S
snlwarren
Guest
Wanted to let you all know how my Kaibab muzzleloader hunt went and thank all those that helped with advice and tips. I really appreciate it all. I went up there to find and shoot the buck of a lifetime, which is exactly what I did. The only problem was that I was unable to recover it. I hunted for five days, saw 30-40 deer per day, 10-15 bucks per day, and at least one shooter each day. I finally got to the one I wanted on the fifth day. He was a 28" 3x5 monster walking broadside at fifty yards. I was one canyon over when my dad called on the radio and told me where this buck was so I had to run to get to him. I was huffing and puffing when I saw him and knelt to take the shot. I laid him over hard, but as I was reloading he jumped back up and headed into a very deep canyon. I found his blood trail (there was a lot of it at first) followed it to the bottom where it thinned out heading up the canyon. We crossed another wounded animal that I had seen getting shot. We got mixed up on blood trails but eventually found ours again. Tracked him for nearly 2 miles when the blood ran out. Was able to stay on his tracks for another 200yds, but then lost those as well. After 8 hours of tracking we finally gave up. Based on how far he went, I think he probably survived. I will never forget it. It was a great experience. Thanks again for all your help.