Expecting my usual disappointment of unsuccessful local Blacktail hunting at the end of the season I felt like I was on autopilot when I wandered into the deep, dark woods after work on Halloween. This particular area was close enough to a housing development that I didn't feel comfortable using a rifle so I carried my bow instead.
I had hit the edges of these woods a few times before but just couldn't bring myself to plow through thick vegetation highlighted by too many blackberries for my liking. This day I decide to do just that and am eventually rewarded with finding an old overgrown road which makes the going much easier. After a couple hundred yards I find what looks like an old fruit tree and go over for a look thinking that apples in a deep forest would be a welcome treat for any deer in the area. None are to be found.
I look up and see a huge rock that looks way out of place about 40 yards away. Further investigation reveals that it's shaped a lot like a deer. Let's see, if it were a deer there would be a head about right there.....hang on a minute....holy crap, this rock has a face and it's staring right at me!
It looks big for a Blacktail and I get really excited and start fumbling for my range finder for a little bit of magnification to see if I can find bone. I can't, the forest is too dark to make any out quickly and then the deer walks a few steps to my left, still broadside and following the road I had just left, putting a patch of trees between us. I parallel to my left and the deer stops to look at me again. This time it only looks to be about 20 yards away and it's not as big as I thought but I see about a 12" wide rack that looks like it likely has 2 or 3 points a side so I draw back my bow and thread the needle just over some tall grass that covers the bottom half of the buck and the arrow sails. Thunk. Perfect shot just behind he shoulder blade - my 20 yard estimate must have been right on the money!
The buck doesn't move a muscle until the arrow hits home and then he takes off, continuing up the road and quickly disappearing into the thick forest. I watch and listen intently for his direction of travel but it has been raining most of the day and dry, crunchy leaves on the ground the day before are now damp and quiet, and I quickly lose sight of him amid the brush.
I want to give him 1/2 hour but it's raining, quickly washing away blood evidence, and it's going to be pitch black in a bout an hour. I consider my options and decide I have to go after him. I sneak over to he point of impact and find my arrow. A pass through, good sign. I begin my search for blood and find it sparse, very sparse. The last place I find it is only 30 yards from the hit so I guess that he takes a game trail downhill to the left. The blood trail disappears completely. I start getting really worried about my ability to recover this buck given the conditions and decide to do a quick grid search where I think he has gone. If he is still alive, maybe I can get another glimpse at him and maye another shot, if necessary. And if he's dead I want to open him up and begin the cooling process.
Darkness falls and desperation takes over. This is the 23rd big game animal I've shot and the first I am in danger of not finding by nightfall. I consult my GPS to find my way back out and start thinking about how I'm going to manage to take the next day off work. And then it hits me, occasionally someone on the forum finds themselves in this boat and they put up a post for help. Hmmm.
What are you thinking, Band?! Those guys set themselves up for tongue lashings from others far and wide, and with your reputation you're going to get verbally assaulted from all sides. Don't do it!!
But I did, and man am I glad about it. I quickly secured two willing volunteers and spent a sleepless night trying to figure out where that buck might have gone.
Elk247 arranged to come by at 9 am which allowed me to take care of some work stuff. We meet and greet and then head to the woods. We review the shot, direction of travel, and the only piece of blood evidence still remaining after the rainy night and then get to work. It's tough going. We expand the grid search I had done the night before and bust throughout some of the most gawdawful thick brush you can imagine and come up empty again and again.
We go back to last blood and Elk247 gets a wild hair about the trail going UPHILL and then eventually finds the tiniest speck of blood on the face of the planet and it breathes new life into the search. Blood disappears again so we follow what appears to be the most likely route and I find the mother load of blood, finally with what we can tell is lung blood. The problem? The blood trail starts going off in two different directions! We languish over possible routes and then we get the call from Kenzmad. His work is done for the day and he's on the way. We meet up for lunch and then back to the grindstone.
We spend a couple more hours trying to solve the mystery of the blood trail split and grid searching and then we hear a call from Elk247. "You guys are going to want to come over here".
That's right, our resident blood hound has followed a possible route of travel and found the buck! Here is the ATL pic. As you can see, some critter has already began the feast.
Here is the mighty hunter with his prize.
I'm a Seahawks fan. Be quiet.
And here are my new buddies Kenzmad and Elk247. Shoot your animal, call them, and go watch TV. They'll do all the work for you. Trust me on this.
After 13 man hours of searching, in the future I may think twice about taking a bow shot while it's raining just before dark in the thick forest. Hey, I DID warn you guys about the thick forest, right?
