This story is a little long in the telling, but I hope it will be worth your time to read. I had an experience this past Sunday that re-taught some very valuable lessons for me, and maybe they can help you as well.
This past Sunday morning I had the chance I had been waiting for. A very nice buck was cruising down one of the trails I was watching. As he came broadside in a shooting lane he obligingly stopped and posed for me. I drew and sent the arrow on its way, only to be sickened by a sharp "crack" as it hit high with very little penetration.
The buck dashed about twenty yards and stopped to look around to see what had happened. I could see the arrow shaft laying on the ground halfway between us. He was maybe 30 yards away at this point but no chance for a clear follow up shot. With my binoculars I could see the spot of the hit high on his shoulder, but could see no blood at the wound site.
He slowly worked his way down wind of me, and actually started to come closer again. I thought for a minute I might get another chance. But eventually he turned and walked off in the direction he had originally been heading.
After a half hour wait I got down to go check my arrow. As I expected, penetration was poor. The brass insert was bent but still attached to the shaft, and the broadhead (Wensel Woodsman) had snapped off. I assumed it was still in the deer. There was moisture and a few specs of blood approximately 4" up on the shaft. Add the length of the broadhead itself and we have maybe 6" of penetration.
In thinking about the shot itself, I don't believe that I reached full draw before releasing. That is a common struggle for me, and it causes two big problems. When I short draw I tend to shoot high. Arrow flight is poor and of course there is less momentum behind it, so penetration is poor.
I was convinced that I had hit the shoulder blade. There was absolutely no blood on the ground. In my mind the best senario I could think of was maybe somehow the broadhead had been able to get deep enough to affect one lung. But in reality I was pretty well convinced that the wound was superficial and the buck was none the worse for the wear.
I climbed back into my stand and gave it another couple of hours. Then I gradually worked my way through the woods in the direction he had gone, checking trails and hoping for a speck of blood, as well as hoping against hope that he might have bedded before going too far.
After a thorough search of the area without a clue I had given up and headed back toward the cabin, sick with the knowledge that I had lost a wounded deer. Suddenly to my left a deer jumped from its bed and bounded 10 yards before stopping. It was him!
He stopped behind a couple of large trees which prevented me from seeing him well, but I thought I caught a glimpse of him staggering sideways as if he was off balance a bit. After a 10 miinute face off he slowly wandered away from me again, and I backed out. Before leaving I did ease into the bed he had vacated, but found only a tiny spec of blood.
I couldn't be positive about the stagger when he jumped to his feet, but it gave me hope. If he really did do that it could only mean that he was hurt worse than I thought, and maybe I still had a chance.
I debated whether to leave him overnight or try to go after him that afternoon. Temperatures were mid 50's during the day and would cool overnight, but I worried that if he had died shortly after I had jumped him the meat might not be good. I decided to wait as long as I could that day and go in with a few hours of daylight left to ease slowly through the most likely spots he could have stopped. If I didn't find him then I would come back in the morning for a more thorough grid search of the area.
I found nothing where I had last seen him. I eased over the top of a hill with the thought to circle in front of his last direction of travel. As I came over the crest a patch of white in the raspberry bushes drew my attention, and the binoculars confirmed it was him! I could see his head on the ground, but as I eased toward him there was a small movement of a leg. He was still alive but just barely, and a finishing arrow ended it quickly.
Topic: Lessons From A Buck (Read 2535 times)
