2016 Buck Hunt
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
2016 Buck Hunt
It was not a wise shot to take. I knew it wasnt, but this was the first buck I had gotten in range all season and time was running out. I wasnt going to let him get away.
It was December 9th in Ontario, which means it was muzzleloader season. There was fresh snow on the ground and it was cold. I had spent a lot of time hunting with my Exocet and had seen a number of does but with no tag they were just a tease, a reminder that there must be bucks out there somewhere. I had seen, and spooked, a small buck early in the season as I shifted my weight while he was in my sights. So close. Now I had another target: a good looking ten point. The only ten point I have ever seen. And I had a muzzleloader, and he was close.
He came from back to my left around 30 yards away. The woods were dead silent, but I didnt hear him coming. I dont know how he wasnt crunching through the snow, but I moved my eyes left and I saw him there, standing still, lookiing straight in front of himself. I didnt take the time to size up his antlers just yet. I just knew there were big, and I got excited. I had a few minutes of light left, but not enough that I wanted to wait around too long.
The longest minute I have ever experienced dragged on, and finally he moved. He snorted once and began to walk forwards. 50 yards. I drew the muzzeloader up from my lap and before I got him in the crosshairs, he cut left and began to run in great bounds directly towards the closest woods, only 20 yards away. He had sensed danger. At some point since our encounter began I had dropped the primer safety to expose the primer cap to the hammer. Maybe thats what spooked him. I continued to follow him in the scope, not wanting to take a shot at a running deer. I switched the safety off out of habit, and I felt helpless as he ran to the safety of the cedars.
He entered the cedars and stopped in partial cover. He was quartering away from me and I had a clear view of his upper shoulders and head, and his rear half. He looked back at me, directly down the scope, as if to say Not this time. The only part of him that was concealed was his vital area, but I knew where it was. 80 yards. It was not a wise shot, but at only 80 yards, I took it. And he ran.
My dad picked me up from the stand about five minutes later. I wanted to go look for the deer right away, but he made me wait half an hour. We got our flashlights and I showed him the tracks where the deer was walking, then where he ran to the cedars, then where I shot him, and where he began to run again. Tracking was easy in the fresh snow. There was no blood at all.
"Musta missed him," my dad said. "Nah, no way," I felt confident that I had him him. So we tracked him further in to the woods. About 50 yards in we found a place where the buck and stumbled. About 100 yards in we found a spot where he had laid down in the snow and emptied his bowels. Still no blood. We went further, and further... 200 yards. We heard russling ahead, so we stopped and went back to the car and waited another half hour before continuing.
Back in the woods we went, in the cold and the dark, to find this injured lad. A couple times we caught up to him and heard him crashing away and we werr worried that we were pushing him farther. We still had not seen him, but the tracks were good and we knew he was there and that he was injured.
"Gut shot," my dad said, "damn." We now had a choice to make: wait until tomorrow and see if we can find him in the morning, or find him now and finish him off. A choice of morality and ethics vs law.
GAME WARDENS STOP READING HERE.
I followed the now well-beaten trail back to the car and got the gun. About a hundred yards farther in to the woods we found the buck laying down. His head was up and he looked at me from only about 20 yards away as I finished him off. Then began the long carry back to the car... my resourceful dad hog-tied him to a fallen cedar trunk so we could share the weight easier, and we trudged through the woods like hunter-gatherers of old, brandishing our bounty together.
This is the first time I have shot at a deer and not had a clean hit. I got lucky and found the animal before the coyotes, but without the fresh snow I would never have found him. It appears the first shot I took struck the buck in the head, about half an inch below the left eye, and exited a little farther forward on the right side of his head. The other side of the skull is a mess. The buck likely would have lived for days in this condition, unable to eat or scent predators, and I am grateful that I was able to find and finish him in a timely manner.
After this experience, I will not take similar shots in the future.
Here is the mount I made from him:
It was December 9th in Ontario, which means it was muzzleloader season. There was fresh snow on the ground and it was cold. I had spent a lot of time hunting with my Exocet and had seen a number of does but with no tag they were just a tease, a reminder that there must be bucks out there somewhere. I had seen, and spooked, a small buck early in the season as I shifted my weight while he was in my sights. So close. Now I had another target: a good looking ten point. The only ten point I have ever seen. And I had a muzzleloader, and he was close.
He came from back to my left around 30 yards away. The woods were dead silent, but I didnt hear him coming. I dont know how he wasnt crunching through the snow, but I moved my eyes left and I saw him there, standing still, lookiing straight in front of himself. I didnt take the time to size up his antlers just yet. I just knew there were big, and I got excited. I had a few minutes of light left, but not enough that I wanted to wait around too long.
The longest minute I have ever experienced dragged on, and finally he moved. He snorted once and began to walk forwards. 50 yards. I drew the muzzeloader up from my lap and before I got him in the crosshairs, he cut left and began to run in great bounds directly towards the closest woods, only 20 yards away. He had sensed danger. At some point since our encounter began I had dropped the primer safety to expose the primer cap to the hammer. Maybe thats what spooked him. I continued to follow him in the scope, not wanting to take a shot at a running deer. I switched the safety off out of habit, and I felt helpless as he ran to the safety of the cedars.
He entered the cedars and stopped in partial cover. He was quartering away from me and I had a clear view of his upper shoulders and head, and his rear half. He looked back at me, directly down the scope, as if to say Not this time. The only part of him that was concealed was his vital area, but I knew where it was. 80 yards. It was not a wise shot, but at only 80 yards, I took it. And he ran.
My dad picked me up from the stand about five minutes later. I wanted to go look for the deer right away, but he made me wait half an hour. We got our flashlights and I showed him the tracks where the deer was walking, then where he ran to the cedars, then where I shot him, and where he began to run again. Tracking was easy in the fresh snow. There was no blood at all.
"Musta missed him," my dad said. "Nah, no way," I felt confident that I had him him. So we tracked him further in to the woods. About 50 yards in we found a place where the buck and stumbled. About 100 yards in we found a spot where he had laid down in the snow and emptied his bowels. Still no blood. We went further, and further... 200 yards. We heard russling ahead, so we stopped and went back to the car and waited another half hour before continuing.
Back in the woods we went, in the cold and the dark, to find this injured lad. A couple times we caught up to him and heard him crashing away and we werr worried that we were pushing him farther. We still had not seen him, but the tracks were good and we knew he was there and that he was injured.
"Gut shot," my dad said, "damn." We now had a choice to make: wait until tomorrow and see if we can find him in the morning, or find him now and finish him off. A choice of morality and ethics vs law.
GAME WARDENS STOP READING HERE.
I followed the now well-beaten trail back to the car and got the gun. About a hundred yards farther in to the woods we found the buck laying down. His head was up and he looked at me from only about 20 yards away as I finished him off. Then began the long carry back to the car... my resourceful dad hog-tied him to a fallen cedar trunk so we could share the weight easier, and we trudged through the woods like hunter-gatherers of old, brandishing our bounty together.
This is the first time I have shot at a deer and not had a clean hit. I got lucky and found the animal before the coyotes, but without the fresh snow I would never have found him. It appears the first shot I took struck the buck in the head, about half an inch below the left eye, and exited a little farther forward on the right side of his head. The other side of the skull is a mess. The buck likely would have lived for days in this condition, unable to eat or scent predators, and I am grateful that I was able to find and finish him in a timely manner.
After this experience, I will not take similar shots in the future.
Here is the mount I made from him:
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Nice buck, good for you for sticking with it . a lesson learned. like you said you won't do a shot like that again . congrats.
W.M.
W.M.
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Congrats on getting him!
vixen 11
exocet 175 with Aging custom stock #27
Exocet 175
exocet 200
matrix 355
Micro Camo 335
Micro Nightmare 335
380 Lynx
BJ custom arrows
Boo string on vixen
exocet 175 with Aging custom stock #27
Exocet 175
exocet 200
matrix 355
Micro Camo 335
Micro Nightmare 335
380 Lynx
BJ custom arrows
Boo string on vixen
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Congrats on the recovery. Lesson learned indeed.
It’s not the way you rock, it’s the way that you roll!
- IronNoggin
- Posts: 3578
- Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:53 pm
- Location: Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Did you use a different skull to mount it?Broadside wrote:... It appears the first shot I took struck the buck in the head, about half an inch below the left eye, and exited a little farther forward on the right side of his head. The other side of the skull is a mess.
Kind of wondering, as the one in your mount indicates no perceivable damage?
Nog
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
It is the same skull. I will take some photos for you to show the damage.
- IronNoggin
- Posts: 3578
- Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:53 pm
- Location: Port Alberni, Vancouver Island
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
No need to go that far, I was simply wondering was all...Broadside wrote:It is the same skull. I will take some photos for you to show the damage.
Good on ya sticking to The Task!
Nice one to drag home as well.
Cheers,
Nog
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
- Carnivorous
- Posts: 3750
- Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:56 pm
- Location: Belleriver Ontario
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Thanks for sharing your story . Sometimes our hunts are not perfect..
The mount kooks great...
The mount kooks great...
A touch of frost has heightened your awareness and your heart steadily beats in anticipation. Your senses are suddenly alert to the movement on the forest floor and you realize that the moment of truth is at hand.
- maine hunter
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- Contact:
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Congratulations!!!
355 matrix, big johns arrows- zombieslayers, g5 montecs, strikers. Vortex big johns arrows- zombieslayers g5 montecs 125. Lumenoks.
Re: 2016 Buck Hunt
Good read Broadside, and a good hunt.
A hard decision to make, but I'd say you made the right call in following up so well. Some less determined would have just let him walk away. Lessons learned for sure.
A hard decision to make, but I'd say you made the right call in following up so well. Some less determined would have just let him walk away. Lessons learned for sure.
Don't look at the antlers!! And don't look him in the eye!!
2002 Exomag
Custom wood stock with a lot of notches in it
Big John arrows
Loving every minute of it.
The only thing better than a dog, is two dogs.
Maple
2002 Exomag
Custom wood stock with a lot of notches in it
Big John arrows
Loving every minute of it.
The only thing better than a dog, is two dogs.
Maple