on a leaf. He had entered an area of marsh grass which afforded me two benfits...one was that the deer trails were more distinguishable and the height of the grass allowed blood smears to show up as he brushed against it. When I lost blood I would walk a trail until one of them showed some sign. At one point it disappeared again and 30 mins later only about 10 yards from the last blood I found another drop that indicated he had changed direction. He was headed into a brushy area that had a number of rubs in it and I ascertained it was his bedding area. I felt he couldn't be far. I saw a small bush with a reddish color on a number of branches. It didn't look like blood so I didn't take it seriously...it was more pinkish than red and looked like coloration on the bark. I circled the area sevral times only to wind up at the little bush each time. I decided to use the spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide I carry to distinguish blood from all the red you find in the fall woods. I sprayed the branch and it turned white! It was blood after all. A few minutes later I was standing over him. He had died in a positin that hid his head and I must have looked at him 2 or 3 times from about 20 yards thinking he was part of a blow down. He was very dark and gray and I thought her was an older deer. However, he is probably a 2.5 or 3.5 year old. His coloring was unusually gray and although he was not a monster buck Laura thought we should have him mounted. I should have taken his picture where he died but he was in a black muck hole and it took a while to get him out of that to a spot where I could field dress him. When that job was complete I went and got my game cart (at that point I felt it was the best investment I had ever made and recommend everyone buying/making one for such moments) and wheeled him back to my truck for the ride home.
The autopsy revealed a shot right behind his left shoulder, thru the lungs and stopping in the off shoulder. How he made it as far as he did surprises and baffles me. But to be perfectly honest, I am more pleased with the tracking job I did than on the shot. I don't think I could have hit him better and the job would have been much easier and quicker with an exit wound but I keep getting reminded that when you drop the string you have done everything you can and are giving up control of events at that point until you start tracking.
The very nature of Dismal Swamp (it is actually called that on an old topo map) has cost me a deer or two. Towards the center of it there is a good deal of standing water which does not lend itself to good blood trails. Having this guy mounted will always be a reminder of persistance and patience on a blood trail and he is, by far, my hardest earned trophy. The hunt for him would not at all be diminished if her were a 60# button buck or a yearling doe and I am very pleased to be able to share the recovery with all of you.
Topic: Another NH buck! (Read 4337 times)
