Nice buck, Jeff!
I am heartsick and defeated.
Let me give the full tale.
Last night at around 5:30PM – just as the sun went behind the West hill and with still 30 minutes of legal light I had a four-point approach my stand. This one is higher than I like, 18 feet to platform, but otherwise it was well placed – he was walking straight at me. Now, I know not to take frontal bow shots, I tell folks not to take frontal bow shots. When he stopped at 10 yards and tipped his head back to either eat some apple leaves (still green) or sniff for apples I had my bow up, the string back ¾ of the way and a lock on where I thought his heart would be. Suddenly I found myself at anchor and the arrow was away. Stupid. Poor decision, but it went straight and to the spot I was focused on. As he spun I saw 10 or so of arrow, meaning it was in 20” or so. He crashed off, I heard some wheezing , and them walking.
I gave it 20 minutes and lowered my bow and climbed down. I found a good bunch of hair on the ground, but no blood. After 20 feet or so I started to see blood and at 30 yards I found the last 8” of my arrow, with some blood on that. At 75 yards I found the two large pools – apparently where he stood while wheezing. When I looked down towards the creek where the blood trail went off the path through some thicker brush I saw him piled up against a tree 40 or so yards ahead with his head doubled back, and with my binocs I could see he was panting. “Hot Dog!” I thought, and backed away; figuring I’d go back to the house and get my wife (and tractor) to hold the flashlight while I cleaned him.
We were back after another half hour.
I ended up bringing the smaller garden tractor – the big tractor had a load of rocks on the carry-all – and my wife walked along ahead using the headlights to see. When I got about as close as I figured I could with the tractor I shut it off . . . and it gave a huge back-fire. "POOM!"
"Was that him" my wife asked.
"What do you mean?"
"A deer just jumped up and ran across the creek."
Sure enough – the spot he lay had a small amount of blood smeared around. Less than the earlier two pools. I also found another 14” of arrow shaft soaked with blood just into the brush past those two pooled spots.
The plan changed and we went back to the house and got additional (and brighter) flashlights. Though I have a Fenix PD30 (like the Wentzel’s Mainbeam) and that was doing fine. After another half hour had passed we picked up his trail on the far side of the creek. It was spotty – a drop every two feet. After 200 yards and a few zig-zags it was even further between drops. I’d get ahead 10 feet and when I found a drop my wife would bring up the drag rope (a system I found helps show trends). A couple time I spiraled when the trail stopped and picked it up little further on.
By 9:10 PM we were stymied (I’m what the doc. called “color deficient”) and THE ADMIRAL was beside me scanning by then. I marked the last blood spot by tying my drag over it and I decided to pick it up again in the AM.
6:00 AM today (having remembered to set our clocks) I headed out and, by good light, I was back at the last spot. I spiraled, I did a grid, I got my head down near the ground and looked for disturbed leaves. Sure enough, in spite of our prior walking around, there seemed to be a deer’s path. I went along and started to fan side to side a bit. Found a single drip of blood on a birch root. He’d headed up hill. Again, after that single drop, nothing. I started spiraling, nothing. I want back and crawled around, noting more leaves were falling and the wind was blowing the nice big beech leaves over and around. And by now the squirrels were helping as well.
I tried a “connect the dots” and went out a ways in the direction the buck had last taken – nothing after more than 100 feet. I went back and tried a bigger spiral. At about 80 yards out(!) I found a spot with six drops and another couple further past – but perpendicular to the last line. So, I didn’t know if he was going East or West. I tried West first, as that was how he was trending. Nothing. Then East. Also nothing. More spirals, fans, I walked a grid. Nothing. I found that it was hard to see ahead when facing the sun, but looking into the wood with the sun at my back allowed me to glass around. So I had an idea.
I went down to the stream (now about 300 yards upstream of where he crossed, and did a flat, 100 yard wide zig-zag back towards the last spot just looking for a body or any blood. Nothing. So I continued on up to the top of the hill (1/2 mile from the house – which is 250 yards from my stand). Nothing. By now I’m pretty discouraged and have been looking for six hours. I started a walk along a power-line right of way that passes along roughly East to West – figuring the grass might show if he doubled back that way. When I got to the stream I moved south 50 yards and went back to the top of the property. I repeated this for the rest of the afternoon and by 5:00 I had swept my property and two of the neighbors. (The original farm was ½ mile square and divided into five strips for the five kids. I did four of these strips in what are the “wooded” sections or these properties West of the ravine/creek before light failed. Found two rubs, seven or eight scrapes. Bones from a long dead deer; but nothing of the one I wanted.
So, I’ve learned a lesson I already knew about not taking frontal shots. Looking at an anatomy drawing I thing I went below the heart and hit nothing major. All told I'd say there was a pint of blood, mostly in the two pools at 75 yards. Maybe I nicked a vein or artery, but it certainly wasn't the heart. I did find one bit of frothy pink blood just across the stream. Barring infection he may recover - I'll just never know.
I’m mad at myself and heartbroken.
Topic: Good Luck NY Bowhunters (Read 21425 times)
