I thought I would post this in hopes it helps someone else out down the road. I guess it could go in either the successful hunt or unsuccessful hunt category even though I don't believe there is ever an unsuccessful hunt!
I was hunting a piece of private property in West Virginia. I drove up Monday after lunch and about 100 yards before the cabin I saw a deer feeding on acorns on the ridge about 60 yards away. I saw it was a good buck and looked at him through binoculars for a few minutes. He was a big bodied 7 pointer that looked about 4 1/2 years old. Not a midwest monster but a definite shooter where I was. He paid me no attention and bedded down. I thought maybe I could unpack and try a stalk. I was not very optimistic since I would be using a bow. I drove up to the cabin and unpacked. I changed clothes and grabbed my bow. Because he bedded facing the cabin I did not think I could slip down the road so I decided I would drive out and then drive back in and park short of where he was. On the way out I stopped and marked his location. At this point I saw a doe was bedded with him. I was less optimistic now but figured might as well give it a shot. After I parked and walked over the knoll I saw them about 70 yards away facing away from me. At this point the doe got up and I was stuck by the tree I was at. I then heard a deer coming down off the ridge beside me. It was a decent 8 pointer but needed one more year. He fed to within 25 yards of me. Then 2 smaller bucks came off the same ridge. They were closer to the doe which got the 7 pointer up. The 2 smaller bucks got to about 8 yards of me and knew something was not right. The 8 pointer and 2 smaller bucks took off. I believe the 7 pointer thought they were running from him. The 7 pointer and the doe went back to feeding. The doe spotted me and knew something was out of place. She stomped and bobbed her head repeatedly. I never moved and she eventually went back to feeding about 20 yards from me. After a few minutes the 7 pointer got to 40 yards and they both were blocked by trees so I was able to draw. He stepped out and I let the arrow go. I saw him duck, jump and run. I thought I hit him. He got out of sight and I walked and found my arrow. Just a little white hair on the blades and the arrow was clean. I figured I just grazed his belly. I found a few drops of blood and trailed for several hundred yards but no dead deer. That evening I decided I would shoot the first doe the next day to get some confidence.
The next morning I was in my favorite spot in my Mantis saddle using my Predator for the first time. I was loving me some Predator. At 0730 a doe came out and got to about 30 yards. I let the arrow go and thought I had a dead deer. When she took off running another doe and the 8 pointer from the day before took off also. I never saw the doe again but saw the 8 pointer cross the ridge. It was cold so I figured I would wait and see what all I would see for a couple hours. At 0930 I saw a doe behind me and heard some grunting. I watched a real nice 8 pointer come out. They started feeding and then the doe came right up beside me. The buck starting grunting and following her. I knew I would get a shot opportunity and I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was under 20 yards and slightly quartered to me. I flung an arrow and watched it hit him right behind the shoulder. He took a couple hops and looked around. He walked to the edge of a thicket and just calmly walked in. I knew the shot was fatal but I was worried about the angle so I waited 30 minutes and got down. I figured I would go get my doe and then come back for him in about 3 hours.
I walked over to where I shot the doe and grabbed my arrow. Much to my surprise it was clean! No hair, no blood and it looked like the same condition as when I pulled it out of my quiver except for the mud on the broadhead. I was disappointed and surprised. I walked the way she ran and found no blood. I figured oh well I still got a dead buck. I went back and ate lunch then at 1pm started looking for my buck. I could not find any blood or sign where he went in the thicket. When I say thicket this is a nasty place. Briars, pines, tall grasses, you name it. I was on hands and knees and could only see several feet. I searched and searched and could not find any sign or my deer. I kept widening the search. I walked down a fence line to where the fence is down and deer cross thinking if he made it there I would find something. Bingo! I found blood. I started tracking though another thicket. I followed blood till dark but it appeared the deer had just been walking along. I felt with the hit I had he would bed down close and die. With it being so cold that night I went to the cabin and waited till morning to resume the search.
The next morning I started looking again. I couldn't find any more blood. I started searching the creek. After about 2 hours I was going to cut up and search a hollow. While walking up I again found blood. I started tracking again and went four or five hundred yards following blood. I finally found 2 spots where it bedded down. After the beds I only found 1 spot of blood several hundred yards later. Something just did not feel right. I knew my buck was dead. I was sick on my stomach and did the only thing I knew to do and that was to pray. I just asked the Lord to open my eyes and give me a path to the deer. I searched the entire area and found nothing.
I went back and ate lunch. I decided I would back track the blood from where I found it the evening before to see what the buck had done. Well I started back tracking and the further I went back I had this weird feeling. I felt I was tracking the doe I had shot and "missed". I tracked it back far enough to confirm my suspicion. I had been tracking the doe for half a mile. I was relieved and worried at the same time. I had no sign of my buck and thought I had searched the area pretty well.
I walked back to where I saw the buck go into the thicket and started searching again. I got in there about 50 yards and was squatted down and just looking around. I looked left and saw the white belly and rack! I was excited and relieved to say the least. I said a prayer giving thanks to the Creator for opening my eyes. I went and grabbed the horns. Critters had already started eating the hind quarters. I was only able to salvage the backstraps and was sad about that. From where I shot him to where I found him was probably only 70 yards. He had gone and bedded and died like I thought he would have.
I debated for a couple days on whether to post this or not but I decided to for several reasons. First all praise and honor to the Lord for everything that happened. Second I had a few people texting me, telling me to stay positive and keep looking because it was a dead deer there somewhere. It would have been easy to give up. I have never had to look so long and hard for a deer before. My gut instinct said this deer was dead close by and he was. I've always heard to trust your first thoughts because that is usually right. In hunting and in other things stuff just happens so fast its hard to slow it down and process it. Everything becomes a blur. Hopefully this never happens again but I plan on hunting for a long time to come so I am sure it will. Its just an experience for me and anyone else if they want to file it away and learn something.
I was hunting a piece of private property in West Virginia. I drove up Monday after lunch and about 100 yards before the cabin I saw a deer feeding on acorns on the ridge about 60 yards away. I saw it was a good buck and looked at him through binoculars for a few minutes. He was a big bodied 7 pointer that looked about 4 1/2 years old. Not a midwest monster but a definite shooter where I was. He paid me no attention and bedded down. I thought maybe I could unpack and try a stalk. I was not very optimistic since I would be using a bow. I drove up to the cabin and unpacked. I changed clothes and grabbed my bow. Because he bedded facing the cabin I did not think I could slip down the road so I decided I would drive out and then drive back in and park short of where he was. On the way out I stopped and marked his location. At this point I saw a doe was bedded with him. I was less optimistic now but figured might as well give it a shot. After I parked and walked over the knoll I saw them about 70 yards away facing away from me. At this point the doe got up and I was stuck by the tree I was at. I then heard a deer coming down off the ridge beside me. It was a decent 8 pointer but needed one more year. He fed to within 25 yards of me. Then 2 smaller bucks came off the same ridge. They were closer to the doe which got the 7 pointer up. The 2 smaller bucks got to about 8 yards of me and knew something was not right. The 8 pointer and 2 smaller bucks took off. I believe the 7 pointer thought they were running from him. The 7 pointer and the doe went back to feeding. The doe spotted me and knew something was out of place. She stomped and bobbed her head repeatedly. I never moved and she eventually went back to feeding about 20 yards from me. After a few minutes the 7 pointer got to 40 yards and they both were blocked by trees so I was able to draw. He stepped out and I let the arrow go. I saw him duck, jump and run. I thought I hit him. He got out of sight and I walked and found my arrow. Just a little white hair on the blades and the arrow was clean. I figured I just grazed his belly. I found a few drops of blood and trailed for several hundred yards but no dead deer. That evening I decided I would shoot the first doe the next day to get some confidence.
The next morning I was in my favorite spot in my Mantis saddle using my Predator for the first time. I was loving me some Predator. At 0730 a doe came out and got to about 30 yards. I let the arrow go and thought I had a dead deer. When she took off running another doe and the 8 pointer from the day before took off also. I never saw the doe again but saw the 8 pointer cross the ridge. It was cold so I figured I would wait and see what all I would see for a couple hours. At 0930 I saw a doe behind me and heard some grunting. I watched a real nice 8 pointer come out. They started feeding and then the doe came right up beside me. The buck starting grunting and following her. I knew I would get a shot opportunity and I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was under 20 yards and slightly quartered to me. I flung an arrow and watched it hit him right behind the shoulder. He took a couple hops and looked around. He walked to the edge of a thicket and just calmly walked in. I knew the shot was fatal but I was worried about the angle so I waited 30 minutes and got down. I figured I would go get my doe and then come back for him in about 3 hours.
I walked over to where I shot the doe and grabbed my arrow. Much to my surprise it was clean! No hair, no blood and it looked like the same condition as when I pulled it out of my quiver except for the mud on the broadhead. I was disappointed and surprised. I walked the way she ran and found no blood. I figured oh well I still got a dead buck. I went back and ate lunch then at 1pm started looking for my buck. I could not find any blood or sign where he went in the thicket. When I say thicket this is a nasty place. Briars, pines, tall grasses, you name it. I was on hands and knees and could only see several feet. I searched and searched and could not find any sign or my deer. I kept widening the search. I walked down a fence line to where the fence is down and deer cross thinking if he made it there I would find something. Bingo! I found blood. I started tracking though another thicket. I followed blood till dark but it appeared the deer had just been walking along. I felt with the hit I had he would bed down close and die. With it being so cold that night I went to the cabin and waited till morning to resume the search.
The next morning I started looking again. I couldn't find any more blood. I started searching the creek. After about 2 hours I was going to cut up and search a hollow. While walking up I again found blood. I started tracking again and went four or five hundred yards following blood. I finally found 2 spots where it bedded down. After the beds I only found 1 spot of blood several hundred yards later. Something just did not feel right. I knew my buck was dead. I was sick on my stomach and did the only thing I knew to do and that was to pray. I just asked the Lord to open my eyes and give me a path to the deer. I searched the entire area and found nothing.
I went back and ate lunch. I decided I would back track the blood from where I found it the evening before to see what the buck had done. Well I started back tracking and the further I went back I had this weird feeling. I felt I was tracking the doe I had shot and "missed". I tracked it back far enough to confirm my suspicion. I had been tracking the doe for half a mile. I was relieved and worried at the same time. I had no sign of my buck and thought I had searched the area pretty well.
I walked back to where I saw the buck go into the thicket and started searching again. I got in there about 50 yards and was squatted down and just looking around. I looked left and saw the white belly and rack! I was excited and relieved to say the least. I said a prayer giving thanks to the Creator for opening my eyes. I went and grabbed the horns. Critters had already started eating the hind quarters. I was only able to salvage the backstraps and was sad about that. From where I shot him to where I found him was probably only 70 yards. He had gone and bedded and died like I thought he would have.
I debated for a couple days on whether to post this or not but I decided to for several reasons. First all praise and honor to the Lord for everything that happened. Second I had a few people texting me, telling me to stay positive and keep looking because it was a dead deer there somewhere. It would have been easy to give up. I have never had to look so long and hard for a deer before. My gut instinct said this deer was dead close by and he was. I've always heard to trust your first thoughts because that is usually right. In hunting and in other things stuff just happens so fast its hard to slow it down and process it. Everything becomes a blur. Hopefully this never happens again but I plan on hunting for a long time to come so I am sure it will. Its just an experience for me and anyone else if they want to file it away and learn something.
