Going to be a long night.

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theoldarcher
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Going to be a long night.

Post by theoldarcher »

I got a chance to slip into the woods this afternoon about 5 o’clock to do a little hunting before dark. It has been raining here since late last night and the rain finally broke this evening. I figured the deer would be moving close to dark after raining all day.

After getting to my area I set up and waited. Just like I thought about 20 minuets before dark, I saw a doe walking along a fence line about 60 yards out heading toward a group of oaks. The doe stopped, looking toward the oaks and I spotted another doe coming out of the thick stuff behind the oaks with a yearling in tow. They all three met up just about dead in front of me and mingled for a minuet or two with each other.

Then the one with the yearling turned and headed straight for me. She closed the distance to within twenty yards and gave me a good clean broadside shot. I put the fiber optic sight right behind her shoulder and started to squeeze the trigger, when she must have caught my movement and turned as I shot. I heard the hit and I knew by the sound of it that it wasn’t going to be good. She turned abruptly and ran back toward the thick stuff behind the oaks from where she had come from in the first place.

I knew when she hit the tangles it was going to be a long night when she failed to lay down or fall. Light was getting dim by this time so I called my wife and had her get my two little trackers (daughters) to bring my flashlight and backpack with my roll of florescent tape to mark the trail so I could start trying to find her.

About 35 minuets later my two daughters came trudging up the hill and met me. My youngest daughter spotted the arrow on the ground and it confirmed what I already feared, gut shot. While we were standing there looking at the arrow, I caught movement heading toward us. The yearling that had been with the doe was coming back trying to find the doe. I thought for a minuet that the yearling was going to come right up to us, but it stopped at about 15 feet and just looked at us. My daughters were about to come unglued at the fact that the yearling was that close. Of course, I had left my Phoenix leaned up against the tree where I had been sitting so all we could do was set there and stare back at her. It finally figured out that something wasn't right and ran off.

After the girls got their composer back after the encounter with the yearling, we started tying to track the doe I had shot, but no blood could be found. I could see spots of bile where she was spilling out as she ran away but never could come up with any blood. After about 45 minuets of being unsuccessful finding blood I figured that the best thing to do was to quit before we bumped her up. I had no choice but to give up and try again in the morning at first light. I’m praying that the rain stays away over night so that maybe I can pick up her trail in the morning and find her.
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fratri
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by fratri »

good luck, hope you find her.
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j.krug
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by j.krug »

I hope the weather holds off and you're able to find her this morning. Good luck.
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Crispy
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by Crispy »

Good luck on finding your doe, keep us updated
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wabi
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by wabi »

Hope you can find her this morning.
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agingcrossbower
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by agingcrossbower »

Thats a tough one. Good luck to you.
Riflemanz
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by Riflemanz »

Never track a gut shot deer right away.They will lay down if not pushed.Hope you find her.
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BigNasty
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by BigNasty »

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Last edited by BigNasty on Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
theoldarcher
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by theoldarcher »

Well it’s a sad ending to this hunt. I went back at first light this morning in hopes of recovering the doe from last night. I ended up tracking on my hands and knees until lunch time with no results. I did manage to find where she had bedded down for a while though; bile and just a little blood were in the bed but literally nothing else from there. I would just as soon not see anything at all as to make a shot that resulted in this type of situation.
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by fujimo »

Happens to the best of us bro. And its always a bummer. But there is a lot of other critters out there that will really appreciate it.
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agingcrossbower
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by agingcrossbower »

This sort of thing happens. You gave it your all and thats all a person can do. I know its a hard thing to swallow but it happens. Forged ahead.
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wabi
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by wabi »

Sorry to hear you didn't find her, but as was said - it happens.
Sounds like you did all you could to recover her but sometimes it just doesn't work out to a perfect ending.
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Doe Master
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by Doe Master »

I`m going to be the eternal optimist . Maybe she was not that badly hit and will survive . :)
Last edited by Doe Master on Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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j.krug
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by j.krug »

Sorry to her you didn't find her. I was thinking the same thing as Doe Master! You never know? :)
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tat4life
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Re: Going to be a long night.

Post by tat4life »

Riflemanz wrote:Never track a gut shot deer right away.They will lay down if not pushed.Hope you find her.
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