Well let me set the stage with a layout of what happened. It is a little long but I need to let it out to people who understand.
I went in on Thursday morning to a tree stand set up in the corner of a corn field were the deer like to cross to there beds. The weather was okay, no rain and a slight breeze. I set up and waited for light. As the dawn came so did the rain, light at first but then heavier as time passed along with strong gusting winds, not the best for being in a tree stand. I sat until I could sit no longer in the pouring rain/snow mix. It was 7:45 AM and I decided it would be a good time for a still hunt. I climbed down and headed up into a scrub cedar area that the deer like to cross in the morning, the wind wouldn’t be so bad there. I moved quickly into the area and then slowed to a snails pace moving 10 yards then stopping for a look and listen. I had moved about 60 yards and was just starting to move again when a movement to my left caught my eye, it was a deer, but not just any deer it was the big buck I had seen Monday night at a distance. I don’t know how many points he had but I knew he was big and the white rack he wore was tall, wide and heavy. I stopped as he moved out of the bush, he then stopped as if to know something was wrong he then started to move faster and away from me, I pulled the shotgun and bleated at him to stop him, the next thing in knew the shotgun went off and the buck went down. I stood watching for a second, he didn’t move I then looked down at the spent shell that seemed to come out of the gun strangely, when I looked back at the deer he was getting up, I pulled the gun up again but he managed to get behind some brush, I let him move forward trying to get a shot, he finally stopped behind a cedar tree where I thought he was going down. I waited with the gun ready looking through the scope in case he came out, and he did, I had a good line on him and pulled the trigger, or should I say tried to pull the trigger, the gun had jammed, all I could do was watch as he went out of sight into the thick brush heading for the cedar swamp, I was devastated
. An inspection of the sight showed only grey hair with absolutely no blood, fat, tissue or body contents. I started a circle to see if I could cut him off with no luck. I spent the next 2.5 hours doing a grid search with no luck. I went home and called my partner Simon for help, he showed up with his oldest son and the three of us spent the rest of the day doing grid searches though the swamp, brush and tall grass/scrub cedar. We could find nothing, no sign of any kind and no deer. I cannot figure out what happened, this deer went down and didn’t move and to only find hair with no other sign
Anyway I stayed home today for a break, I will go back with the bow on Sunday but needed a break and a place to release.Thanks for reading.
