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Archery success (and angst): very, VERY late season score
So, we are into the final week of the Ohio archery deer season. This is the grand finale for all deer seasons in the state and, as luck would have it, I got picked up as an alternate yet again for the base's controlled archery hunt. The guy who had got drawn for this spot/this week had to go on temporary duty and was kind enough to leave remaining balance of his week-long hunt to me. This was a serious hookup, because it's a PRIME spot right at the opposite corner of the Huffman Prairie Flying Field whet I shot my last deer with a crossbow. It sits across a paved street and 60 yards from a creek where the deer cross regularly to the meadow I was hunting. The recent snowfall made it immediately obvious that they were up to their usual pattern.
At around 3:45PM, I ascended my climbing tree stand. Within 30 minutes, several groups of does passed through the field across the creek, but did not cross. An hour later, a few more stragglers did the same. Then, just after 6:00PM, I finally saw deer start piling up at the creek crossing but time was dwindling quickly. Suddenly, the unexpected happened when a HUGE freaking doe started walking right down the middle of the street toward my meadow! She had a very noticeable limp, but was making good time toward my spot despite this. I had spoken to the guy who gave up his spot to me and he never said he saw deer come from here, but hey, it is what it is. I was down to just 3 minutes of legal daylight left when the deer finally got into a 20 yard shooting lane and a bit of a brushy one at that. No choice: time to shoot. I drew, aimed behind the should and released cleanly. THWACK! The 125 gr. Slick Trick broadhead dug in deep. I saw a hit, a spray of blood and the deer took off. All good right? It seemed like it, but a sound snuck in right after arrow release that had me a little concerned. Did I hit a twig? I don't know, but there definitely was blood and there was a really odd gasping/death sound coming from where the deer ran. I called my the same officemate who helped me track my last deer (he was just finishing up his hunt on another part of the base) and gave it a solid 20 minutes before climbing down.
Before my buddy showed up, I already found excellent blood.
Once he got to my spot, we followed the blood into the treeline. This time, the tracking job was short, albeit through some heavy, nasty brush. The deer was down in a serious pool of blood in only about 60 yards. The crazy part? The broadhead went through the deer's throat! That sound I heard after the arrow released was assuredly the arrow clipping a branch, but the actual effect on the arrow was a huge blessing. That arrow hitting the carotid is why the initial blood spray was so pronounced and explains the strange gasping noises I heard back where I thought the deer went down. God was looking out for me tonight!
Wow - this was a HUGE doe. In fact, at the moment we found it, I got to thinking, "Gee, this has go to be the biggest whitetail doe I have ever shot!" Well, uh, there was a good reason for that...
...it wasn't a doe. It was a beefy shed buck and very likely the same wallhanger 8-point, sans his antlers, that we saw walking around here less than a week back. :bang: :cuss:
Despite the brutal reality of what had just happened, I was happy to tag another nice-sized deer and further stock the freezer. Make no mistake, it kills me that I took what was assuredly a very nice buck out of the gene pool without his antlers, but stuff happens. My family will enjoy the meat greatly and given that I scored on the first night I hunted here, I can still buy one more tag in this county and finish out the week. At the end of the day, this is a big, honkin' deer and you can't be upset about that.
Oh, and I found out why this guy was limping. It seems that he broke off half of his left hoof somewhere along the way, leaving a wicked stump of exposed flesh.
Gotta say, for as tough as the season was up to this point, these last couple of weeks couldn't have been better! Now I am going to pass it on and let the guy who helped me twice now have this spot since he has yet to punch his tag. We may even see if the base game mananger will let us hunt together.
At around 3:45PM, I ascended my climbing tree stand. Within 30 minutes, several groups of does passed through the field across the creek, but did not cross. An hour later, a few more stragglers did the same. Then, just after 6:00PM, I finally saw deer start piling up at the creek crossing but time was dwindling quickly. Suddenly, the unexpected happened when a HUGE freaking doe started walking right down the middle of the street toward my meadow! She had a very noticeable limp, but was making good time toward my spot despite this. I had spoken to the guy who gave up his spot to me and he never said he saw deer come from here, but hey, it is what it is. I was down to just 3 minutes of legal daylight left when the deer finally got into a 20 yard shooting lane and a bit of a brushy one at that. No choice: time to shoot. I drew, aimed behind the should and released cleanly. THWACK! The 125 gr. Slick Trick broadhead dug in deep. I saw a hit, a spray of blood and the deer took off. All good right? It seemed like it, but a sound snuck in right after arrow release that had me a little concerned. Did I hit a twig? I don't know, but there definitely was blood and there was a really odd gasping/death sound coming from where the deer ran. I called my the same officemate who helped me track my last deer (he was just finishing up his hunt on another part of the base) and gave it a solid 20 minutes before climbing down.
Before my buddy showed up, I already found excellent blood.
Once he got to my spot, we followed the blood into the treeline. This time, the tracking job was short, albeit through some heavy, nasty brush. The deer was down in a serious pool of blood in only about 60 yards. The crazy part? The broadhead went through the deer's throat! That sound I heard after the arrow released was assuredly the arrow clipping a branch, but the actual effect on the arrow was a huge blessing. That arrow hitting the carotid is why the initial blood spray was so pronounced and explains the strange gasping noises I heard back where I thought the deer went down. God was looking out for me tonight!
Wow - this was a HUGE doe. In fact, at the moment we found it, I got to thinking, "Gee, this has go to be the biggest whitetail doe I have ever shot!" Well, uh, there was a good reason for that...
...it wasn't a doe. It was a beefy shed buck and very likely the same wallhanger 8-point, sans his antlers, that we saw walking around here less than a week back. :bang: :cuss:
Despite the brutal reality of what had just happened, I was happy to tag another nice-sized deer and further stock the freezer. Make no mistake, it kills me that I took what was assuredly a very nice buck out of the gene pool without his antlers, but stuff happens. My family will enjoy the meat greatly and given that I scored on the first night I hunted here, I can still buy one more tag in this county and finish out the week. At the end of the day, this is a big, honkin' deer and you can't be upset about that.
Oh, and I found out why this guy was limping. It seems that he broke off half of his left hoof somewhere along the way, leaving a wicked stump of exposed flesh.
Gotta say, for as tough as the season was up to this point, these last couple of weeks couldn't have been better! Now I am going to pass it on and let the guy who helped me twice now have this spot since he has yet to punch his tag. We may even see if the base game mananger will let us hunt together.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
nice deer
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
I looked at the pictures first and going by the tarsals was thinking buck.
He really looked in good shape for post rut....except for that hoof......it hurt just looking at
Yes, there are definitely coyotes in the area, one of which showed up on my trail cam just a few days back. You are right about his overall condition being very good. He definitely put some weight back on since the rut.
I'm not a deer expert, but is it possible that the stress from the injury caused him to shed early?
Nice deer. While it does suck that you removed such a nice deer from the gene pool, would he have survived the winter with his busted hoof, or would he have fallen prey to coyotes or something else?
NRA Life Member
USUFB - I can't say for sure. This boy is a brute sizewise, so maybe he could've made it even with plenty of predators around. Speaking of which, dooes anyone know if hoof injuries like this ever heal?
Oh I've hunted in the snow in Texas and other places more than once and believe it or not, once was right down here close at Ezzel TX 12 miles south of Halletsville, which is about 60 miles north of here but still in southern Texas. One time was out of Junction on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, once up where I was born in North East Texas, and once in Mosambique with my ex father in law. That was wild because it was 14 degrees that morning. Down here in Texas it happens but you can't depend on it and in most of the State it's a fluke that happens every 10 or 20 years. It can get pretty cold here but it just doesn't like to snow.
I remember back in the early 70s, I think 73, it snowed twice here, and three times in Houston right up the road. Houston Mayor at the time Louie Welch joked that if it happened again he would contact the Winter Olympics Committee.
One weird thing I saw after one of those snows before it melted was a dead rattlesnake in the snow behind my parent's house. I think what happened was the snake came out in the sun when the sky cleared and he froze before he knew what was happening. I wish more of them would have made that mistake.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I've seen deer that have survived some serious injuries...we had a three legged doe on the place for awhile that dropped and raised fawns every year... I think it has a lot to do with the individual animal, how well fed it is, how it copes with infection and the numbers of hungry predators in the area...
Jerry
It seems that as long as they don't succumb to infection, no deformity insurmountable in the animal kingdom. We've seen some badly legshot bucks breeding does actively during the rut, limping and all.
Thanks, Jerry! Yeah, a throat shot isn't usually what you're after, but given the circumstances, I'll take it. Like you said, seldom is there a shorter tracking job in hunting, particularly bowhunting, than a double-punch through the jugular and carotid.
i wish we (Norwegians) were allowed to hunt with a bow or a crossbow!
looks like a good time!
or they are legal to own if you are a competitor crossbow shooter,
however there are not any crossbow shooting teams or clubs, so they are in reality illegal.
Bow hunting is not allowed in norway because of the fear of hurting the animals.
in Norway everything must be a overkill before its legal, the smallest deer calliber allowed is the 6,5x55 swede.
And we can't even hunt rabbits or hare's with 22lr,
But there are bow hunting clubs which organize trips to denmark to hunt with bows,
and who's also trying to change the laws when it comes to bowhunting in Norway,
there are trials in progress, and they might be able to change the laws.
But i wouldnt hold my breath, since we have more then one weird gun law,
we are not allowed to hunt with lead pellets for shotguns (enviroment issue) or with a revolver/handgun,
nor are we allowed to hunt with any kind of help from a flashlight, nightvision sight , or FLIR
"The Un-Tactical"
I think it has something to do with poachers beeing able to kill silently... But yeah, it sux, if only i knew someone who could buy me one, take it apart, and send it to me in 2 or 3 boxes, i would definately buy one ....
You're right about putting this deer out of his misery. The hitch in his step was pretty bad and looking around, it seems that broken hooves like this don't heal. He very well could have died from infection slowly once the Spring came. The hunt it self was definitely fun, if for no other reason than I got to witness a deer walking down a blacktop road for a good while before coming into a grass meadow. I've never witnessed that before.
It's crazy that they think poachers are going to somehow have a harder time using any other method to kill game illegally. The ones in the States will gladly use any old rifle at night with a spotlight to do their deeds. Also, I'm still baffled that they consider archery kills "too inhumane" to allow it. If they saw the hole from that crossbow kill with the same broadhead I've used all season, they wouldn't think that for very long.
yes, we are allowed to hunt with silencer/suppressors ...
these days its so normal that people look at you funny if you don't have one on
when at the range...