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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: WatersFowler]
#6997677
12/15/17 06:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 590
HWY72
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Tracker
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I hunt in South Texas where every bush has thorns and if it doesn't have thorns it has fangs. I shoot the deer with a high shoulder shot that drops them in their tracks. Caliber needs to be appropriate since you are trying to hit heavy bone with enough shock and awe to disrupt their entire nervous system, as well as their main blood supply. This. My 11 year old son shot a nice buck near a fence line and hit it in the shoulder with a .243. We waited a couple hours and all we found was meat with some bone fragments in it. Blood trail stopped after about 75 yds and he was never recovered. Searched for over 5 hours. This was bad placement for a .243, but I am now a little sour on the smaller bullet. Big dear need big lead. IMO this is a great example of poor shot placement. A larger caliber may have gotten you a smidgen more meat and bone, but probably nothing more. Heart lung broadside or quartering away and patience waiting for that shot is the way to go.
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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: bobcatt]
#6997714
12/15/17 06:32 PM
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,292
oldoak2000
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I've been trying to use common sense here, but maybe there's a tip i'm missing. i'm currently hunting 85 acres of very thick, almost impassible east texas forest and brush, with the exceptions being two lanes cut out by oilfield workers and an area about 30 yards squared from my stand where my feeder is set. Obviously a 1-shot clean, quick kill is the goal, but otherwise... any tips on hunting, and more on my mind, searching for and recovering an animal...shooting a good buck that will crash into the thicket has me concerned. hunt mornings/midday; skip evening hunts. hard to find what you can't see.
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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: Red Cloud]
#6997835
12/15/17 08:21 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,919
maximum
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If your buck runs after the shot: WAIT at least 30 min. . . . . . good advice for any deer ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ i always have a watch with me to keep up with the time. 30 minutes can seem like 3 hours after you've shot a deer. plus, something else shootable may show up in the interim
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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: oldoak2000]
#6997842
12/15/17 08:27 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,919
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hunt mornings/midday; skip evening hunts. hard to find what you can't see.
^ ^ ^ ^ also i'd rather skin & butcher during the daylight hours. the few i've done at night always turn out more raggedy than the daylight butchered animals
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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: WatersFowler]
#6997857
12/15/17 08:38 PM
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,593
Opening Day
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,593 |
I hunt in South Texas where every bush has thorns and if it doesn't have thorns it has fangs. I shoot the deer with a high shoulder shot that drops them in their tracks. Caliber needs to be appropriate since you are trying to hit heavy bone with enough shock and awe to disrupt their entire nervous system, as well as their main blood supply. This. My 11 year old son shot a nice buck near a fence line and hit it in the shoulder with a .243. We waited a couple hours and all we found was meat with some bone fragments in it. Blood trail stopped after about 75 yds and he was never recovered. Searched for over 5 hours. This was bad placement for a .243, but I am now a little sour on the smaller bullet. Big dear need big lead. I have killed many a deer with a 243. Probably more lucky than good but I have never lost a deer with that gun. I have heard a bunch of horror story's with big guns. Simply said shot placement is very vital. I have list deer with different guns before. Maybe little bit complacent about my shot with a bigger caliber?
Last edited by Opening Day; 12/15/17 08:40 PM.
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Re: hunting/recovering in thick brush
[Re: bobcatt]
#6997950
12/15/17 09:37 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,071
sprigsss
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Shoot them with a .50 cal and apparently if you miss you will still kill them.
Focus on double lung and they will not go far. I've seen shoulder shot deer go for a half mile with almost no blood and have to be finished off. If you miss the spine and they still have 1 good shoulder, they can go a long ways. A double lung shot deer isn't going far, and you won't waste any of that delicious shoulder roast.
Don't be afraid to get down low to the ground when looking.
Have seen a bunch of deer die in the briars in Louisiana. Sometimes while standing up you can't see what is on the ground 5 ft from you. Actually lay down and look under the briars and often times you can see 10-20 yards. Although no clue what your cover looks like.
But like someone else mentioned above if it is THAT thick, you may not find blood on the ground, look a few feet off the ground. Range where they went into the brush from your blind before you get down. Then when you are where you think the deer was, range the blind.
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