I went back out bow in hand & climbed back up in my tree to see if he was still bedded in the deadfall. He was & his head was down but tines up not laying on their side. I eased across the river. & slipped up the bank. My plan was to nock an arrow come to full draw & stand. He would be at 5yds & take whatever shot I had if he was still alive. As I did that he caught movement & bolted out about 30yds away keeping the deadfall between us. He never looked back just slowly walked away. I took a knee & eased back down the river bank out of sight. Planning to come back in the morning after an overnight low of 18degrees. Hoping he would bed, stiffen up & expire overnight, just praying yotes don’t find him. I got permission from the neighbor behind me, our property line stops about where the deadfall is across the river. I started out now in hand at daylight, crossed the river & checked his last bed, full of dark red blood & I was hoping he was expired. An hour & a half, no blood & starting to grid search. I was not feeling confident at this point, was in waist high grass over fallen logs, briars everywhere. I checked in with a few buddies for advice & went back up to the house & got Maverick my beagle mix. He’s been good for me when I don’t have blood. I took him down & he immediately started zigzagging the blood trail at the shot site & walked 40yds to the crossing the buck used. He doesn’t mind getting his feet wet but won’t swim, so I carried him across. He went right to the bed & spent a minute or two in it. He hopped out of the deadfall & headed in the direction of the buck. I was waiting to see if he would make the sharp left turn the buck did across a creek & into a thicket. He took a hard left & started pulling….. I was feeling better! We worked through some brush tunnels & finally I backtracked & tried to walk around the thicket. When we got even with our progress, he stood up & put his nose up looking towards the creek. We spotted him about the same time, not 80yds from the deadfall.
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We scramble down the bank to check him out, A nice 8pt that I couldn’t be happier with. Maverick sat patiently as I broke down the buck & got ready for the pack out. Probably only 4-500 yds but the last part is hands & knees almost 45degrees….. he scrambled up ahead after his lift back across the river. That was fun, full pack, mossy river rocks, thigh deep current with a pup under your arm. Made it to work by lunchtime ( what an excellent use of sick time!) Bow hunting is a roller coaster, highest of highs to lowest of lows , then back again!!!
