It's also been quite a few years since I've been this heartbroken. We tried for hours today to find that buck but could not.
It happened this morning on the farm, yesterday I got 3 does and had seen 15 deer from by blind on the edge of a cut bean field. This morning I saw maybe 10 deer but only shot at one. That buck was a surprise both in seeing him and even knowing he was on the farm at all. First let me show you the views from my blind.
Ok these are left to right from inside the blind. My blind is in a great spot where it fits in next to several bushes and has always been easy to get deer to come around. This time I was after as many does as I could get, that's why I bought all those extra doe tags. Since I was using my AR-15 I used a corn pile and markers to make sure they all came inside 100 yards. I didn't have any problems with the does yesterday, all of them dropped within sight of the blind. The blind is a Primos Double Bull Blind.
This morning I had several does around before it was light enough to even think about a shot because of the clouds and by the time it got light enough they were all gone. I knew I had drunk too much coffee this morning and needed to pee. I simply went out the back which opened into the bush around me. Did my business and went back in. It was now just before 7 AM. You know how we think well I moved around outside and made a little nose going in and coming out there would not be anything around so after I set back down I reached to my right in my backpack to get a water bottle and put it back. I looked up first to my right moving to my left and there he was, not 40 yards from me. Look at the first picture, right between the two strips at 40 yards. He was walking toward the CRP field across from me. One look was all it took and I got my gun, he was moving angled away from me and I could not get a good shot in the rib cage, still walking. I hit my ring against the barrel, he stopped and looked back toward me. The way his body moved when the bullet him I knew I had hit him. He ran and stopped before getting into the woods, he was facing left from me I put the crosshair on his chest and he jumped, turned around right, and ran into the woods. Seeing his reaction I KNOW I hit him both times. Understand something else. That ground line you see before the woods is NOT the wood line, the ground slopes down so the woods are another 20 yards from the groundline in the picture.
All I saw was that massive rack to his body size, I didn't count the points of even try to guess the score. all I was trying to do was get the best shots I could. After he ran I knew I had to give him time so I just waited and started shaking which went on for 15-20 minutes. Been a very long time since that happened to me. The whole thing was a surprise, first seeing him right there in the middle of the field 40 yards from me plus none of our cameras had picked him up. We had no idea he was around at all. I texted my friend I was hunting with and told him to stay and keep hunting, I would update him when I went to look.
Those "woods" is a 30 acre 20+ years old CRP field, thick as heck. The only way you can move through it is to follow the deer trails and the creek that runs through the middle of it. For most of the way you cannot hold your rifle across your arms, you will not get through. Because I could still see him when the last shot was made I knew it was outside the woods, had he been next to or just inside the woods he would have been below the groundline. Well, I could not find any blood and made a quick look inside the thicket. Nothing. My heart sunk for the first time today. I went back to the blind and texted my friend, he wanted to wait until about 9 AM because he had several deer passing by. Well after 30 minutes I could not wait any longer so I went back out to look, the heck with the does or anything else I pushed. It was hard going trying to get through all that mess, about 50 yards inside there is an area with very high grass, some of it up to my chest, he could be laying anywhere inside that and nobody would ever see him. After an hour I went back and texted my friend. He came in then we both went to where the buck was when I shot him and worked our way inside then curved around toward the open woods on the far right. After another hour we could not find him and it started to rain while we were in there.
My cousin that owns the farm called up two friends and they came to help, my cousin can't , he's 82. could never get around in there. The 4 of us looked for another hour and finally gave up. It was now 2 PM. I've been sick since. I know I hit him the way his body reacted each time. For all, we know he could be just inside the place somewhere or at the other ends of it. I seriously doubt he's still alive but we don't know for sure. I'll be going back by myself this week. By the way, we found the skull of a nice 10 pointer in there.
It happened this morning on the farm, yesterday I got 3 does and had seen 15 deer from by blind on the edge of a cut bean field. This morning I saw maybe 10 deer but only shot at one. That buck was a surprise both in seeing him and even knowing he was on the farm at all. First let me show you the views from my blind.
Ok these are left to right from inside the blind. My blind is in a great spot where it fits in next to several bushes and has always been easy to get deer to come around. This time I was after as many does as I could get, that's why I bought all those extra doe tags. Since I was using my AR-15 I used a corn pile and markers to make sure they all came inside 100 yards. I didn't have any problems with the does yesterday, all of them dropped within sight of the blind. The blind is a Primos Double Bull Blind.
This morning I had several does around before it was light enough to even think about a shot because of the clouds and by the time it got light enough they were all gone. I knew I had drunk too much coffee this morning and needed to pee. I simply went out the back which opened into the bush around me. Did my business and went back in. It was now just before 7 AM. You know how we think well I moved around outside and made a little nose going in and coming out there would not be anything around so after I set back down I reached to my right in my backpack to get a water bottle and put it back. I looked up first to my right moving to my left and there he was, not 40 yards from me. Look at the first picture, right between the two strips at 40 yards. He was walking toward the CRP field across from me. One look was all it took and I got my gun, he was moving angled away from me and I could not get a good shot in the rib cage, still walking. I hit my ring against the barrel, he stopped and looked back toward me. The way his body moved when the bullet him I knew I had hit him. He ran and stopped before getting into the woods, he was facing left from me I put the crosshair on his chest and he jumped, turned around right, and ran into the woods. Seeing his reaction I KNOW I hit him both times. Understand something else. That ground line you see before the woods is NOT the wood line, the ground slopes down so the woods are another 20 yards from the groundline in the picture.
All I saw was that massive rack to his body size, I didn't count the points of even try to guess the score. all I was trying to do was get the best shots I could. After he ran I knew I had to give him time so I just waited and started shaking which went on for 15-20 minutes. Been a very long time since that happened to me. The whole thing was a surprise, first seeing him right there in the middle of the field 40 yards from me plus none of our cameras had picked him up. We had no idea he was around at all. I texted my friend I was hunting with and told him to stay and keep hunting, I would update him when I went to look.
Those "woods" is a 30 acre 20+ years old CRP field, thick as heck. The only way you can move through it is to follow the deer trails and the creek that runs through the middle of it. For most of the way you cannot hold your rifle across your arms, you will not get through. Because I could still see him when the last shot was made I knew it was outside the woods, had he been next to or just inside the woods he would have been below the groundline. Well, I could not find any blood and made a quick look inside the thicket. Nothing. My heart sunk for the first time today. I went back to the blind and texted my friend, he wanted to wait until about 9 AM because he had several deer passing by. Well after 30 minutes I could not wait any longer so I went back out to look, the heck with the does or anything else I pushed. It was hard going trying to get through all that mess, about 50 yards inside there is an area with very high grass, some of it up to my chest, he could be laying anywhere inside that and nobody would ever see him. After an hour I went back and texted my friend. He came in then we both went to where the buck was when I shot him and worked our way inside then curved around toward the open woods on the far right. After another hour we could not find him and it started to rain while we were in there.
My cousin that owns the farm called up two friends and they came to help, my cousin can't , he's 82. could never get around in there. The 4 of us looked for another hour and finally gave up. It was now 2 PM. I've been sick since. I know I hit him the way his body reacted each time. For all, we know he could be just inside the place somewhere or at the other ends of it. I seriously doubt he's still alive but we don't know for sure. I'll be going back by myself this week. By the way, we found the skull of a nice 10 pointer in there.
