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Please age jawbone (pics added from deer shot in muzzleloader)

JCDEERMAN said:
I did indeed. I wasn't even looking for him. I was flagging an old 2 track Saturday morning that we will be having dozed soon (making a new trail system on our place).

In the pic, the X is where I shot him, the continuous line is his blood trail, the dotted line is his likely path (based on me thinking I heard him while trailing and typical deer travel) and the yellow is where I spent 10 hours looking for him. Found him at the dot
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Good deal....glad you got closure.... amazing how far they can go....also glad you recovered the skull before the dozer got there! Nice buck....congrats!
 
Gravey said:
No idea on age but glad you found him and get some closure.
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There really is nothing like getting closure, as you and others have mentioned. I have replayed that scenario over and over and tried to figure out what exactly happened. I was able to place the crosshairs exactly where I wanted. It was about an 8 yard shot. I wouldn't have changed a thing. Sucks how it played out, but I will LEARN from it and do things differently next time. Switching powder and bullets, as well as expand perimeters.

If you look at that map, when I was headed down that point where I lost blood, I knew I heard something across and up the next ridge. It didn't sound like a deer, but I knew I heard something constantly moving. I had my mind set that he was headed down and headed towards a big creek with springs just off our property. I was wrong and if I had given what I heard more consideration and that he had pivoted, I would have strategized differently and likely would have walked that hollow I found him in.
 
Hard to tell by pictures but do you think he was dead when you and the dogs were trailing him?
 
AT Hiker said:
Hard to tell by pictures but do you think he was dead when you and the dogs were trailing him?
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I never got around to having a dog come out. One said he couldn't come due to schedule and the other could, but it wouldn't be until a few hours after optimal time to find a deer. He was also pricey and I truly believed the deer kept going down the hollow and off our property to a big spring down there and I knew we wouldn't get permission. So, I never got him to come out. Obviously, I wish I did now.

I do believe he was dead before dark that day - shot him at 8:15 am, if I recall correctly. I dissected the area and his skeleton like it was a crime scene. I found his right shoulder blade, but couldn't find his left one (that's the one I shot). I just wanted to figure out exactly what happened and how it deflected. It looked like the first couple ribs could have been shattered at the ends, so I'm thinking it hit the left shoulder and deflected right. Some fragments or just energy of the impact affected his lungs because he was coughing within 20 seconds. He was standing a hard quarter-to and I was straight up above him. I believe there was no exit, so little to no blood trail - just when he coughed it up. Still don't know how he didn't drop in his tracks, but I'll be changing to Blackhorn 209 powder and possibly a different bullet. Will add a lot more foot pounds of energy just by making a powder change.
 
Shame TN doesn't have as many trackers willing to do it as a hobby as MS... perhaps it's because they have to be on a leash in TN, and you can't dispatch the deer when it's being trailed by dogs. Lots of walking by the owner through brambles, briers, etc... and slow tracking, so lots of time invested in TN.

In MS, recovering deer has become a popular sport. No leash required, turn the pack of catch dogs loose on the trail behind a good trailing dog, all equipped with GPS collars, and watch them go to the deer on the computer screen, then go right to them. If the deer is still alive, no matter, the dogs will have them incapacitated by the time you get there. Because it's so much fun for the dog owners, many refuse payment.

A tracker 15 miles from me has recovered just over 170 deer this season alone with their pack. She and her husband do it for fun. Sometimes they will let you pay for gas, but usually not.

Not saying the way its done in MS is right... lots of wounded deer are caught and killed that would have otherwise recovered from their wounds. And not saying it's wrong for good tracking dogs in TN to cost $300 to come out. But I think there are good and bad things about what is allowed in both states.

Regardless, that deer would have been recovered with a good dog or pack of dogs.

10 years ago, less than optimal shot just resulted in an unrecoverable deer. We all accepted it. It sucked, but everyone eventually shot a deer they couldn't find. Now that tracking dogs are allowed, the majority of deer that were lost are recoverable. That's great for the hunter and the deer themselves.

I would suggest you make friends with a local tracker and have them on speed dial. Many would rather track than deer hunt... but almost all still love to hunt. In TN, I allow one to coyote hunt my farms in Feb for coyote killing contest wins.

Regardless, you can feel you did everything you could do considering the circumstances. That makes it just a little less bitter pill to swallow.
 
Very good info, mega. Definitely will be arranging them to come out on the next one. Talked with them for a long time and told them I'd call them again next time a shot deer is in question
 

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