Leaderboard

I was living in Utah and between a Colorado Elk hunt and an Arizona Course & Elk hunt. I asked boys Mom if I could take 8 year old son deer hunting for a day and she was all like, Get Him the F out of here for a day? Yes Yes Yes take him and leave me in peace. I told my 8 yr old that we would head out at 3:00 AM. He was all for it and I had truck all loaded and ready, but decided alarm at 3:30 was good enough. At 3:20 my son woke me up and said "Dad you told me 3:00 (WTF) so we headed out and drove 1:45 to trailhead. Only squack from boy was that he wanted to go in front of me down the trail. I got it, boy wanted me behind him going down forest trail at 0 dark thirty. It was another 1:50 hike into hunt spot. When we had enough light I started glassing as we slowly walked down the trail getting closer and closer to our area. Right when we got to the center of basin to hunt I glassed up a nice 4X4 buck. I ducked down in the oak brush and dumped my pack and told Quin I had to stalk a bit for my shot. He sat in the twilight quiet as a mouse as I worked my way closer to my Muley Buck. Finally the brush got so thick I had to stand up and take a 100 yard offhand shot. Buck Down and went to get Quin and gear. I told him I was impressed he stayed quiet in the semi light and he told me he knew he had to stay calm/quiet as I stalked closer (very proud Papa). Got deer broken down and lashed to pack frame and had my hands full with REM MOD 7 708 and 4X4 head. Looking at Quin I told him I need his help, needed him to cary lite day pack with our fleece coats 2 qrts water and also binocs and belt with knife and extra shells hung over his neck. He rucked up and helped out. It was a 400 yard hike up slope to trail and another mountain trail hike for 1:50 back to truck. He did mention how spectacular the fall colors looked but nothing more than that. When we got to trailhead and rig, I was like "man I am glad thats done" my boy said "me to". That was 20 years ago and one of our best enduring memories.

I love podcast and social media. I know the areas to put in for because I know everybody will be putting in for the units the podcast is about. Less hunting pressure in other units. No way to keep unit 34 or any of the Gila units here quiet so everybody is putting in for them. That is why I have gotten 9 elk tags in the last 12 years, less sought after units.

One of the other threads gave me this idea, but let's see your favorite dead heads. I'll start with my favorite. He's not huge but he's cool. Hard to show what he is in pictures.

To me, PMing someone who speaks negatively about the entire population of your state and, therefore, you personally, is more honorable and certainly more gentlemanly than engaging in a public internet urinating exhibition. We may not agree with the politics of our neighboring states (or even of our own state) but to say that we dislike nearly 40 million fellow Americans based on the state in which they reside is an overreach. Josh, 23 is a huge and very diverse unit. There are no bad areas. There's thick timber in the northern parts but there are also lots of places to glass from throughout the unit. Get good binoculars and put them on a good tripod. You'll be surprised at what you see. It may not be what you have a tag for but, nonetheless, it'll be cool.

Click the Activity button upper left, then select All Activity. edit: on the mobile site select the three lines in the upper right.

Mid 160’s desert buck and a young buck I wish had gotten the chance to grow up.

Top right - Unread Content

No idea they made mechanicals...what’s next Swhacker fixed blade? Oh wait...

I have had a few tags donated. I have yet to fill a donatd tag. I still put in for tags and the good part is if when my tag rolls around I'm unable to hunt I can hope that I get a donated tag for the next season when I'm able. So far that's how it's been working out. Yes most of the time the Hunts have been like a late archery elk which is little more difficult and success rate isn't real high but few have been general season hunts i just haven't been able to close the deal. When it comes to deer most hunts only last 1 week it's much better on my body to not push it and try and hunt every day matter of fact i usually only hunt afternoons. Coming home and after a week of hunting then not being able to walk for a month kinda pisses off family ya know, this behavior already cost me 1 marriage. I used to take prednisone to be able to have better hunts but that cost me my hips.. The hunting addictiction is REAL. It's been a Blessing to myself and many others that they have these programs but i have also learned often my fortune comes from somebody else's misfortune. Such as last year a gentleman and his brother had put in to hunt elk together and by the time they were drawn one of the brothers found out he had cancer so both tags ended up being donated because the brother had very short time to live. Donated tags like that really wanna make you honor that donation this tag that were talking about the gentlemen's kids were drawn for an archery Antelope hunt the following weekend out of state and he doesn't have time to do both so he chose to put his time into his kids rather than spending it all on himself. Thankful for the opportunity.

I would blame social media first and foremost.

I just finished the orange car.

First time poster, long time stalker. Sort of wierd topic to come out on, on a hunting site. Anyway here’s my 67. Someone was asking for muscle cars

The guy comes back home with a myriad of health issues after serving our country in Iraq . Right now he is sitting on his sofa with his foot in a cast after his 18th gazillion surgery. I suppose "lucky" is a relative term.

Sorry if my comments diverted this thread from OP's original question (my comments were supplemental to some incorrect information posted). You guys are correct --- designated CHAMP hunts may be hunted with any legal weapon from rifle on down (w/ vehicle off the road and ignition off) ...

Here's my all time favorite. I don't think I've ever seen a coues as burred up as this one. To bad his beams were chewed off.

That Utah buck is sweet heres one my daughter found while spring turkey and varmit hunting 2 years ago. its a couple inches under 300. was the highlight of her life. she has found 1 lope dead head with one horn 4-5 spike bulls and a few varmit skulls. this one she spots a ways away from were we were walking and started running and yelling OMG OMG OMG. I figured she was chasing a cat or bear as she had her phone out taking pics.

Utah buck

Mullies

This might turn into a Nuke thread... but if we all stick to the FACTS as to what has worked for us in the past, including tempatures, time, hit location angle of impact, etc. etc. We as a group may be able to help other guys in the future not make the same mistake that we have done or seen... allowing them to recover more game. I have personally helped in the harvest and recovery of nearly 25 coues deer since 2001, for myself, family and friends. It does not make me an expert, but I have learned from successes as well as failures over the years. I thought rather than writing a book we could pin a thread and colletively add over time things that will aid guys in what to do next. Again this has to be a possitve ONLY thread.... hang your "ethics police" hat by the door on the way in. Thanks in advance if this works and Amanda (and Hall Monitors ) Please nuke this thread if it goes wrong. I'm gunna throw my $.02 at a thread that I saw a week or so here about a potential gut shot..... My personal window of succes on gut shots has been waiting at least 8-12 hours or longer. My reason for this is that in thick country and no blood trail if you "bump" a wounded animal once, he is gone forever. (Of course this would be different in open country and I hope someone will post about that.) We have never lost meat on deer that we left and did not bump. Once you bump them, you often times will not find them before some meat loss occurs. Again.... this is in thick country with temp highs no more that 50-55 degrees and lows near freezing. Note: this also applys for me when rifle hunting. Hope this works! Thanks!

Great idea to start this thread Gino! Mr. Jonathan, not having seen the actual shot placement I couldn't tell ya if the shot would be fatal or not, but I would guess a pass through on a large part of the body is more than likely fatal...but you never know. I've seen animals that have carried an arrow shaft, broadhead, or even bullet fragments for years before being shot again by another hunter...and only after field dressing it became appearant the animals had been wounded before! So there is hope the animal can recover, but not likely with infection or shut down of vital organs or tissues...but that all depends on the shot location. I'll throw my pride out the window for the sake of sharing honestly in this discussion. I have hunted with a bow ever since I was just out of diapers, I killed my first archery deer at 13 and many critters since. In my younger years i made a lot of mistakes (well, at least more than I do now ) but I was generally lucky in recovering my animals even though a made a few very bad shots. A couple that stand out for me are very similar to the shot you described Mr. Jonathan. I shot a perfectly broadside deer smack dab in the hip, I'd like to say he jumped the string but I honestly don't remember. I was probably pullin' 45 lbs at the time and shooting my trusty ol' Gamegetter II's and Satellite broadheads. The arrow only went in a few inches and the deer ran off with the arrow noticeably stuck in bone. I let the deer go for several hours without pushing it. The deer didn't bleed at all but soon laid down. I ended up finally circling far enough that i bumped into the buck and he couldn't get up becuase of the steepness of the mountain and the broadhead had popped the rear leg out of the socket, I put a lethal arrow in him at that point and he was mine. Tons of luck involved with that one! Another buck, many years ago, I did the same thing. This time I was pulling more weight and shooting a heavier arrow. The shot was probably too far for my setup, but I was accurately confident and took it. The deer did jump the string this time and the arrow went through both rear legs just below the belly line. My arrows were heavy alluminums with 4 blade Muzzy's and it destroyed both back legs and the deer was down going nowhere, but again, I had to put another shot in him. I could plainly see I had no choice but to finish the job and not wait on this one. One last one that is similar to Mr. Jonathan's, this time it's more recent. My archery Antelope seriously jumped the string and my arrow hit the complete opposite side of the animal and again...right in the hip! I stalked that buck several times that day, missed him once and hit him once more in the exact same spot as the first arrow because he was able to still jump the string! I had zero blood to follow and the country was rolling hills with lots of cover....not good! I went an entire 2nd day just walking circles and glassing with my friends and nobody ever seen the buck. The 3rd day we climbed a small knob again and just glassed hoping for crows. My buddy glassed up my buck bedded down and still alive! I made the stalk of my life and made a perfect shot at 50 yards after the buck jumped up and took off running but I was able to stop him for the shot. We later found that one of my "hip" shots had penetrated enough that the anal canal was blocked causing a backup that was sure to be fatal in another day or two. In all cases I felt very bad for my animal and the poor shot placement, the Antelope really made me question the ethics of using archery equipment on them, there is only so much you can do but then your left with whatever the animal does after the arrow is already in the air! These are just a couple scenarios, but it illustrates some similar instances I've had with similar shot placement as Mr. Jonathan described. My guidelines are: -Always wait at least 45 minutes -If you know it's a gut shot, back out quietly and don't return for at least 12 hours! The exception to this is rain, snow or hunter pressure. Like has been said, the animal will go a short way and lay down when it feels safe, if pushed they can go forever! If it looks like it will rain or snow then track the animal but stalk him as though he is still alive...he probably is! I've seen a bull last for over 11 hours gut shot...and we still lost him, even after getting a 2nd arrow in em'! -Never push a wounded animal, always be patient and give em' plenty of time....I'd rather lose a few steaks than the whole animal! -Always mark the last track or blood and look for irregularities in the track or identifiable trademarks such as shape, drag marks, or one side landing heavier than the other. -Never get in a hurry while tracking, never get ahead of the track regardless how good the trail is, and constantly glass ahead incase the animal is alive and can be finished off before spooking. -Pay attention to all your surroundings, observe all the clues present to help you recover the animal!