gamestalker
member
My Son's are all very accomplished hunters, with both archery and firearm.
Last January one of my boys killed his 2014 mule deer right at day break, and on Jan. 1st, short season too say the least. So this year we went out on the first day he had available, which I think was Jan. 2nd, and immediately stuck a nice mule deer at around 60 yards, actually very nice buck. I was guiding him and saw the entire event, and he stuck it cleanly, in what appeared to be right through the lungs. The shaft went through and through, and had some good sign on it confirming it had in fact lunged him.
So last spring he decided to up grade and had PSE custom build on for his extremely long draw length. It shoots an honest to goodness 300+ fps with the shafts and broad heads he is using.
We left him alone for a good hour or so before starting to track him, and I watched the buck for as long as I could before he was out of view. When we finally started the search, we immediately found a decent amount of pink foamy blood where he had laid down, but it wasn't long before we completely lost all sign, and tracking his foot sign was impossible once he hit the rocky terrain. We spent almost 3 hours trying to glass him back up on the back side of the slope were I last saw him, but not a single sign of him or the 7 ladies he was pushing? We looked the area over real good the next morning, and also looked for crows to see if they could lead us to him, but nothing. Then later that day we picked up some doe's being pushed by a really nice buck, and to our surprise it was him, and aside from the obvious blood stains, he was doing just fine, but not able to be stalked where he was hanging out.
So we went out last Thursday and he stuck a couse white tail at 40 yards, right through the lungs again, in and out. Did the same routine, waited about an hour then started the search, nothing, and the area was extremely thick so trying to glass him up wasn't even an option. Then we found where he had laid down, and there was some pretty good blood, pink and foamy, so we knew he got some lung. Then the hunting gods turned on us and dumped heavy rain, then heavy sleet on us, so we were unable to locate any more sign what so ever.
We moved on, but by now it was getting into the late afternoon. We found yet another big buck, mule deer. This time we decided to try and go for a hind quarter arterial shot, something that would let him bleed out quickly. He took the shot at 111 yards, and although that is extreme, my boy is indeed well prepared for long shots, as well very accomplished. Again I was spotting the shot, and we had lots of open terrain, so I knew I would be able to keep him in view for a good long while. I saw a good flow of blood down the leg, and thought he would likely pile up pretty quickly, but he just kept working his doe's as if nothing had happened. I ended up putting him to bed, and thought this is all it's going to take, he'll lay there and just die. No dice, he got up after about 45 minutes and went right back to working the doe's. We checked his bed, and it had barely any blood.
Next day we found him in the same area, and he wasn't even so much as limping.
All these years of archery, and this is by far the worst luck we've ever experienced. I mean we lose one now and then, it's archery, it happens, but this is season has been one of the most frustrating seasons ever. Even in past years, we almost always find them by the end of the day, or first thing the next morning by using the crows and good tracking techniques.
GS
Last January one of my boys killed his 2014 mule deer right at day break, and on Jan. 1st, short season too say the least. So this year we went out on the first day he had available, which I think was Jan. 2nd, and immediately stuck a nice mule deer at around 60 yards, actually very nice buck. I was guiding him and saw the entire event, and he stuck it cleanly, in what appeared to be right through the lungs. The shaft went through and through, and had some good sign on it confirming it had in fact lunged him.
So last spring he decided to up grade and had PSE custom build on for his extremely long draw length. It shoots an honest to goodness 300+ fps with the shafts and broad heads he is using.
We left him alone for a good hour or so before starting to track him, and I watched the buck for as long as I could before he was out of view. When we finally started the search, we immediately found a decent amount of pink foamy blood where he had laid down, but it wasn't long before we completely lost all sign, and tracking his foot sign was impossible once he hit the rocky terrain. We spent almost 3 hours trying to glass him back up on the back side of the slope were I last saw him, but not a single sign of him or the 7 ladies he was pushing? We looked the area over real good the next morning, and also looked for crows to see if they could lead us to him, but nothing. Then later that day we picked up some doe's being pushed by a really nice buck, and to our surprise it was him, and aside from the obvious blood stains, he was doing just fine, but not able to be stalked where he was hanging out.
So we went out last Thursday and he stuck a couse white tail at 40 yards, right through the lungs again, in and out. Did the same routine, waited about an hour then started the search, nothing, and the area was extremely thick so trying to glass him up wasn't even an option. Then we found where he had laid down, and there was some pretty good blood, pink and foamy, so we knew he got some lung. Then the hunting gods turned on us and dumped heavy rain, then heavy sleet on us, so we were unable to locate any more sign what so ever.
We moved on, but by now it was getting into the late afternoon. We found yet another big buck, mule deer. This time we decided to try and go for a hind quarter arterial shot, something that would let him bleed out quickly. He took the shot at 111 yards, and although that is extreme, my boy is indeed well prepared for long shots, as well very accomplished. Again I was spotting the shot, and we had lots of open terrain, so I knew I would be able to keep him in view for a good long while. I saw a good flow of blood down the leg, and thought he would likely pile up pretty quickly, but he just kept working his doe's as if nothing had happened. I ended up putting him to bed, and thought this is all it's going to take, he'll lay there and just die. No dice, he got up after about 45 minutes and went right back to working the doe's. We checked his bed, and it had barely any blood.
Next day we found him in the same area, and he wasn't even so much as limping.
All these years of archery, and this is by far the worst luck we've ever experienced. I mean we lose one now and then, it's archery, it happens, but this is season has been one of the most frustrating seasons ever. Even in past years, we almost always find them by the end of the day, or first thing the next morning by using the crows and good tracking techniques.
GS