This thread is meant for posting recovery videos. I know most folks are more concerned with trying to get the kill shot on video, but I think recovery videos are just as much fun to remember as you can re-live the walk up and re-experience the emotion. They are a bit easier to capture also!
I’ve only got three recoveries on video, so need to be a bit more diligent in remembering to capture the moment. I’ll post them and their associated stories in the order they happened.
This first one is from the biggest whitetail I have taken. It was the fall of 2010 and we had been watching this deer for three years. The first year we assumed he was a 2 year old in the high 130s/low 140s. The following year he exploded into a mid-170s 3 year old and we gave him the name ‘Frankenstein’. He was pretty core to the farm so we decided to pass him that year. Glad we did as he survived and looked to be over 200 that fall.
It was November 2nd and I had taken the day off work. I had hunted that morning (can’t remember what stand) and headed back out around 1pm for the afternoon sit. It was a real goofy wind that day as it was blowing directly out of the east. We of course don’t have many sets for that wind, so with my limited choices I decided to do something completely different than what I usually do. During the rut I typically like to sit in the timber in a well known travel area or pinch point to catch cruising bucks. But this day I grabbed the decoy (I never hunt with a decoy…) and decided to sit in a stand we had set on the west side of one our food plots in hopes a buck up on his feet may see it from across the field and come to check it out.
The first action for me that day was around 2 when my buddy who had worked that morning passed by me on his quad while heading to the stand he was going to sit in at the back of the farm. He stopped as he passed, we chatted from 22 feet away for a bit, and he moved on.
It was a few hours later when I heard what sounded like a deer approaching from the edge of the timber to my right. I stood up and grabbed my bow for whatever might happen next. A few seconds later I saw a good buck step from the timber at about 45 yards and start to stare at the decoy. I raised my binos to check him out and saw a forked G2. My first thought was it was a buck we called ‘the forked G2 10’ who was on our pass list. But then upon a second look I realized it was Franky. And he was just staring at the damn decoy! I immediately wanted to kick myself for bringing it as I assumed he was going to freak out and haul ass. But boy was I wrong! After a couple minutes he lowered and cocked his head, laid his ears back, bristled all up, started licking his nose, and began stiff-stepping right towards the decoy which was only 15 yards in front of me. I was like ‘this is going to happen!’ He was so focused on the deek that I think I could have started playing a drum set in the tree and it would not have mattered. I drew and he stopped just a couple steps from the deek. He was broadside and quartering away ever so slightly. I released and the shot looked perfect. He immediately took off directly away from me, but I could see the arrow sticking waaaay out of him! Like it was only in a few inches. He ran about 10 yards straight away, turned right and basically did a semi-circle and ran back into the timber pretty close to where he had come from. I sat quietly and heard the tell-tail crash of a deer falling maybe 10 to 20 seconds later. I was like HOLY SHIT!
I immediately called my buddy and said ‘I just shot Franky!’ He could tell by my voice that I was not messing around and he said ‘I’m coming right over!’
I got down and he showed up about 15 minutes later. You will see in the video we took to the track right away since I had heard him fall, but I stopped and asked if we should wait a bit longer. He turned the cam off at that point, but we proceeded towards the edge of the timber where we could see his belly and that is when he turned the cam back on.
We did send the teeth in and confirmed he was 4. The shot was perfect (actually went through the middle of the heart) and hit the offside shoulder. The arrow was sticking way out as it had pushed out as soon as he started to run. The Thunderhead remained in his offside shoulder. I have never had him officially scored, but the average of the 3 folks who have measured him comes to 215 gross. Deductions against the typical frame are around 10 inches, so he would net ~205 non-typical. Field dressed at 216lbs.
The videos start with the overall view from the stand, my buddy arriving for his hunt, then the recovery. Now join me for one of the best hunting days of my life! Hope you enjoy it.
And please post up any of your recoveries. Ones with kids are the best!
I’ve only got three recoveries on video, so need to be a bit more diligent in remembering to capture the moment. I’ll post them and their associated stories in the order they happened.
This first one is from the biggest whitetail I have taken. It was the fall of 2010 and we had been watching this deer for three years. The first year we assumed he was a 2 year old in the high 130s/low 140s. The following year he exploded into a mid-170s 3 year old and we gave him the name ‘Frankenstein’. He was pretty core to the farm so we decided to pass him that year. Glad we did as he survived and looked to be over 200 that fall.
It was November 2nd and I had taken the day off work. I had hunted that morning (can’t remember what stand) and headed back out around 1pm for the afternoon sit. It was a real goofy wind that day as it was blowing directly out of the east. We of course don’t have many sets for that wind, so with my limited choices I decided to do something completely different than what I usually do. During the rut I typically like to sit in the timber in a well known travel area or pinch point to catch cruising bucks. But this day I grabbed the decoy (I never hunt with a decoy…) and decided to sit in a stand we had set on the west side of one our food plots in hopes a buck up on his feet may see it from across the field and come to check it out.
The first action for me that day was around 2 when my buddy who had worked that morning passed by me on his quad while heading to the stand he was going to sit in at the back of the farm. He stopped as he passed, we chatted from 22 feet away for a bit, and he moved on.
It was a few hours later when I heard what sounded like a deer approaching from the edge of the timber to my right. I stood up and grabbed my bow for whatever might happen next. A few seconds later I saw a good buck step from the timber at about 45 yards and start to stare at the decoy. I raised my binos to check him out and saw a forked G2. My first thought was it was a buck we called ‘the forked G2 10’ who was on our pass list. But then upon a second look I realized it was Franky. And he was just staring at the damn decoy! I immediately wanted to kick myself for bringing it as I assumed he was going to freak out and haul ass. But boy was I wrong! After a couple minutes he lowered and cocked his head, laid his ears back, bristled all up, started licking his nose, and began stiff-stepping right towards the decoy which was only 15 yards in front of me. I was like ‘this is going to happen!’ He was so focused on the deek that I think I could have started playing a drum set in the tree and it would not have mattered. I drew and he stopped just a couple steps from the deek. He was broadside and quartering away ever so slightly. I released and the shot looked perfect. He immediately took off directly away from me, but I could see the arrow sticking waaaay out of him! Like it was only in a few inches. He ran about 10 yards straight away, turned right and basically did a semi-circle and ran back into the timber pretty close to where he had come from. I sat quietly and heard the tell-tail crash of a deer falling maybe 10 to 20 seconds later. I was like HOLY SHIT!
I immediately called my buddy and said ‘I just shot Franky!’ He could tell by my voice that I was not messing around and he said ‘I’m coming right over!’
I got down and he showed up about 15 minutes later. You will see in the video we took to the track right away since I had heard him fall, but I stopped and asked if we should wait a bit longer. He turned the cam off at that point, but we proceeded towards the edge of the timber where we could see his belly and that is when he turned the cam back on.
We did send the teeth in and confirmed he was 4. The shot was perfect (actually went through the middle of the heart) and hit the offside shoulder. The arrow was sticking way out as it had pushed out as soon as he started to run. The Thunderhead remained in his offside shoulder. I have never had him officially scored, but the average of the 3 folks who have measured him comes to 215 gross. Deductions against the typical frame are around 10 inches, so he would net ~205 non-typical. Field dressed at 216lbs.
The videos start with the overall view from the stand, my buddy arriving for his hunt, then the recovery. Now join me for one of the best hunting days of my life! Hope you enjoy it.
And please post up any of your recoveries. Ones with kids are the best!