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Bad luck streak continues...

Redhaven

Redhaven

Active Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2018
Messages
122
Last night I snuck out to a piece of state forest ground by my house. I setup along a creek that funnels deer down between two big ridges, headed to a private crop field. I had a nice buck come through about 6:15. He was 26yds, and broadside. At the shot he turned toward me and the arrow appeared to hit him behind the shoulder. I listened to him trot off, he didn't really make a mad dash and then it was quiet. I found the arrow covered in dark thick blood, so I assumed a liver hit and backed out. The forecast was calling for rain at 10:30, so I figured I'd give him a couple hours and head out to look. It started raining hard about 8:30 and I rushed back out, but everything was already washed away. After about 100yds of looking I backed out and waited until daylight this morning.

I recruited a couple guys to help me grid search the area, and after several hours we didn't find him. I am going to try and get permission to look on the property to the north, but I don't think he would have climbed the hill to go that direction. I'll keep looking more, but kind of at a loss as to where he would have gone. It's a huge block of timber. I hate this feeling. I've never harvested a mature buck with my bow, and thought it was finally going to happen last night. I'll keep looking.
 
I’m going to see if anyone close to me has a dog. I have a dog that has tracked deer before, but he’s not trained. With all the rain I wasn’t sure how much it would help.
 
public_land said:
If you can't find a dog, I have had good luck searching in a general down-hill direction for liver shot deer. Also, they tend to head toward water to bed.
Click to expand...

He was at the bottom of a ravine when I shot him, so everything would have been up hill from where he was. Only place I haven’t checked is private property to the north. Waiting for that guy to get back with me.
 
I know it doesn’t help you here, and now, but something consider on the dog front.

If you make a marginal shot, and rain washes away blood, don’t trail. Call for the dog then. If you tromp all over and pick up the deer’s scent on your boots you’ll make it harder on the dog.

You would be surprised how much knowledge the trackers and their dogs will have about how your deer is hit, without being there for the shot. If the deer is dead, and accesible, dogs will find it almost every time. If the deer is mortally wounded, and not dead yet, it will be found almost every time. In fact, really good trackers with a really good dog will grill you ahead of time about the shot to determine if the deer is dead. They know their dog will find them, and they don’t want to be ‘hunting’ they want to be ‘tracking’.

Follow the link above and ask around. Watching a trained blood dog work is a real joy.
 
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