5 shot

I went out today looking for the buck I shot last weekend. I dug my way into the thicket by the creek, and smelled somthing not so pretty!I followed the smell and hair to a dead buck. It was an 8 point, a little smaller than the one I shot at( I think, could be ground shrinkage). The head, and front shoulders were intact, all the internal organs were gone, along with the back hams, one foot remained from a back leg. it was full of magots and flys. I thought it was a little more decomposed than it should be, but with critters eating on it, along with the hot humid weather we have had this week It is possible I think. I didn't see my arrow anywhere, and the hide was torn up too bad in the area of where the wound would be. The antlers were the same unuseual dark color as the buck I shot as well. He had also come from the area that I shot from. What do you all think? am am about 75% convinced it is my buck, but thier still some doubt.


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grim reaper

I would have to say that it probably is your buck. If there is any other hunters in your area I would ask them if they shot any deer if not you know for sure he is your deer. I hate losing a deer it just ticks me off I would rather have not even seen the deer than to wound or lose one I feel for ya. Good luck the rest of the season.

Matt / PA

Sounds like it might be a little to much of a coincidence for it NOT to be your buck......same area, same type rack, same direction etc.
It doesn't take long to get things pretty nasty when the critters have a way in, and there is some heat.
I'm not there to see the exact circumstances, but I'd say theres a good chance you found your buck......sad to find it that way for sure.

How far from the shot location did you find him, and are there other hunters in the area that could have possibly lost a DIFFERENT buck?

I think the odds favor the possibility that it IS yours. Too bad bud.

GaBowman

5 shot,

Sounds too much a coincidence for that particular deer you found not to be your buck. Almost always, the racks look larger on the buck when he is alive versus when you go up to him after he has died. Is the place that you hunted heavily hunted by others? If so, do some checking around to see if anyone else has shot anything. It just sounds to coincidental that you knew the area to check when you winded the dead animal (has happend to me before) and was probably not too far from a spot you checked the nite you lost him.

It's no comfort finding the deer that way. Would have been better to think that he was still alive and you might just get another crack at him but that is how it goes sometimes. Sorry it ended that way.

GB

Smack 'em where it hurts!

smokyghost

Sounds to me that you found him. Ive had this experience once, a buddy of mine shot a 8 pt and he looked for the deer for 2 days and couldnt find it about a week and a half later I stumbled across him he was pretty messed up also, but we put closer to that incident and he felt better knowing that he did kill him and didnt wound him. Some times you can look and look and never find your deer but when you do you feel a lil more at ease. when you dont well you always wonder about it. I look at it like this If sometimes you lose a deer and you've done everything possible to try to find him and cant. I just think of all the creatures that benefited from it. its like your giving back to nature. Lets just hope next time we'll have better luck. It happenes to the best of us......Good luck to ya

5 shot

Well the more I think about it, is got to be mine. I am pretty much the only bowhunter back there, he was laying no more than 250 yards from where I shot, the smell just started this weekend, or at least that's the first time I got &quot;wind&quot; of it. I am not one to suffer ground shrinkage, infact most times my bucks are larger than what I first think. I don't study the headgear to long, to long enough to see if it is large enough for the area I am hunting and then I concentrate on the shot. It has happend before though, he still is a pretty buck, just not as big as I thought, but the light was fading when I shot. I did muster the courage to cut the rack off, but the smell almost got to me!<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>! at leas this was good learning experience, and the critters in the area are eating well for a while.

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Shortdraw

5Shot... I read the thread on your hunt/loss. The one thing I couldn't find was what BROADHEAD you were using. I find it hard to believe the Muzzy broke and the arrow still hit the mark. I think the arrow was already gone when the rest broke... like on recoil. Otherwise it would have been in the dirt or at least way off target. I really think there must have been something else at work her. But hey... what do I know. What broadhead was it? I agree with the others... probably your deer. Yeh, cool weather is finally here.

WV Hunter

Congrats on finding it 5shot. It's a bummer to have something like that happen, but hey at least you got the horns, and from where it sounds like you found him, he probably died fairly soon. Glad to hear you kept on after him, alot of folks would have given up long before that. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Tazman

5 shot it sounds like it probably was your buck, I am like you in regards to the headgear, mine seem to be bigger once it is down.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

5 shot

When the rest broke, the cable slide split in half. One cable was still attached to what was left of the slide, while the other cable was free. What I believe happend was that at the shot, the cable slide broke, the rest still moved up and down becuase of the one cable still moving the slide, but the other cable was free to slap the side of my fletching. I use feathers so that would reduce the amount the contact would effect the arrow flight. I actually didn't realize that the slide broke until the next day, I wanted to check everything out, so I took a shot. The arrow corkscrewed all the way to the target, and the recoil and noise were just like they were at the shot on the buck. that's why I am pretty condifdent the slide broke at the shot. It was fine when I was sitting in the tree before taking the shot. The broadhead I was using was a 125 grn Magnus screw in 2 blade. my arrows where 29&quot; 2317's total arrrow weight was 560 grns, and the KE was between 71 and 72ft/lbs. I feel the cut on contact two blade head gave me the extra penetration I needed to get into the vitals, but barely. From the looks of the arrow as the deer was runing off I think I got one lung, and maybe part of another. He ran a pretty good way after the shot though.

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