DGorman
Active Member
I take November 7th-12th off every year. There was a serious lack of action this year which made me second guess my timing. I spent 49 hours in the stand from Thursday through Tuesday and only saw two bucks that I would call big, plus this guy, who was younger and smaller than I normally would shoot. I really didn't even see that many little bucks, or does, or rutting behavior in general. Last night at about 415 I had a doe come down the ridge behind me with a tall but young six point in tow. She got about halfway down the hill and a small fork horn came out. She ran toward him and the six point started posturing his way. He ran the little guy off as she continued down toward me. I stood up and grabbed my bow preparing to shoot her, so I could at least get something out of the week. As she worked to the front of my set, another doe came from the next ridge with another six point in tow. This doe was bigger, so I focused on her. Then a third doe came from behind me with the buck I shot following. They were all running around behind me now. It was finally getting good. The last doe turned back the way she came but angled toward the river. The last buck turned to cut her off which brought him about 18 yards on the back of my set. As he dropped into a small ditch I grunted to stop him. He started to put his head up so I thought he would stop. I had the pin on him and I touched off the release. He didn't stop. The arrow went in way back. I heard it hit bone and I felt sick. He rumbled off back toward the draw he came from. I could tell he was hurt bad since the rear leg was completely lame. He ran about 60 yards and stopped. I could see the blood soaking his lower leg on the inside but I had my doubts about the hit. All this time in the stand and I made a quick decision and a terrible shot. He hobbled along the side hill, struggling to stay on his feet. He laid down, so my hopes improved a bit, but I was still very concerned about losing him. After about ten minutes he got back up and hobbled across a downed log. I knew I hadn't hit the artery at this point because I think that would have killed him faster. He then headed up the ridge where I lost sight of him. I stayed in the stand until dark with the rest of the group still running all around and under me. I gathered my things after climbing down and I saw the blinking tracer nock partway up the draw. I tried to get a look through the binoculars, but it was too dark to make anything out. I walked about twenty yards along the bottom away from him and looked again. This time I could still see the nock, but it was whipping around in tight spirals. I knew he was still alive and trying to pull the arrow out. I slipped out to gather my thoughts and formulate a plan. I knew if I waited all night the temps would be on my side, but I would have a conflict with returning to work. I also wouldn't have any help in the morning. It was tough, but I decided there was no upside to pushing him in the dark. I returned about six this morning and saw my nock still blinking close to where it had been when I left. I sat down on a log to await more light. As it got brighter I realized the arrow wasn't in the deer anymore. At about 630 I decided to work my way up there. I had my bow ready for a follow up. I picked up the arrow intact with blood about 20 inches up the shaft and a lot of meat stuck in the head. There was a tremendous amount of blood on the ground and tracks where he dragged his bad leg from bed to bed. There were three beds each about ten yards apart with plenty of blood in each one. The arrow was about ten yards from the last bed but facing the way he had originally come. I realized he crossed back over his original trail and headed up the next draw. As I followed the trail beyond where the arrow came out there was barely any blood at all. I was losing hope fast. I peeked over the next ridge and there he was in a brush pile about 70 yards from where I found the arrow. I still feel terrible about this shot, but I'm glad I decided to wait and was able to recover him. He's not my biggest buck by any means, but I'm proud to have recovered him. Since I was alone, I don't have a lot of pictures of the actual recovery but did manage to get my wife to take a couple last night. He won't score well, but I really don't care about scores anyway. Sorry this got so long winded.
Last edited:
