Finally a bow kill !!!

[azrcks]

Well, I have been in this spot for about 15 years have missed 3 times. Finally connected at 31 yards as he was pushing seven does. I took the day off of work during the week to try get some alone time with the deer as there are a ton of hunters here on the weekends. I was asked to pick my step son up from school since I had the day off so I needed to be back to the truck at 2:30. At 1 I started to make my way to the truck and split from my other two buddies from our glassing spot. As I crossed into the next valley I spot a herd of muleys that had a 4x3, 2 3x3s and 30 does, I call my buddies and told them to make a B-line towards the trucks as I might be able to get them on these deer. Well as I walked through the final wash to the truck which was 70 yards away I get a call from my buddy that the 4x3 and 20 does are headed down that same wash. It is now 2:20 and pick some good cover in the wash and wait, 2 minutes go by and I see deer come in, I go to full draw on my knees as 7 does trot by me at 30 yards, I let the bow back down and wait....Another 2 minutes later here come more deer and this time I see antlers, I go to full draw and a few does move by me as antlers enter my shooting lane....I touch off the release and here the THWACK!!! He makes a quick u-turn and realize it was not the best shot I called my buddies and told them I had hit him but the shot was a bit back from his vitals and if they saw him to not push him. It is now 2:30 and I am suppose to leave I call my girlfriend up tell her what happened and she said she would go and get him from school and keep him at work. So now we watch the buck go over the next ridge just slowly walking with his head down, we wait until he crests the next ridge and then start to follow the blood trail which was decent at first, it was a mixture of blood and chewed up food when we reached the top of the ridge we sat there to give him some time to bleed and hopefully bed down. Worried that we would run out of light and lose him to the coyotes we moved on with two people glued to the blood trail and two people glued to the horizon to watch if we push him further. We followed the ever decreasing blood trail for about a mile and a half finding 2 seperate spots where he had bed and my arrow at the first. Where he had bedded had two good puddles of blood so he was bleeding from both sides but following the blood trail we found just 1/4 drops every 10 to 15 feet and now it was pitch black, afraid to push him even further we backed out. The next morning we hiked back to the last drop with our flashlights and waited til we had good light, we followed the blood another 130 yards to where another bedding spot was from here I started looking around and there in front of me I see ribcage and then antlers The coyotes feasted and ate every bit of meat even his nose and eyes !!! I cut the head off tagged it and strapped it to my pack, At least I recovered something. Here are a few picks.....Hes not a monster but I thought he was a great first deer with a bow, check the eye guards, 3" long for a desert muley.

 

[willhunt4coues]

Way to get out there and find him big congrats. To bad the Coyotes got to him first. Looks like they were really hungry. Congrats.

[FlyingW]

Congrats on your first !!! Glad you were able to recover a portion of your trophy.....

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

My hat is off to you, way to stick with it and find him. Sorry you lost all the meat to them punk dogs but congrats to you on a great buck.

Thanks for sharing.

 

-Jeremy-

[longshooter]

Congrats on your desert buck.

[tjhunt2]

That first bow kill is always a great experience no matter how it plays out. I'm sure your partners were as excited. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your first bow kill.

 

TJ

[jakehaffey]

Congrats! Thats a great buck, you should get out there and do some calling. That is some serious damage for a nights work!

[PassThrough10]

Nice Buck for your first Harvest. Seems to be a serious Yote issue in your unit. Get out there and call some of those old dogs in and reward them for the "free meal". Great Job!

[bcoover]

They ate the entire deer in one night?

[azrcks]

They ate the entire deer in one night?

 

we left at 7pm and came back at 6 am and that is how we found him, it was also quiet when we hiked in so they had already been done for some time.

 

we have a fox pro so after Jan we will see what we can call in out there and get some revenge, we will see what my 300 RUM will do at 100 yards or less actually I have built an AR with some 50 grain varmit grenades....we'll see

 

thanks for the comments I am still excited

[bobbyo]

Nice buck! nothing goes to waste in the desert. Next time I hope you get some steaks out of it. I think you played the percentages and did the right thing. You do not want to push a gut shot buck. I think the coyotes finding your deer was really bad luck.

Bob

[bonecollector]

Thats a nice first bow kill Congrats, Now you need to fill the yotes up with some lead.

[Coues Archer]

Ah man bummer!!! That bites it happens to the best of us!! Anyways great job what a nice buck.. But thats what happens with poor shots your lucky you found that sucker to begin with.

[Mr. Jonathan]

Awesome buck! And this can happen on good shots too. My friend double lunged a mulie but was unsure of the shot. He backed out and returned in the morning to find the carcass look just like yours, only about 70 yards from where he hit it. It is incredible how fast those coyotes can strip a carcass.

[culpritz]

congrats on your bow kill. its a rush isnt it. i just took my first deer with a bow in dec