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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6089568
12/17/15 08:33 PM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,818
PMK
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 12,818 |
totally agree, we as hunters are responsible to put forth the effort to find any animal we pull the trigger on, regardless of caliber. I lost a few shooting behind the shoulder that left no trace of blood, found the next day 100-200 yards away while heading to a different stand. I changed to shoulder or neck (or head) shots and typically they are DRT, no need for tracking ...
and to the comment about hogs eating deer ... we hunted a place in Llano county years ago that had free range hogs (not feral). I shot a doe and was in the process of gutting it when my dad made it to me, he told me to hurry up cause he could hear the pigs coming. I was like what's the big deal? anyway, I got finished gutting and I could hear them getting closer, on a dead run. Dad told me to swing the deer up as high as I could get it into a cedar tree, which I did, then we quickly retreated about 50 or so yards as the hogs got to the gut pile ... there was quite a lot of noise and a several large pig fight going on over who got to eat the gut pile. Once they had finished, their noses were up in the air trying to find the deer, they circled that cedar several times before moving on out of site. We went and got the truck and I quickly drug the deer to it and got it loaded. I have been very aware of my surroundings while gutting a deer and while dragging it every since.
"everyone that lives dies but not everyone who dies lived..."
~PMK~
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6089736
12/17/15 10:23 PM
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 75
OutdoorAggie
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 75 |
Shot more with a 22-250 than any of my other guns, none went more than 50 yards.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: rifleman]
#6089760
12/17/15 10:39 PM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,615
billybob
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,615 |
I always look after shooting. Regardless if I find any blood. Depending on where the animal is hit there may not be any blood. I shoot a 22-250 ballistic tip and there are many times that I hit an animal and never find blood but recover them anyway. I definitely think u owe the animal enough respect to look for them. maybe its just me, but this would concern me and my caliber/bullet selection. I never had a lack of blood or really even a tracking job with my 30.06 put in the shoulder. It'll happen at some point. Give it time grasshoppa'. I've been shooting deer for over 55 years and have never had to track one yet..I don't take shots unless I can take out one or both of their running gears...that means no moving shots, no neck or head. If I don't have a shot at the shoulder blades I don't take it. It's hard for them to run with no front legs.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6089825
12/17/15 11:24 PM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,729
NMGW
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,729 |
I have killed many a deer with a .243, not much if any blood but they don't go far. You got to be able to track.
New Mexico: Not Really New, Not Really Mexico
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6089870
12/17/15 11:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 32,601
sig226fan (Rguns.com)
duck & cover
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duck & cover
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 32,601 |
I've heard the bravado of "if I shoot it's down" and all of the other bs over the years, either in hunting camps or guiding hunters....
Sooner or later, everyone either misses or has one run off to not be found...
Two years ago I put what I thought was a good shot on a 11 point at about 180 yards in a wheat field... Two hours later, tracking blood, saw him three times get up and run... chunks of lung in a pile we found... finally lost the trail, and were a long ways from where we started and where we knew who owned what.
Backed out, found a couple of neighbors, conferred with landowners and others to get permission, finally found him, 6 hours later, 3.5 miles from where I shot him, in another county, and still had to put a 223 in his head.
ONe of the best shots I've ever seen, was perfect where you you would point to shoot it.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6089888
12/18/15 12:04 AM
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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 |
I made the mistake early in my hunting career of not looking as good as I should have because there wasn't any blood. I realized a few years later my mistake...every time I think about it I get a pit in my stomach. There is absolutely no doubt that I hit that buck good but I was just to new to hunting and didn't know enough. I've never made the mistake again nor will I ever make it again. Since then I've had a couple run that didn't leave a drop of blood but I've always found them. I know a lot of you take out the shoulders and I used to but since I've started aiming just behind the shoulder I've never had one run more than a few yards and they've left a blood trail.
Last edited by Deerhunter61; 12/18/15 12:06 AM.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: jshouse]
#6089889
12/18/15 12:05 AM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,655
colt45-90
Texas colt45
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Texas colt45
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 11,655 |
I always look after shooting. Regardless if I find any blood. Depending on where the animal is hit there may not be any blood. I shoot a 22-250 ballistic tip and there are many times that I hit an animal and never find blood but recover them anyway. I definitely think u owe the animal enough respect to look for them. maybe its just me, but this would concern me and my caliber/bullet selection. I never had a lack of blood or really even a tracking job with my 30.06 put in the shoulder. It is just you... ha, would you want to be shooting that thing at 170" buck HOPING for a blood trail? please, please, just this one time give me a blood trail!!!! agree 100%
hold on Newt, we got a runaway
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Deerhunter61]
#6090093
12/18/15 01:58 AM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,204
Texas Dan
OP
THF Celebrity
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OP
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,204 |
I made the mistake early in my hunting career of not looking as good as I should have because there wasn't any blood. I realized a few years later my mistake...every time I think about it I get a pit in my stomach. There is absolutely no doubt that I hit that buck good but I was just to new to hunting and didn't know enough. This probably happens often when guys take up hunting later as adults. More experienced hunters are quick to share knowledge and tips with youngsters, but hesitate when hunting with adults who are new to the sport. It could be taken the wrong way or sound condescending to offer such basic instruction to another adult. I have a very good friend who shot a young buck several years ago and told me he must have missed it because it " ran off." Because we are such good friends, I felt comfortable telling him that he may have hit the deer and that we should look for it. He had no knowledge that a deer could bolt and run without showing any evidence of being hit. We found the buck in about 15 minutes about 50 yards away. He admitted to me later that evening as we were cleaning it that he didn't know how many deer he may have left in the woods. Two weekends ago I shot a spike with my .270 at 80 yards with a 130 grain bullet and watched him crumble. I later noticed there was no entry or exit wounds visible, much less any blood. I even joked on the cell to nearby hunter that I "must have scared him to death." Upon cleaning, we found it was a high shoulder hit the bounced off the top shoulder and destroyed the spine.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: stxranchman]
#6090138
12/18/15 02:17 AM
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,432
TFF Caribou
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 4,432 |
I tend to agree. But if I know where an animal was when I shot, and after 20 minutes, can't find a drop of blood within 30-40 ft of where he was, I'll quit looking. But i think you are talking more about looking within a few feet of where he was, and giving up. I have found many a deer after looking for blood and not finding one drop. I have found the first blood 50 or more yards away in some cases. I have shot deer and watched them go down in sight. Then get out and try to find the blood trail to them to see if I could. Sometimes the only thing I could find was the tracks leading to the deer with blood only within a few feet of the dead deer. Some deer just do not bleed till they hit the ground depending on shot placement. I shoot high point of the shoulder so I expect to not find blood close. I will also say I have looked for a buck I shot that I watched bolt off and run into thick brush one foggy morning. I waited about 30 minutes and walked to the spot I had marked(the fog had lifted). I made a quick walk into the brush on a trail and no deer. Made a few circles and still no sign of blood or deer. I widened my search circles with still no sign of the deer or blood. It was not very thick after I got into the brush where I thought he had run. There was a creek drainage that I thought he got into in the fog and I missed him running off. I walked north and south in the drainage and still could not find the buck or sign from him. So finally I went back to where I thought the buck had been standing to look for lunge marks when he bolted. Nothing. So, finally I went back to stand to look at my mark. What I saw was I walked to far(common miscue) and needed to be closer. I started out again where I thought he was standing after a new mark. I walked past a tall thick cactus clump and noticed him laying in the middle of it. I tried back track him and never found any blood. This all happened over an hour and a half time frame. I knew by the bucks reaction he had been hit. He left no blood. I did find what I thought was his tracks on very hard ground. I lost a doe one night when the blood played out after 300 yards. Had my dog with me in the very tall thick cover and she might have found it but did not stay on it(she was way ahead of me in the thick cover). I finally gave up after a couple of hours. It was cold after a windy front blew in at dark that night so I decided to pick up the search with better light the next morning at daylight. I was driving down a road on the backside of where I was looking and drove up on my dead doe laying in the road. She was probably still 200 yards passed where I lost the trail. Luckly it was cold that night and she was still in good shape. Serious question. How did you find a blood spot 50 yards away? We have alot of tall grass at our place. I lost a blood trail on a doe a couple weeks ago. But since I found blood, I wasn't going to quit looking. I finally found her, but I ended up having to just walk and walk til I stumbled upon her. 4' tall grass is hard to track in. I think I'm going to get somebody out to shred my pasture this summer.
The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference. -George Washington
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: jshouse]
#6090200
12/18/15 02:41 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,168
Tactical Cowboy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,168 |
I always look after shooting. Regardless if I find any blood. Depending on where the animal is hit there may not be any blood. I shoot a 22-250 ballistic tip and there are many times that I hit an animal and never find blood but recover them anyway. I definitely think u owe the animal enough respect to look for them. maybe its just me, but this would concern me and my caliber/bullet selection. I never had a lack of blood or really even a tracking job with my 30.06 put in the shoulder. Same
The secret to a long life is to try not to shorten it.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6090287
12/18/15 03:32 AM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,185
Stratgolfer
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,185 |
Buddy on the lease shot a deer last yr with a 308. called me to help track. I followed the hoof prints (which were like a horse in a race) faster to the deer than the shooter who was following blood. The signs are there if you know what to look for.
"I was called by the Yorkers a outlaw, and later by the english a rebel" Ethan Allen
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Triplesnake]
#6090372
12/18/15 04:33 AM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13,735
helomech
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13,735 |
[quote=Triplesnake
That's why I quit shooting SSTs in my 270. They kill ok, but I'd rather have a good blood trail to follow. Gotta find that good balance between expansion and penetration. [/quote]
I do plan to switch to the barnes 168 gr ttsx, but I don't care what bullet is used sometimes there is just no blood. Corelokts to a good job too, they are just not a very accurate bullet.
But back to original question. I look until I am certain I won't find the deer. Working with my dogs to help also, one of them does a decent job at finding them.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Stratgolfer]
#6090374
12/18/15 04:34 AM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 13,735
helomech
THF Celebrity
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Buddy on the lease shot a deer last yr with a 308. called me to help track. I followed the hoof prints (which were like a horse in a race) faster to the deer than the shooter who was following blood. The signs are there if you know what to look for. Won't usually see tracks where I hunt. Way to many pine needles on the ground.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6090401
12/18/15 04:56 AM
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 374
StretchR
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 374 |
I've been able to track when there wasn't much blood by following hoof prints, disturbed dirt, and even bunched-up pine needles where the deer's feet may have skidded. As long as it is running in a wounded panic, there are generally signs. When it slows down, if a good hit there will be some blood. My recent experience in east Texas has been that when they slow down and I lose the trail that I should start circling just forward of the last known point. Generally, the deer is down either in cover, or has collapsed on a trail within about 20 yards. Also, I always wait at least 30 minutes to start looking if the shot wasn't DRT. I do admit, it would be much harder to track in dry & rocky areas.
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: TFF Caribou]
#6090415
12/18/15 05:16 AM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296
stxranchman
Obie Juan Kenobi
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Obie Juan Kenobi
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296 |
I tend to agree. But if I know where an animal was when I shot, and after 20 minutes, can't find a drop of blood within 30-40 ft of where he was, I'll quit looking. But i think you are talking more about looking within a few feet of where he was, and giving up. I have found many a deer after looking for blood and not finding one drop. I have found the first blood 50 or more yards away in some cases. I have shot deer and watched them go down in sight. Then get out and try to find the blood trail to them to see if I could. Sometimes the only thing I could find was the tracks leading to the deer with blood only within a few feet of the dead deer. Some deer just do not bleed till they hit the ground depending on shot placement. I shoot high point of the shoulder so I expect to not find blood close. I will also say I have looked for a buck I shot that I watched bolt off and run into thick brush one foggy morning. I waited about 30 minutes and walked to the spot I had marked(the fog had lifted). I made a quick walk into the brush on a trail and no deer. Made a few circles and still no sign of blood or deer. I widened my search circles with still no sign of the deer or blood. It was not very thick after I got into the brush where I thought he had run. There was a creek drainage that I thought he got into in the fog and I missed him running off. I walked north and south in the drainage and still could not find the buck or sign from him. So finally I went back to where I thought the buck had been standing to look for lunge marks when he bolted. Nothing. So, finally I went back to stand to look at my mark. What I saw was I walked to far(common miscue) and needed to be closer. I started out again where I thought he was standing after a new mark. I walked past a tall thick cactus clump and noticed him laying in the middle of it. I tried back track him and never found any blood. This all happened over an hour and a half time frame. I knew by the bucks reaction he had been hit. He left no blood. I did find what I thought was his tracks on very hard ground. I lost a doe one night when the blood played out after 300 yards. Had my dog with me in the very tall thick cover and she might have found it but did not stay on it(she was way ahead of me in the thick cover). I finally gave up after a couple of hours. It was cold after a windy front blew in at dark that night so I decided to pick up the search with better light the next morning at daylight. I was driving down a road on the backside of where I was looking and drove up on my dead doe laying in the road. She was probably still 200 yards passed where I lost the trail. Luckly it was cold that night and she was still in good shape. Serious question. How did you find a blood spot 50 yards away? We have alot of tall grass at our place. I lost a blood trail on a doe a couple weeks ago. But since I found blood, I wasn't going to quit looking. I finally found her, but I ended up having to just walk and walk til I stumbled upon her. 4' tall grass is hard to track in. I think I'm going to get somebody out to shred my pasture this summer. By looking for other sign other than blood while still looking for blood. High grass, I will look higher up on the grass also while looking at the ground. Look for tracks, fresh running tracks. Broken limbs, twig, grass stalks, grass pushed the direction the deer ran, blood on limbs, blood on tree trunks, blood on rocks, etc. Don't just get fixated on blood on the ground as your only sign to track by. I also listen after my shot for a deer fall or crashing into things for a direction. When I loose sign, I will pic the obvious trail if the deer has been following open trails. If it branches off then I take each branch till I find sign. If the deer is running thru very thick stuff and not following an open trail, then I slow way down and mark my last sign and fan out to find the next. Trying to get a general direction the deer was headed and proceed till I find the sign if at all possible. I shot a buck one morning that was facing west and ran west after my shot. While I quickly reload still watching/listening for the buck, a buck came running in from the west heading east. Was it my buck I just shot? Not sure, but what I did do is look for sign first. I found lunging tracks off to the west then found some blood about 15 yards in. Followed in to the west and then it turned and started back east. I followed the blood back across the road and found the buck. Had I not been paying attention and the buck not left much blood I probably would have never looked for him on the east side of that road. Trailed a doe a man shot one afternoon that went down a trail then did a 180 came back on the trail she came in on and then made a turn down a hill into a canyon. We lost the sign at the bottom of the hill. This was a neck shot, so we searched in circles for a couple of hours and never found that doe. I even looked the next morning with no success. Do not know if she died or not as I never saw buzzards or saw a doe with a wound.
Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6090438
12/18/15 07:21 AM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,441
TxDispatcher
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,441 |
I have a very good friend who shot a young buck several years ago and told me he must have missed it because it " ran off." Because we are such good friends, I felt comfortable telling him that he may have hit the deer and that we should look for it. He had no knowledge that a deer could bolt and run without showing any evidence of being hit. We found the buck in about 15 minutes about 50 yards away. He admitted to me later that evening as we were cleaning it that he didn't know how many deer he may have left in the woods. Happened at the lease this year. Opening of rifle season, an older hunter came to camp and said he had missed a big buck. We asked "did you find any sign" and he answered no. Fast forward 2 weeks. He hunts Sunday morning, misses another big buck. Comes to camp and tells us. We word the question differently this time. "Did you find any blood?" And he answers "no, I missed him. He ran off" realization sets in and the lease manager told him to get his butt back to the stand and look for the deer. He found him 75 yards away, just inside the treeline so he probably killed 2 big deer this year. Needless to say, we'll all have a "refresher course" next season on Friday of opening weekend
I will get off in a little bit You shouldnt have said that
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: TxDispatcher]
#6090441
12/18/15 07:51 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,857
Simple Searcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 11,857 |
I have a very good friend who shot a young buck several years ago and told me he must have missed it because it " ran off." Because we are such good friends, I felt comfortable telling him that he may have hit the deer and that we should look for it. He had no knowledge that a deer could bolt and run without showing any evidence of being hit. We found the buck in about 15 minutes about 50 yards away. He admitted to me later that evening as we were cleaning it that he didn't know how many deer he may have left in the woods. Happened at the lease this year. Opening of rifle season, an older hunter came to camp and said he had missed a big buck. We asked "did you find any sign" and he answered no. Fast forward 2 weeks. He hunts Sunday morning, misses another big buck. Comes to camp and tells us. We word the question differently this time. "Did you find any blood?" And he answers "no, I missed him. He ran off" realization sets in and the lease manager told him to get his butt back to the stand and look for the deer. He found him 75 yards away, just inside the treeline so he probably killed 2 big deer this year. Needless to say, we'll all have a "refresher course" next season on Friday of opening weekend This post reminds me of a guy that I allowed to hunt a doe on my place a few years back. He came out several weekends and would tell me that he didn't get anything, and a few times he told me that he cleaned missed. After a few misses I recommended that he go to a shooting range to make sure the his gun was sighted in good. When he came back he said that the gun shot great but asked if he could try for a doe again. As he was a customer's brother, I was a nice guy and let him come back. I had things to do so I stuck around this time. When I heard him shoot I drove over to lend a hand. When I got to the feeder he was standing there shaking his head. He was frustrated that his deer ran off and swore that he was selling his gun. I started looking for the deer with his son. About 20 yards out in the direction they said the deer ran we found some blood and began a short track and found the doe. His son said that was cool and that they didn't look that far on the other NINE deer that they had shot at. I had them stay a while and we looked around the area and found the remains of four other does in about an hour of looking. That was the last time he hunted my place.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Simple Searcher]
#6090512
12/18/15 12:57 PM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 22,997
fadetoblack64
giddyup
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giddyup
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 22,997 |
I have a very good friend who shot a young buck several years ago and told me he must have missed it because it " ran off." Because we are such good friends, I felt comfortable telling him that he may have hit the deer and that we should look for it. He had no knowledge that a deer could bolt and run without showing any evidence of being hit. We found the buck in about 15 minutes about 50 yards away. He admitted to me later that evening as we were cleaning it that he didn't know how many deer he may have left in the woods. Happened at the lease this year. Opening of rifle season, an older hunter came to camp and said he had missed a big buck. We asked "did you find any sign" and he answered no. Fast forward 2 weeks. He hunts Sunday morning, misses another big buck. Comes to camp and tells us. We word the question differently this time. "Did you find any blood?" And he answers "no, I missed him. He ran off" realization sets in and the lease manager told him to get his butt back to the stand and look for the deer. He found him 75 yards away, just inside the treeline so he probably killed 2 big deer this year. Needless to say, we'll all have a "refresher course" next season on Friday of opening weekend This post reminds me of a guy that I allowed to hunt a doe on my place a few years back. He came out several weekends and would tell me that he didn't get anything, and a few times he told me that he cleaned missed. After a few misses I recommended that he go to a shooting range to make sure the his gun was sighted in good. When he came back he said that the gun shot great but asked if he could try for a doe again. As he was a customer's brother, I was a nice guy and let him come back. I had things to do so I stuck around this time. When I heard him shoot I drove over to lend a hand. When I got to the feeder he was standing there shaking his head. He was frustrated that his deer ran off and swore that he was selling his gun. I started looking for the deer with his son. About 20 yards out in the direction they said the deer ran we found some blood and began a short track and found the doe. His son said that was cool and that they didn't look that far on the other NINE deer that they had shot at. I had them stay a while and we looked around the area and found the remains of four other does in about an hour of looking. That was the last time he hunted my place. That's just sickening
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6091209
12/18/15 08:48 PM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,568
Son of a Blitch
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,568 |
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Re: So you fire a shot. What comes next?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6091231
12/18/15 09:04 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,612
QuitShootinYoungBucks
THF Celebrity
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Posts: 15,612 |
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