Post by dougell on Nov 29, 2019 10:23:53 GMT -5
I hunted a new spot on the last day that I just wanted to check out.The buck sign was there but the wind wasn't ideal.I climbed a tree and instantly was less impressed with my view and shooting lanes but decided to just stay put.I saw nothing so around 4:30,I did a short rattling sequence followed by some grunts and two tips of the can.Within minutes,I heard a deer approaching.He was within range,directly downwind but was going to skirt me to where I couldn't get a clear shot.I grunted once,which stopped him and he looked right in my direction.He didn't commit and when he started to walk away,I grunted one more time.This was enough to turn him and he crossed into the only small shooting lane I had at 25 yards.I was drawn and ready but just as I released,he took a step forward and I hit him a touch back but centered midway in the body.He ran and stooped about 40 yards away for close to five minutes before walking away very slowly.I was hoping for a liver shot and expected him to be right there in the morning if I didn't spook him.I climbed down as slowly as I could at dark,left my stand on the tree and didn't even check my arrow.I wasn't in any hurry the next morning so Jordan and I went back around 9:00.We found my arrow,which confirmed more of a gut shot but I wasn't concerned because he didn't seem spooked the evening before.Jordan found blood and we tracked him and tracked him.This deer did something I've never seen a gut shot deer do.First,he bled pretty decent but he never bedded down a single time.He eventually took us into a very steep ravine,crossed a creek,went into another ravine and then finally bedded at the top of that ravine.At this point,he had gone well over a mile and that was the end of the blood trail.Some of the blood in that bed was still wet so I decided to back out and come back later in the afternoon.This area is a series of small points separated by big and small ravines.I searched everyone without any sign of him layter that afternoon.I was dumbfounded that this deer could be on his feet that long.I eventually went way around this one big flat which had a creek running the entire way from where he bedded.I started in about 1/2 mile from where he had bedded and found him as soon as I started to look.All total he went every bit of 1.5 miles and only bedded once.When I found him 24 hours later,he wasn't even stiff but some coyotes and just started on him.They ripped some guts out and got a little bit of the one hind quarter but he was fine otherwise.First time I ever witness a gut shot deer react that way.Attachment Deleted
