Sneaker Report post Posted January 5, 2018 I shot this buck on Monday at noon. My arrow hit further back than I would have liked, I was a little worried, but knew it was probably lethal. I waited 4 hours and started the track job. Great blood for 20 yards, drops for another 30 yards then nothing. Oh no. Hunter's nightmare. Completely lost his track in short order, tried some hail marry circles but no dice. The next day with my brother's help, I was able to extend the trail out to 200 yards, but it was only a little drop every once in a while, then we lost his track again completely. He never ran or bedded in that stretch, just walking. I started gridding in hopes of getting lucky. But we ran out of time. I came home Tuesday night pretty down about it. The area is literally a thick sea of Pinions and Junipers for miles and miles so I knew my odds of finding him were really low. I worked Wed but wanted to give it another try. I did some reading on CW about finding downed deer using crows/ravens, studied my gps map tracks, and figured my best bet was the birds. I expected that, being dead three days, the circle of life and his forrest buddies would be laying full claim to him by now. Thursday afternoon would be my only time available to try in the next 12 days, so I worked in the morning and ran out to do my last ditch hike. I would stop to listen for birds every 20 or 30 seconds. About a half mile in, I saw and heard crows in a few different directions 15 minutes apart. My plan was to get to the nearest mountain and glass the expanses for hopefully the carrion party. As I started my climb I heard some birds up ahead of me on the mountain. A few minutes later I started seeing a few crows flying close to my immediate area. A little later a VULTURE flew by. Things were getting interesting... A few seconds later two vulture flew up from the ground and I knew I was onto something. There he was. Been dead 3 days. More points than I thought. Sad I lost the meat. Died mid walk apparently, .7 miles and 300 feet elevation gain from the shot. A couple lessons learned: -Be a better shot -Crows wont necessarily be right on the animal, and it may not be tons of them. There were only a few, but their periodic calls as they apparently flew around watching the vultures pointed me in the right direction. -Wounded animals sometimes don't mind going for a long uphill hike 14 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eagle#eyes Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Awesome deer. bummer about the meat though. Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector777 Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Awesome buck. Glad you found him. Bet he smelled delicious. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Awesome deer! VERY awesome that you stuck with it!!! Good on you for that! S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Natural Report post Posted January 5, 2018 That's too bad, but a cool buck. Glad you were able to find him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redman Report post Posted January 5, 2018 bitter sweet - great job and way to stay with it 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigorange Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Wow 7 miles. Way to stick with it, but bummer on the meat. Nice buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector777 Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Wow 7 miles. Way to stick with it, but bummer on the meat. Nice buck..7 miles 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brooktrout26 Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Cool buck, sorry about how it happened but credit to you for staying on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
browtine Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Way to stick it out and give it your all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heat Report post Posted January 5, 2018 Way to follow up! A lot of other guys would have just kept on hunting. Sorry about the meat, but you did the right thing. Good for you! The as he lies pic is crazy! That is one tough old buck. Congratulations on your success. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted January 6, 2018 Man he was an old bruiser! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azruger Report post Posted January 6, 2018 He was definitely a old fighter!!! He has kicked a lot of butt in his years.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randyolson Report post Posted January 14, 2018 Nice! Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stallone A. Report post Posted January 14, 2018 Great Story, Congrats on finding him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
