Lost.......and Found

[Rembrandt]

Got this buck on camera last fall, one of the kids shot it with bow but couldn't find it. Found it today under a barbed wire fence. Also have the sheds from last year. We tracked the blood trail using GPS coordinates that showed it went South for nearly 1/2 mile before we lost the blood trail. Had a map of the path it had taken using the blood drops. Today we found it had backtracked and headed North of where the blood trail ended and where it had been shot. Threw us off by looking in the wrong direction. Totally unexpected, you never know.

 

[skeeterfogger]

Yep when tracking always check back track. Generally they will back track down wind. Found many this way when trail runs cold.

 

[1976B.L.Johns.]

Bummer!

 

[Riomouse911]

That's one ripe trophy...

Too bad it slipped away. Nothing is worse than knowing you hit a game animal well and still they have enough in the tank to get away and die elsewhere.

Stay safe.

 

[sparkyv]

Well that sucks.

 

[Rembrandt]

The experience wasn't a total waste, lost the meat but we're thrilled to find the deer and figure out what happened to it. Having photos of it on camera and the previous years sheds was a nice touch. Happy we found it.

Spent three Saturdays searching for it knowing the hit had been fatal and it wouldn't have survived. File that one away in the memory bank.

 

[buck460XVR]

Bloodtrailing is an art in itself and a skill many experienced and successful hunters never master. High powered rifles and good bullets, along with those expectations of a bang-flop every time means most folks expect to see every deer drop within sight. The popularity of folks to own their "own" hunting land, means small parcels and fencelines many neighbors do not allow others to cross. Thus the idea of trailing a deer for more than a coupla hundred yards, especially when the blood is light, is many times not thought of. Sounds like you and the "kids" did everything you could. Figuring out a "backtrack" can be difficult at best and generally takes an example like you described before folks realize how often it happens. It takes being well aware of what side the animal is bleeding from and not messing the trail up as you follow it. You also have to realize that coming to the end of the blood trail, does not mean the bleeding has stopped. It could also mean the wounded animal is doing something that instinct tells them to do. Backtrack and watch for their predator. Like in your case, it does work and works well. Unfortunately, it did not save the buck. Backtracking tells me that the deer still has good mental capacity, so odds are it is not an immediate mortal wound it is suffering from. Once I find where the deer jumped off it's backtrack and changed directions, I will generally back off in the opposite direction and give the animal some time, to either die, or at least weaken so it can be approached and finished. Jumping it from it's bed too soon, many times results in a lost deer.

 

[Rembrandt]

Good points buck460XVR. Interesting that after he was shot we waited several hours before tracking it. Knew he'd been hit hard by the amount of blood and what was on the arrow we retrieved. The technique of taking GPS readings on the blood trail and converting it to a grid topo map to follow was new to this old boy, but very enlightening. For what ever reason he died about 200 yards opposite the direction of the blood trail. The fact we eventually lost the trail indicates he certainly did circle around us. Glad we found him.

 

[Armored farmer]

I'm glad you were able to solve the mystery. Too bad about the meat, but....nature doesnt waste.
Those big bucks are hard to get a tag on, for many reasons.

 

[Flintknapper]

Bloodtrailing is an art in itself and a skill many experienced and successful hunters never master.

Indeed it is. It wouldn't occur to lots of folks that an animal might turn on its back-trail...or the reason(s) why they might do so.

Consequently...they will overlook subtle tell-tale signs such as blood droplet patterns that will/can indicate direction of travel.

For instance when blood strikes a flat surface...momentum continues to carry the droplet a small distance. Often...this will create a 'tail' which is a good indicator which direction the animal is moving and that is was moving at least at a walking pace. Just something to consider.

 

[WestKentucky]

I have one that was found a few weeks later. Biggest buck I ever pulled a trigger on too. They are hard to find, and can be pretty stubborn about laying down and dying even when they have pumped out all of their blood and ran hard for a ways.

People keep racks and mounts as reminders of the hunt. People often display them so that others will ask and they will have an opportunity to tell the story. This just adds another layer to the story.

congrats on solving the mystery.

 

[ACES&8S]

Interesting isn't it?
What seems like tricks to us is only instinct to them & what their reaction is going to be depends on
so many factors, mostly with arrow hits.
The sound of the bow, speed of the impact, are a lot of it but equally important is if the broadhead hits bone
or just slips thru them. They have no idea what an arrow is or what the bow sound is, heck they don't even know
what a rifle shot is.
So many times we assume the deer are using tricks to get us off the blood trail, they don't know their blood is
our primary tracking system, the so called tricks they use are only what they use against every day predators on their
trail. The ones that use their nose & eyes both just like they do, Deer Think We Can Smell Them & Their Tracks just
like they do with us.
I watched a family of about 5 deer on [a clear-cut hillside] being chased by about 3 dogs, the lead Doe followed the common
trail at full speed, leading the whole group, when they got a good 100 yard lead on the dogs she turned hard left straight downhill
jumping brush down to a lower trail & started sneaking back in the previous direction, as the dogs passed by the deer all stood
perfectly still, when they were gone by, the deer took off hard & uphill back on the previous trail going the opposite direction all
the way out of sight & the dogs continued on the top trail out of sight. Wish I could have seen if the dogs ended up running in
circles or not.
Learned behavior I guess, maybe even inherited understanding, who knows.
I have been there in the same situation as you described.
I used to bow hunt & wish I still could, I miss it every day. Bad ticker has pushed me out of that but, you keep on keeping on.

 

[Axis II]

Im curious why take the entire carcass and not cut the head off?

 

[HB]

Im curious why take the entire carcass and not cut the head off?

Jerky

 

[Axis II]

Jerky

We really need a throw up emoji

 

[Rembrandt]

Im curious why take the entire carcass and not cut the head off?

Didn't have a knife or saw at the time, too far to drive back and get one....easier to drag back behind the ATV.

 

[Captcurt]

Awesome buck. This is the kind that you remember forever. I have a decent 8 pointer mounted that we trailed for 4 1/2 hours. I remember it like it was yesterday and it was 45 years ago.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

super nice buck. about 3 years ago I shot one about the same size. I put 3 slugs right in his boiler room. he went about a 100 yrds and jumped a 6 wire fence.. I didn't see him jump the fence cuz he went behind a brush pile. he hardly reacted to the the 3 70 grn 243 slugs. I didn't mean to hunt with the 70 grn loads, I usually hunt with 100 grn corelokts. but grabbed the wrong box by accident.

he went into a huge woods that was brushy as heck. luckily he died rite after he crossed the fence. his horns were so big we had to cut the bottom 2 wires to get him under the fence. oh it was my fence and I fixed it.

 

[ACES&8S]

I remember it like it was yesterday and it was 45 years ago

Very good statement....
I just sat here & began looking back with this very old mind & thank goodness for such a rich life real hunting gives
those of us that really love it, although I can't get out like I used to, you are spot on about our memories.
I am sure many of you are just like myself.
If I look back at any of the blood trails in the dark, I can recall every area that we went thru & almost remember who found the last
blood & remembering the emotions at those very spots in the woods, even the hopes & fears in the voices.
I have tried to come up with a good JOKE for how we hunters that have wives that hunt with us..
Maybe someone can put it better but, There has been no higher emotion in our marriage than when all seemed lost & hope was gone
even my wife had left me in the dark, Then in the cold dark night her voice from so far away called to me saying those words I had
longed to hear for what seemed like a lifetime, I'VE GOT BLOOD OVER HERE.

 

[Random 8]

I trust this was a good learning experience for the kid involved. I've lost 2 deer in my lifetime, one to a bad shot I shouldn't have taken(archery) and one to a bullet failure where the bullet came apart on a quartering shoulder shot and failed to penetrate to vitals...first and last time I hunted with a .243, and they both still haunt me when I'm deciding whether to drop the hammer on a questionable shot.

Growing up a drive hunter in broken woods, fields and brushlands, I was exposed to the art and science of blood trailing at a very early age. Even before I was old enough to carry a rifle on the hunt, I was tagging along in my orange coat and moon boots. My sharp young eyes and proximity to the ground were an asset so I got involved in almost every blood trail. I loved it, especially when I got to see sign that the "old guys" missed and lead them to a downed deer.

I've found it is standard practice for a hit and/or pursued deer to double back. The exception seems to be well hit deer in the heart or lungs that will either beeline until they drop or cover a large, looping circular path. In open/broken terrain, they will tend to follow broken cover, bypass a patch of thick cover, then double back to it and hunker down and watch you go past. They especially like to hunker in areas with large windfallen trees or young evergreens with branches close to the ground (they'll literally crawl right in there and hide, shot one in the face to finish it at 10 yards under a balsam once) in close proximity to water. Add that to your bag of tricks, and have a good honest talk with the kid if you haven't already.

 

[jmorris]

Has of been under snow or something? Seems like a lot of it left for that much time to pass.

 

[Rembrandt]

About four months have passed since he was shot, there have been some medium to heavy snows that kept it covered.