Cant find my Big buck!

nv_hunter

Very Active Member
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1,312
So I arrowed a big buck lastnight at 7. 21 yards and he didn't know I was there. He was quartering away and the arrow hit right behind the ribs. He jumped and then tried to run but his back legs wouldn't work so he tumbled 3 times and then was out of my sight. I gave him 30 and went looking for a trail of blood. Only blood I found was where he tumbled. It was dark blood with chunks of fat around the blood about the size of a marble. I searched till dark and then was back at 5 this morning but nothing. No more blood. Rocky ground so no tracks. Did circles away from the blood and tried walking all escape routes. How long do I have before the yotes and birds give his location away?


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That is not a normal reaction to a shot hitting where you described. Did you find arrow? I suspect a shot hitting spine area or close to it. If it is fairly open country and deer is indeed dead birds will find it within a few daylight hours.Good Luck to you as I know how it feels to be in your situation. Dik.
 
I just shot a buck at last light and ravens were on him by 10:00 the next morning. They may have even been there earlier, but that was the first I noticed.
 
Maybe a dumb question but if it was a spine shot, did you go all the way to the bottom of the hill. Straight down. I hope you find him. Tony
 
If you are in northern Utah and need help looking I have tomorrow and Friday off. As long as I can get someone to watch the baby I would be happy to come help you look. You can e-mail me at [email protected]. Good luck on finding him.
 
GUT SHOTS are always nice!

For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
Hope your not hunting Nevada. Archery closed on Monday. Best thing to do is look for the birds and punch your tag.
 
Keep looking, but if you can't find him, punch your tag and stop hunting!! Getting sick of all the people saying they can't find their buck, to many wounded or killed deer that archery hunters can't find!!
 
Hunter11 who are you to tell the man to stop hunting. He's asking for advice on finding his deer, not your opinion on bowhunting. It's obvious he's trying his hardest to find the deer and not move on to another. Deer are lost when shot with an arrow, rifle, or muzzy. Good or bad it's part of hunting.
 
Considering I've killed and found every animal I've shot at with my bow except this buck then I think I'm not doing bad. 10 hrs spent looking for this buck and I won't stop till Sunday.

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First try and find some help but keep looking. I agree start looking down hill. follow out every draw and canyon out. They will go to the bottoms and bed down and it stays cool there. try and follow the fresh tracks. These deer blend in when there dead on the ground.I walked past a buck i hit sevral times and then went back to look for my arrow and walk into him and he was dead.. Keep your head up. talk to your local sporting good store and see if someone has a good dog to help you out. By this time that buck is ether dead or stoved up pretty good..


bubba
 
I use to have a Golden retriever that was truly something. Me and the dog were always busy this time of year finding all my co-workers lost animals. Cant remember how many times I could watch the dog, and tell the guy "get your tag out your fixin to punch it". I am sure I am gonna catch hell for this, but whats the bigger crime, me out finding your dead deer/elk with a dog or all that frigin meat going to waste. Bowhunt, ask around I am sure someone you know has a dog capable of doing what you need done.
 
Please lets not turn this into an anti archery pissing contest. That horse has been beaten to death. Good luck to the hunter in finding his deer. Hunter11 - maybe you could have posted something a little more positive or helpful for your first post. we're all hunters here. Remember that.
 
maybe this is a dumb question but isnt it illegal to use a dog to find a wounded animal. i thought dogs were only legal for cats and bears.
 
I had a fox terrier that died of old age 3 years ago that found 11 deer over the years. I was always amazed how you could walk right past a dead deer in not to high of grass. Whoever said head to water is right many of the deer Alex my dog found were near the river or a pond. Good luck keep at it.
 
It's only illegal to hunt with dogs. There is nothing illegal about walking with your dog. Don't pack your bow just take your dag walking around looking for the deer to see if anything is dead around there. I have done this with game wardens. Good luck in finding your deer.
 
Hitting him back behind the ribs and the really dark blood could be a liver hit. The fat may have sealed up the wound hindering a blood trail. I've seen a few deer go down and tumble with a clean vital hit and then get up and move off. I expect it is the shock. If you hit the liver, he is dead, but could have covered some ground before bedding. How open is the terrain?
 
I am not trying to turn this against archery hunters, I archery hunt as well, and yes i shouldn't of put it like that. I hope you find your buck and commend you for looking as much as you have.
 
I agree Woodruff. Absolutely dumbest law. The real trick is believing in your dog. Mine got off the blood trail many times to take me straight to the dead animal. He found 1 animal over 24 hours after it had been shot. One time this co-worker came in braggin about this big buck he shot and couldnt find. Said it was a 23" 3 point. Big ole buck. I asked him if I could go look for it after work with my dog....My dog never did find a 23" 3 point, but he did find a spike by fork piled up under tree limbs that the co-worker walked by 3 or 4 times. Talk about ground Shrinkage! I still laugh my as$ off every time I think of that.
 
Lol LongRange!

The Big Buck always gets away/lost/GUT SHOT/stolen/etc!

Just RAZZIN Ya nv_hunter!

Hope you get back up there & recover him!

Yes,you still gotta eat the meat even if it's Rottin!:D



For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-11 AT 08:31AM (MST)[p]>Hitting him back behind the ribs
>and the really dark blood
>could be a liver hit.
>The fat may have sealed
>up the wound hindering a
>blood trail. I've seen a
>few deer go down and
>tumble with a clean vital
>hit and then get up
>and move off. I expect
>it is the shock. If
>you hit the liver, he
>is dead, but could have
>covered some ground before bedding.
>How open is the terrain?
>

The terrain is sheet grass with scattered patchs of mohaggany trees. He went down hill after the shot but I couldnt see him at the bottom of the drainage so he could have turned left and that would lead him into a large open sage filled valley with no trees. It does have a deep ravine in it but its 3/4 of a mile from the point he was hit. Or he could have turned right and went slightly uphill (8 deg maybe) and entered the trees and bedded. I have searched those trees and found nothing so far. I doubt he would have went to far that direction as it enters a basin that would cause him to climb up a steep hill. Then again I cant imagine a wounded buck going out into the open field ethier? Maybe he made it to that deep ravine. Ill look there.


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The sage field may look open, but deer commonly bed in the stuff and seem able to seclude themselves in what appears to be some short stuff. He'd be laying flat (assuming it was a lethal hit), so you may have to be on top of him before seeing him. He had to leave tracks in the odd spot here or there off the rocks. I expect the odd spot of blood as well so keep your eyes open for the sign of his passing (regardless of how far you are from the site of the shot) as well as the carcass.

If he was a large buck look for a track 3 1/2 to 4 inches in length to weed out from others.
 
Spent a good part of the day looking for that buck. I had wind so I was walking in a pattern hoping to smell him. I climbed up a peak and sat there looking for birds and dogs but nothing. As I looked for him I glassed up another big buck in his bed. Long story short ..... 32 1/2 inchs of antler are in my garage tonight. I believe I did all I could to find my first buck. I spent over 20 hours looking in a radius of 2 miles. I'm hoping it was a nonfatal wound. I'll post pics tomorrow.


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Right on, congrats on the buck! Can't wait to see picks of this 32 1/2 incher...
 
So?

You killed 2 Bucks with 1 Tag this year?

The Pics better be good!

For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
Oh man, you're gonna catch hell now!


"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, US Army
"Most men go through life wondering if they made a difference, Marines don't have that problem." President Ronald Regan
 
total B.S. !!!!! YOU stole an opertunity from someone else. you should have punched your tag after you lost the buck and be done !!! now i bet you will find the dead one and pick up the horns too huh........i am damned glad i don't live in utah. with all the crap i read on here i would quit hunting
 
I'm sorry if anyone has a bad thought about the way I went about my hunt. I put nearly 22 hours into searching for the buck I shot first. I HATE to lose an animal and this is the first I haven't found. Obviously it's done now. My conscience is clear but I do feel bad that there's a wounded or dead buck. That's not at all what I want!

Beavis ... If I couldn't find the buck after 22 hours of looking what makes you think I'll ever find the dead buck again?

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Remember, we're all in this glass house together boys... It's easy to say you would have punched your tag, when you don't have a 32" buck sittin pretty, waitin for a stalk...

I think NV_hunter put in some good time lookin for the other buck. He'd still be lookin if he didn't find the bigger one...

Honestly, I dunno if I'm believin any of the story or not... it seems a little too perfect that he finds a much bigger deer while looking for the wounded smaller one... and he harvests it, and posts it on here the same day...??? It smells a little fishy... But why anyone would "stir the pot" baffles me...

If you did hit another deer, I hope it lived. And I hope a muzzy hunter gets a crack at him...

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
sorry for the drama guys.......to each his own. just get testy with some of the tales i have been hearing . a couple guys i work with told me this morning they had to come back to town to buy more arrows, they shot 25 arrows ! and this is in idaho. so i take back my utah comment...........
 
at least he is posting... many many other hunters aren't even honest about their hunts. lots of hunters keep shooting deer until they get one they like and no there aren't just from Utah.
 
I watched a guy kill 3 bucks within 20 minutes one day in Wyoming, one nice buck and 2 little ones. I caught up to him a few miles away and a few hours later (he was on a quad and I was not) and he swore to me that he shot at the same buck each time.

Pretty weird evening.

I was up on a knob waiting on the good buck to come out that evening (I glassed him from a mile away that morning) and got in position above where he was bedding. I saw another 10 bucks waiting for the bigger one to get up and the quad came up the valley and he walked right up the drainage and jumped the first buck, hit it hard right in the back leg and he ran off on 3 legs. he didn't see where he ran to. walked up farther and jumped a yearling, hit it right in the gut and it ran up into the woods to die. He walked up towards where that 2nd buck went and jumped another yearling and neck shot him and drug him out of there with his buddy. I was too far away to catch him and I was yelling and a little fired up so they didn't respond to me. I tracked the big buck down right before dark and jumped him, but couldn't get a shot in the thick stuff. it took me 2 hours to get out and I found the guy and told him what happened and to this day, I do believe him, that he thought he was shooting at the same buck each time. Weird, sad....it was my last day to hunt so I could not get back to look for the bigger one.
 
Sounds to me like you made a good effort at finding a buck that you hit, 20 hours is very commendable. After that you get a shot at a bigger buck and kill it... thats awsome in my opinion good job, i would have done the same thing just like anyone else posting here......
Congradulations and we cant wait to see pics.

Shoot em till their dead
 
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I want pics!











Sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high, keep your eyes fixed to where the trail meets the sky...
 
Sometimes it's just better to keep to yourself. There's a difference between being honest and pot stirring.
 
>I'm sorry if anyone has a
>bad thought about the way
>I went about my hunt.
>I put nearly 22 hours
>into searching for the buck
>I shot first. I HATE
>to lose an animal and
>this is the first I
>haven't found. Obviously it's done
>now. My conscience is clear
>but I do feel bad
>that there's a wounded or
>dead buck. That's not at
>all what I want!
>
>Beavis ... If I couldn't find
>the buck after 22 hours
>of looking what makes you
>think I'll ever find the
>dead buck again?
>
>
nevadaanimatedhelmetwd2.gif



is there any rivers or creeks where you want. when animals are wounded it seems that they search for water.
 
Agreed Zigga, I am not saying it applies here, but, I like the saying:

Better to keep your mouth shut and appear to be an idiot, vs opening your mouth and removing all doubt. :)
 
I agree to a point. I have a love hate relationship with this site. Whats worse.... Keeping something to yourself when you could ask for advice in finding the animal or taking that risk and stiring the pot to some? Im preparing the pics now. It will be under a thread called "Haus".


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