A sad tale...

[BCHunterFSJ]

My wife shot this big whitetail just before dark. It ran off, we followed - getting dark, absolutely no blood trail, hundreds of other deer tracks...
We did not find him that night. Unfortunately the coyotes did!
Next morning, we followed the ravens and found what was left of the carcass.

https://i.postimg.cc/wjDR9Pz0/IMG-0795.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/C1xRHxqQ/IMG-0784.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Drillbit]

Wow! Beauty Buck

[DannyO]

They did that in a night?! Wow What a shame

[boxhitch]

Nice buck

woulda, shoulda, coulda ?

[blackford]

Wow.. that is a nice buck. Unfortunately this is part of it!

[cameron0518]

Nice buck. Thanks for the honest post

[knighthunter]

I shot a whitetail buck about 1/2 this size a long time ago. Was a nice 3x3. Same story. Crack of dawn I was back out looking for it. It was barely daylight when I found it in a willow bluff. Head minus the nose, and back bone was all that was left.

[IronNoggin]

Should be saturating the area around that carcass with traps & snares.

Nog

[twoSevenO]

That's a beauty buck!!!! Sad about the meat, but it will make a fine euro mount on the wall, thats for sure!

[Bubbacanuck]

That’s sucks. Seems to be something that can happen though.

[fuzzybiscuit]

Beauty buck!

Amazing what a bunch of coyotes can do overnight...

[LBM]

Nice buck, so how far did he travel after you left the track. Where did she end up hitting the deer, do you think he was all ready dead when the coyotes
found him.

[604Stalker]

Unfortunetly this happends had a crack at a double header with a spike and a 3pt mulie this season wanted my buddy to get his buck he moved slightly ahead and adrenalin or wind he couldnt hear me we had them head to head sparing he waited took a quartered away I had mine still and pulled no reaction... we found his just over the hill delt with his deer gt it to the truck and went back my heart sank as the trail of specks of blood lit up we trailed for the next 2 hours like hounds unfortunetly there were several shots rang out well we were processing his deer and not sure if it was us or the 4 more that went off wwell we walked slowly trailing we found exactly four spots where the deer had layed down and bleed atleast a half liter a spot it started to rain trail ran dry and we couldnt recover the animal saddest part ia the trail probably stopped when its blood pressure did but we circled till dark and found nothing theae things happend sometimes its the hardest part of hunting taking responcibility fornwhat happends after the shot .. I know you were probably looking for a harvest but it looks like even destroyed you had a crack at a booner and there was still a rack and a memory for you

[blackbart]

On the positive a lot think neck meat is the best....... Lots of the new hipster types like to make broth out of the bones too.

[tigrr]

Great Rack, sadly little else. Congrat's to your wife.

[todbartell]

That's a shame! But it happens - did you find out where the bullet hit? What cartridge/bullet/distance was the shot?

[lovemywinchester]

Bummer. Great WT!

[dracb]

Should be saturating the area around that carcass with traps & snares.

Nog

But it is illegal to catch eagles.

[dougan]

Bet the coyotes enjoyed themselves. Nothing goes to waste. Shite happens. Beauty buck just the same congrats.

[Imdone]

Hunt long enough, and it will happen to the best of em.

As stated, nothing goes to waste in the wild,

Dandy of a BC white Tail.

[REMINGTON JIM]

Nice Buck ! Prob a wheat field feed one too ! :cry: Oh well Yotes gotta eat too ! :-P RJ

[HarryToolips]

Too bad about the meat, but that's a hell of a buck..I agree with Nog, set up some traps and snares..

[Bear Chaser]

That’s a shame for sure.
My wife had the same thing happen to her one year. She shot a nice whitetail in the last few minutes of shooting light with a blizzard coming on. We found what was left first thing the next morning but of course the coyotes had found it first.

[caddisguy]

Heck of a buck. It might not have been the ideal outcome, but still warrants a congratulations to both you and your wife, so congrats on a fine Whitetail!

[Springer]

I lost a Buck like that to, I was back first thing in the morning and it was cleaned up by the coyotes. Good news is i killed a coyote on it and another one that was coming back for seconds.

[BCHunterFSJ]

That's a shame! But it happens - did you find out where the bullet hit? What cartridge/bullet/distance was the shot?

She was shooting a .243 with a 95 grain bullet. The shot was only around 50 yards. The buck jumped straight up into the air, ran a ways, stopped to look back at us and then disappeared into a deep ravine. Not a drop of blood anywhere and getting darker and darker by the minute.. .

[LBM]

She was shooting a .243 with a 95 grain bullet. The shot was only around 50 yards. The buck jumped straight up into the air, ran a ways, stopped to look back at us and then disappeared into a deep ravine. Not a drop of blood anywhere and getting darker and darker by the minute.. .
Answers part of it, so where was it hit, was it dead do you think before coyotes found it.

[moosinaround]

Geeze, they almost left you enough for a shoulder mount? All kidding aside, looks like you will just need to find a new cape. Beauty buck! Moosin

[BCHunterFSJ]

Answers part of it, so where was it hit, was it dead do you think before coyotes found it.

i have heard that a deer jumping up straight into the air often signifies a heart shot.
If that was the case, it was probably dead by the time the coyotes got there.

[LBM]

i have heard that a deer jumping up straight into the air often signifies a heart shot.
If that was the case, it was probably dead by the time the coyotes got there.

Ok thanks how far did it travel from where it was hit?
Hard to tell from pic but if in one of the openings looked like he headed for the poplar draws.

[elch jager]

Tough luck. I lost my first large animal this season after over 40 years of hunting. Spike fork moose... Last light, poor shot placement. Minimal blood trail. 6 hrs of searching - my Drahthaar tracked the tiny droplets for 800 yards before the trail ran out and we had to give up. Sure a bear or wolves fed well, but it was very heartbreaking. I know your pain...

[RICKADY]

Wow tough loss, but still a great set of antlers, congrats.