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My 2017 Buck: The longest day.

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
This was my third trip south for the season and I'd been hunting since Friday evening. My card pull on Friday was disappointing. One camera had malfunctioned and had no pics. The other really did show anything special either. The Hunt Friday was ok, the typical handful of resident doe and fawns and a few little bucks. Saturday was much better. I saw one nice up and comer, again with the regular family groups, but much more chasing. We were having a Birthday party for my dad on Saturday, he was tuning 70 this week and this was the only day my siblings and I could get together. Anyway, I had to come off stand around 10 to be at the party by 1130. I kind of had a bad feeling this was going to bite me. I got down and made the walk to the house, changed clothes, and went to chat with the family. I look out the back window at my Mom's and a stud 8 is in her back yard. As my luck would have it, he walked straight down the hill and over to my stand! I felt like I got hit in the gut. This might have been my one chance and it was gone.

My next hunt was Sunday morning and it was pretty much a dud. Much slower movement and I kept dwelling on the missed opportunity from the day before. Sunday did perk up a little, as there was a buck and doe in lock down in one of the thickets above me. Kind of odd though, he was just a little scrub buck. I thought, "well at least there is the scent of a receptive doe in the area". Sunday ended with out seeing a single deer over 100 inches.

During the night I woke to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. UGH, really more rain. I slept a little longer and got up, sore back and sour mood, but got going. I was back on stand by 6:10. Shortly after getting settled I could head a deer run down the hill and stop to my left, it was several minutes before I could make out it's silhouette. As I sat in the rain and strained my eyes, I still couldn't make out if there were antlers, I tried to settle back and wait. The next time I looked over the silhouette was gone. As I scanned around I see a deer facing away from me on my right. It's still dark enough I can't tell what it is, other than a deer. A few more minutes pass and I can see antlers! I slowly reach for my binos, but they are wet and I can't see a thing. Next I pull my range finder from my inside pocket and can see this is a shooter (in my book anyway). He's at 38 yards, but I don't have a clear shot. Since this all happened so early, I was still sitting. I started to think about standing to see if it would give my the clearance I needed. As I angled my body to stand, I peek back over my left shoulder and three doe are staring up at me. Now I'm in a pickle. There's no way I can stand, but if he sees these deer he should turn and come their way. At least that's what I hoped, but it was not to be. Off into the woods, he walked away. Again feeling cursed I texted a few friend about my situation. As a few replies were coming back the three doe were waling away towards the house. Now frustrated I stood up and checked to see if I would have had a shot...not really. Then I turned a little and see him standing about 40 yards up the hill behind me! He slowly starts walking and I wait for my tree to obstruct his view so I can reach my bow and clip my release. He continues walking , but is getting to high up the hill. I try mouth grunting. He hears it but it doesn't change his path. I fumble and manage to get my grunt tube out, but it doesn't turn him either. He's now close to 60 yards away and I'm sick. However, once he hits the flat I walk in in he changes direction and starts directly towards me. He closes to 27 yards and turns towards a scape and licking branch. Once his head is behind a tree I draw and settle my pin. I touch off the release and "thwump", I hear the hit and it sound weird and the deer immediately haunches ad it runs away. My heart sinks. I know what this means.

Now I'm watching this deer walk head down and haunched up. Much too far for a follow up shot. He is slowly walking up into my mom's yard but getting behind some of the pin oaks that are still full of leave. I call up to the house and tell my mom what happened. She says "I can see a deer a lying in the yard". I ask her if its a buck. She confirms it is and says he keeps laying his head down. I ask her to keep an eye on him while I make a few calls. Unless he dies right there, I know I'm going to need a dog. While I'm making my calls, I see him up and walking again. He slowly makes his way up the hill and into the wood line. I want to vomit. After a little more time passes and sneak down and check my arrow. No blood, only gut. I'm sick. I don't mess around at all and just head to the house. All of this and it's only 7:50 am.

I talked with Kaiser about bringing Ace down, but unfortunately he wasn't able. But it was a good call with lots of encouragement. Next, I talked with Bawana about a post he made either on a forum or Facebook, I wasn't sure which. He was able to get contact info for Jared and Buck. They were on their way to Uhrichsville to do a track and maybe another in Minerva. He was impressed with my story. He was glad I did not push the deer or contaminate the track. He said he would call me later after the first track and see if he could make it. My anxiety was killing me. My mom even commented that I was wearing her carpet out with all of my pacing. I didn't hear back from Jared until just after 11:30. His first track took several hours and cover over 1.5 miles. They got the deer but need to stop and eat. His other track cancelled. He would come my way, although he stated he prefer to wait 12 hours on a gut shot deer, but had family commitments this evening. It was my call have him come or wait and track on my own. This was a no brainer, I wanted the help of the dog.


As it turned out they didn't make it to the property until just after 2pm, nearly 7 hours post impact. We reviewed the property lay out, talked about water sources, and looked at my arrow. Then we walked Buck to the point of impact. He circled and circled taking in the scent, almost to the point of wondering what the heck he was doing. Jared said it was normal and he was just identifying his target. Once we started he was very deliberate and steady in his track. He followed exactly the path I recalled. We saw some blood along the way, but it was sparse. Up through the yard passed his first bed, then into the wood line and the second bed. My heart sank a little, I was really hoping he would be right there. Then another bed and one more. Now Buck is climbing up in a bunch of root balls and debris. I'm thinking would a sick deer really climb up and through this stuff? Jared is certain Buck is still on the track. It's getting very thick and I try to circle around(I'm walking with a knocked arrow on a compound). They Jared calls out "I've got blood" confirming we are still on the track. Then I hear "there's your deer"! However, his head is up and he's still alive. Buck is barking and the deer just holds. I try to get in a position for a follow up shot and finally the deer spooks. He jumps, lunges, falls...snowplows and is out of sight. We wait a few seconds and slowly advance. He's piled up just over a blow down. I creep in and finally have a clear shot. I draw and stick him with another arrow. He slowly drops his head and expires. What an old warrior. Special thanks to Jared and Buck. Thanks for reading my long winded story about my longest day ever.
 
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Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
Arrow
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
Congrats Scott, Jared and buck are an awesome combo.... I’ve seen him in action with Chads buck and it was impressive....
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Nice deer, Scott. Congratulations! You played that bad hand perfectly, glad it worked out for you!
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
Great buck and glad you recovered him. I ran into situation this year where I needed a tracking dog.
Where is Jared located and how far does he travel? Thanks
East central Ohio. Not sure how far he travels. There is a website, united blood trackers that lists trackers by state. There were a few with 513 and 419 area codes for you west siders.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Great write up and great buck Scott. We can all learn from it. Sometimes it happens. All the preparation in the world isn't the same as a live animal. Glad you were able to recover him.