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Don't overlook the obvious...
#6053572
11/28/15 01:28 AM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719
cameron00
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719 |
Went out this a.m. hoping to see a monster I couldn't get a shot on a few weeks back. No such luck, but I did have 9 does, a forky, and a spike at my feeder/food plot area by the time the sun was high enough to see clearly with the overcast sky.
I waited about 45 minutes and then decided to go ahead and take a doe. I have 3 MLD tags and we have too many deer. Gotta use all 3 before January.
They were all bunched up so I got a good glimpse of size comparison. Followed 1 of 3 that were clearly grown does. There were a couple of fawns, so it was pretty easy to gauge.
Pulled the trigger with grandpa's 7mm mag I redid for my Nilgai hunt. Bought some Hornady soft tips for whitetail. Gun is perfectly on and likes this ammo.
Shot was about 165. I thought I heard the impact, but couldn't be sure. All of the deer out in front of me took off towards the tall grass another 200 or so yards back. Once deer make it there, it's very difficult to find them. I'm talking 4-5 feet high. Even the recently cut and bailed grass is back to about 2 feet now with the warm weather and rain we've had. None of the deer appeared to be injured and all made it to the tall grass where I quickly lost track of them, apart from seeing the occasional top of a head. Great. Another long search. That's not what I had in mind when I brought the 7mm mag for small whitetails, but alas...
I walk the entire food plot. Cannot find 1 drop of blood. Oh boy...did I actually miss? Shot felt great, wasn't nervous at all, was very smooth pulling trigger, didn't feel like I pulled it. Still, no blood.
Spend about half an hour searching the food plot for any trace of blood. Also walk the cut line where the deer disappeared into the tall grass. Nothing. Not a drop.
Extremely frustrated, I start considering the possibility that I may have missed. I start walking back towards stand through food plot, reliving the shot in my mind to figure out exactly where I think doe was standing. I find a teeny, tiny tuft of white hair. Drop to 1 knee and start looking at the dirt. Tiny glob of bright red blood and a chunk of bone right next to it. Roughly the size of a bb. About 2 feet due right, so very light blood coating a blade of grass where the foodplot ends and the johnson grass starts. This doesn't make any sense, that would mean that she ran straight towards the field, when all the deer I watched ran perpendicular straight back to the tall grass...
Or maybe she wasn't with them?
She's not even 10 yards off the food plot in the grass. Was dead before I even settled back in from the shot. I started my search for her convinced she had run with the pack and never even thought to look closer than I had figured.
Oh well, happy ending. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one.
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053599
11/28/15 01:48 AM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719
cameron00
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719 |
The pay dirt...
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053673
11/28/15 02:28 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,535
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,535 |
Sometimes it is hard to maintain sight on the target animal when there are several in a group. Glad you found her.
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053725
11/28/15 02:56 AM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 236
kmartinusa
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 236 |
I keep hearing to watch the impact through the scope...I've never been able to do that. Not even once.
Glad it worked out for ya.
We kept it as a pet for several months until it got run over by a truck. Then we ate him.
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053739
11/28/15 03:05 AM
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719
cameron00
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 8,719 |
As soon as I shot I put the gun down to try to see which doe was running erratically heading towards the tall grass. Figured if she made it there, I'd at least be able to see where she went in. Ended up watching 8 healthy does and a spike bounding effortlessly away. The forky isn't what I'd call a "smart deer" yet. He just watched the others run off and went back to eating corn.
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053812
11/28/15 03:56 AM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 9,987
Old Rabbit
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 9,987 |
Glad you found her. Keep the forky around and corn train him, that way when he is a 150 class buck he will be easy pickings. LOL
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6053818
11/28/15 03:58 AM
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,302
Ramsey
Pepe' Le Pew
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Pepe' Le Pew
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 14,302 |
Big Beckett!!
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: Ramsey]
#6054064
11/28/15 12:55 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,806
Deerhunter61
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,806 |
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: cameron00]
#6054216
11/28/15 03:02 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 19,262
TEXASLEFTY
THF Whiskey Sommelier
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THF Whiskey Sommelier
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 19,262 |
Congrats, thanks for posting this up!
Never been to a camping world. I prefer Dick's to be honest.
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Re: Don't overlook the obvious...
[Re: kmon11]
#6054245
11/28/15 03:15 PM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,042
Western
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,042 |
Sometimes it is hard to maintain sight on the target animal when there are several in a group. Glad you found her.
That's the truth
If at first you dont succeed, then skydiving is not for you..
"Don't trust everything you read on the Internet"- Abraham Lincoln Dennis
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