2017-18 Bambi wacking thread

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  • BigCountry14

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 17, 2013
    1,668
    I wanted to get out this morning, but got dragged out by the wife....so no hunting today.

    I love this type of weather this time of year. All the rain bogs down the leaves so they dont make all kinds of noise.

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
     

    j_h_smith

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 28, 2007
    28,516
    My neighbor is sitting in my stand, hasnt seen anything. He checked his Spypoint app and there deer standing in front of his stand :lol2:

    That happens more times than you think. A few years ago, My oldest son and I were in Fredneck County hunting some property of a friend. We set up my son in a great location where the owner promised he'd see deer and I hunted about 500 yards away from him.

    About an hour after sunrise, I take a 100 lb doe. After we get back into the woods, my son (always impatient) said he wanted to hunt where I was and I could hunt where he hunted. I said sure, I got mine, so the rest of the days was his. I set him up and I go to his stand. I don't even climb the tree, I just sit down under the stand. Not 10 minutes later, I shoot a 120 lb doe.

    Now my son is furious. We're into the afternoon, so while were out of the woods we eat and take a nap. My son is beside himself. He doesn't know what to do. So, I set him up on a trail not 5 minutes into the woods that's heading towards water. It was a hot day, so I thought something would come up the trail. After a bit, he got his first deer and big 130lb doe.

    So the moral of this story is that the deer will be just about anywhere. If you're there, then you'll get a shot, if you're not, someone else will be there and take "your deer" like my son said to me that day.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,812
    That happens more times than you think. A few years ago, My oldest son and I were in Fredneck County hunting some property of a friend. We set up my son in a great location where the owner promised he'd see deer and I hunted about 500 yards away from him.

    About an hour after sunrise, I take a 100 lb doe. After we get back into the woods, my son (always impatient) said he wanted to hunt where I was and I could hunt where he hunted. I said sure, I got mine, so the rest of the days was his. I set him up and I go to his stand. I don't even climb the tree, I just sit down under the stand. Not 10 minutes later, I shoot a 120 lb doe.

    Now my son is furious. We're into the afternoon, so while were out of the woods we eat and take a nap. My son is beside himself. He doesn't know what to do. So, I set him up on a trail not 5 minutes into the woods that's heading towards water. It was a hot day, so I thought something would come up the trail. After a bit, he got his first deer and big 130lb doe.

    So the moral of this story is that the deer will be just about anywhere. If you're there, then you'll get a shot, if you're not, someone else will be there and take "your deer" like my son said to me that day.


    ^^^This. I always tell people, if you're in deer country, one will walk by sooner or later. Stay put. I can count on one hand, the number of times I've sat all day and not seen a deer I could shoot with a gun.
     

    ChrisD

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 19, 2013
    2,991
    Conowingo
    I'm planning to be out Thursday and Friday this week. So many things getting in the way of getting out this year. I have only had 3 half day trips so far. Lots of days at an on call job, in New York last week, and my daughter's wedding yesterday. Family from out of state staying at the house until today. Some free time going ahead now I hope.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,812
    I'm planning to be out Thursday and Friday this week. So many things getting in the way of getting out this year. I have only had 3 half day trips so far. Lots of days at an on call job, in New York last week, and my daughter's wedding yesterday. Family from out of state staying at the house until today. Some free time going ahead now I hope.

    Congratulations on your daughter's nuptials! :clap:

    Plenty of season left. It's really just getting started.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Congratulations on your daughter's nuptials! :clap:

    Plenty of season left. It's really just getting started.

    Reminding myself of that. I finished installing garage door motors today in my new garage. Last major project of my major renovation. Just some minor finish work now.

    Sadly family/friend stuff for awhile now. Fingers crossed a week from Monday or Thursday I can get out after work from about 2:30pm on. Otherwise November is booked solid. At least my wife’s uncle is visiting this coming Thursday and Friday. Hitting PG for some sporting clays one day and the range the other. Only person on either side who is also in to guns and hunting, so I don’t begrudge a visit.

    One problem with public land hunting is just sitting in one spot doesn’t mean you will have a deer walk by you, even if it is a likely spot. Some other hunter(s), or horseback riders, hikers,
    Etc. might have pushed them away from where you are...

    But, yeah I realized I’ve been out on 4 different days for about 3 days worth of hunting since not all were full days. 1 spike taken.

    With my renovation dying down and my neighbor’s schedule freeing up, I’ll probably be out the last 2 days of early gun hunting western MD, the 2 days of late gun on the eastern shore and if I am even modestly lucky I’ll be able to get out for a day or two, or at least half days the week of Christmas for late ML and maybe another day or three after work. I’ll probably also hunt at least a day or two of the winter turkey season with a crossbow, so if I come across any deer...

    I’ve got probably twice as much time in the field coming up then I’ve already spent.
     

    CGrant726

    Active Member
    Feb 24, 2009
    175
    North Harford Co
    Shot this young 8pt last Wednesday evening. First bow kill. Just got into bow hunting so I am happy with this one.
     

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    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,765
    joppa
    Well, My boy finally had a deer come in where he could get a shot with the crossbow. It was a nice size 4pt broadside at 30 yds. He got it to come in from100yds using a can and a grunt tube but it was also following scent wicks I had up.
    I have no pictures because it ran off with the arrow sticking out of it, I could see the orange fletching. We waited about 15 mins before climbing down and looking where it stood when he shot.
    How do you track a deer that leaves 0 blood as it runs?
    We went back to the barn and got better flashlights then our headlamps, stopped at the house to tell momma we were tracking a 4 pt and went back to the tree stand. Again 0 blood. No drops on the ground no splatters on the bushes nothing anywhere. OK so we do it the hard way, take the trail and the last direction we saw the deer and follow that shining a light off to either side looking for eyes shining or a body down. Hmmm OK come back on a parallel trail doing the same thing. Crap, all right lets take another trail from the last place we saw it......OK crisscross between trails...come back to the tree stand for the 4th time let's head down to the creek maybe he doubled back when we went up to the barn.. One last thing let's check out this real thick wisteria Hey I see eyes on the other side of the fence. Stand there and watch for a while and they move off so we look for blood, nothing. Follow the horse trail back in the direction the eyes went and still nothing. One last thing I can try, I've shot deer and they've run uphill into the hedgerow behind the back field so we crisscross through that and see eyes again. 3 deer out in the bean field... I am out of ideas by this time so we go back to the stand, collect the bow and head in.. It's 8:15 and we've spent 3 hrs looking for this deer with no luck and not one speck of blood. The only thing I can think from where I saw the fletching is the bolt got stuck in the shoulder. If it's not raining in the morning I'll call in to work and search these woods in the daytime, maybe I'll find it laid up somewhere... I hope.
    The one good thing I can take away from this is not once did my son complain about the greenbrier he was caught in or the time we took looking for his deer.
     

    HogCommander

    Active Member
    Aug 10, 2013
    411
    Texas Hill Country
    Newmuzzleloader...sorry to hear about your son's buck. Last year a buddy shot his first with a crossbow and had a similar experience in that the deer ran off with the arrow still visibly in it but no blood to be found. I helped him look for 3 hours in direction of last sighting with no luck. The next day we did a grid pattern visual search with 4 people spread out line abreast. We found the deer about 600 yards from where it was last seen.

    It turned out to be the worst shot I've ever seen (through the hind quarter into the stomach/intestines...arrow still in the deer when we found it) but we were able to salvage most of the rest of the deer. Hope you find him in the morning!
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,812
    It is very possible the deer will survive that shot. I shot a deer similarly a few years back and I lost it. 3-4 days later, from my stand, I saw a buck 300 yds away headed into the woods. Yup, it has the 8 point I shot. Very bad limp. In spite of that, he was still out prowling for does all night(this was in the heat of the rut). I killed him on the special two day gun season in January along with two other walking wounded bucks. All three had already dropped their antlers due to their injuries.
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    newmuzzleloader--sounds like your son hit the deer high. I've lost a deer that way once and lost a couple due to brisket shots. Next time though you should wait longer to start looking--my rule of thumb is to not climb down for an hour even if I think I had a great shot. I'm not sure if the full hour is really necessary but I do that now after some bad experiences trying to search too soon. You might have been pushing the deer as you trailed it, which can boost its adrenaline and help it to survive and/or run far. And it never hurts to just wait until the morning to check. If the deer is hit decently enough, it might decide to bed down somewhere and expire. What power crossbow were you using? Did it seem like the bolt didn't go in very far (like it might have hit a shoulder blade and not penetrated any organs)?
     

    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,765
    joppa
    It wasn't raining so I went out again this am and covered all the ground we did last night plus some we didn't cover last night, damn near lost my boot when I stepped in a hole in a swampy area I was moving through.... found nothing in 3 hrs of daylight searching. Derwood, yes his shot was too high,I thought that when I saw the fletching. It went in the upper left and probly hit the far right shoulder bone. Thee bow is a Horton 175, at 30 yds I've put arrows through n through and had them half buried in the ground.
    Outrider I think it'll survive that shot also I hope I can see it again this yr.
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    Newmuzzle--That's tough but on the same token, a good lesson for your son! Hunting is all about the ups and downs! Hopefully he's eager to get back out there and try again!
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,812
    Newmuzzle--That's tough but on the same token, a good lesson for your son! Hunting is all about the ups and downs! Hopefully he's eager to get back out there and try again!

    Speaking of crappy blood trails. My recent buck didn't leave much of one either. Didn't find my first drop til I went 100 yds or so. Fortunately, I was sure I heard him crash, so I had a direction to start in. I'd be lying if I said your name didn't pop into my head at one point, lol. :D
     

    Doco Overboard

    Ultimate Member
    Sometimes a high shot deer is brought down by vitals being tucked up towards its spine from being bedded.
    A shot in the same area (I'm Talking archery) on one that's been on its feet awhile may not be as effective because the lungs settled out some.
    I found too that even though you have a good memory picture of where the deer was struck, sometimes when you get to them things are a little different than what was originally captured by the mind.
    Not scientific study here,just some observations.
    Take from it what you want or leave it.
    That young fellows hooked even though he had a bad gig, he'll be out as soon as he can I'm sure.
    Probably weary of going through the event in his head from being disappointed. That'll pass and come back some time later to him.
    Its experience building.
     

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