Please Help A New Hunter

[midnightmoonlight]

Well the good news is I got my first deer. I Just finished butchering last night.

Here is my question. I shot at this 150lb buck at about 25yards with my 50 cal. muzzle loader. I hit him and he ran off about 15 yards into the woods with what looked like a broken leg on the front opposite side of the bullet entry.

What should I have done?

I reloaded waited 30 minutes and circled around him to push him away from the property line and into the center of the 100 acres I was hunting. He jumped and ran about 50 yards and layed down again. I had a good shot but towards my house so I didnt take it.

I slowly stalked him for another 500 yards before I finished him with a shot to the neck while he was laying down.

Part of me was saying let him lay down and die after the first shot but my instinct said I shouldn't let him suffer with what could be just a broken leg. He looked very alert when I was stalking him. So I stayed on him and finished it as fast as I could.

After gutting and skinning it looks like I did the right thing but I was hoping for some more advise. The first shot passed through his right leg 3" above the breast line missing any real part of the leg and continued all the way through and destroying the Left Leg.

What would you all do?

I think I must have knocked the scope out of wack because I was right on at the range. Just a little low at 100 yards. When I took the shot I aimed a little high (good thing I did) The second shot was right on so who knows must have been nerves. Before I took the shot I said to my self calm down a few times before I whistled at the deer and pulled the trigger. Now that I think about it..... sounds like good old common trigger yank instead of squeeze. Hmmmm

One more important question. On 100 acres in Northern New england can I expect to find another Buck in these woods this season? I saw this buck a few times before the season started when I was scouting but no others. There is a nice doe with two babies but I missed any available doe tags for this season. I do have one more Buck tag though. Should I hunt the areas I saw this buck at or move to another private spot across town with only 26 acres but surronded by 250 acres of town land? Will another buck move in? I have until the end of the month to try for another Buck.

Thanks for the Help

[instinct]

you did the right thing congrats nice deer

[midnightmoonlight]

Thanks

[TheMiz54]

You did the right thing nice job good first deer.

[fieldbuck]

You did a perfect job. Great buck!

[fastetti]

Looks like you did everything right. Unless I see a deer fall, I wait a minimum of 30 minutes. Let the deer stiffen up. I tell new hunters to wait affter shooting a deer and they wonder why. I use this example. If you run a couple miles stop and immediately start walking again, you'll be fine, but if you sit down for a half hour, the lactic acid will build up and if you want to run again it will be a lot tougher. Again, congrats on a nice buck and you did everything like a true seasoned hunter would have.

[Jimmy S]

Yes, I agree with others, you did everything right. To me, I feel that more deer are lost because the hunter pushed the deer too soon and too often. If it's a fatal shot, you'll find him close by, if he's hit hard, let him go and begin tracking him down after 30-60 min. Either way, let him go. I also feel it's OK to go to the exact spot the deer was standing when you fired. That may give you a good indication of how hard the deer was hit. You can also tell by where the deer was hit when shot as well as how the deer reacted when he ran.

Also, I woud continue to hunt that same property. He's not the only buck in those woods.
Again, congrats on a nice deer.

[Stoningtonwhitetail]

you did the right thing...congrats on your buck....nice one!

[hunting junkie]

congrats it must have been hard to wait on the first one,good job

[midnightmoonlight]

Yeah it was very hard to wait but I saw him lay down in the woods and didnt take my eye off of that spot. 30 minutes felt like 2 hours.