Sept 9th 3-point

[Bow Walker]

My buddy ,bochunk2000, and I went out for an evening scout/hunt and came across a spike a group of deer containing a spike and 3 does just off the side of the road. The spike was a tad small (even for me) and one of the does looked not too bad so I hopped out of the truck and nocked a Slick Trick 100 grain magnum onto the string of my '06 Diamond Liberty.

I was checking out the does and estimating the range (35 - 37 yards) when this little 3x2 stepped out from behind the bushes. He (and the group) were getting a little bit nervous - the truck was idling at the side of the road and I was in the open at the back of it - and so decided to start to move off.

I tucked my pin in behind the shoulder of the 3-point and drew back - he was stil walking off so I gave a verbal grunt to get his attention. He stopped and looked back at me, giving me a nice broadside shot. Just as I touched off the trigger release on my Fletch Hook the buck took another step and the arrow went in between the 8th and 9th ribs instead of the 3rd and 4th ribs.

The blades cut a perfect hole through both sides of the chest cavity but unfortunately were just a bit far back and so nicked the paunch/liver area. The buck's tail came up int he classic flag position and he took off. He didn't hunch up and run (like he would've from a severe gut shot) so I was hopeful of catching some of the lungs.

We watched him go out of sight at approx. 175 - 190 yards away - marked the spot and went to recover the arrow. Well the shaft and fletching was covered in blood but some of it was brownish, and it smelled pretty high. So now we knew that my shot had hit a bit further back than intended so we gave it a bit of time before trailing him.

The blood trail was not hard to follow at al and we were very soon at the point where the buck crossed another roadway and entered the bush. we followed on for another 25 - 30 yards and then lost the trail in the wet and grassy area just short of the thick stuff. The light was just about gone by this time so we marked the spot and backed quietly out of there - giving the deer time to bed down for the night.

I was back there at "O-dark-thirty" with my trusty little pooch named Shadow. I had her smell the blood trail and headed her in the general direction that the buck had taken (according to the trail from last night).

The dog promptly headed off at right angles and entered the thicker stuff about 10 yards up the trail. I thought "what the hell" and followed her into the patch of woods, thinking that I could always come back out and resume the trailing. Not too much confidence in the pup (3.5 yrs old) because she hadn't done this sort of thing before - ever.

Anyway - I followed her lead into the thicker stuff and "lo and behold", 15 yards in there was a dead buck laying there under a maple. "Good dog." Good puppy!"

Just as I was about to start the cleaning routine bochunk2000 phones and wants to know how it's going. Longer story short - he arrived in about 15 minutes and we loaded up my "trophy". Many thanks to Steve and his assistants, without whom I could not have done it.

Here's the pics...

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/0910090740a.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15275)


http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/0910090741.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15276)

Those are my two sidekicks, who advised me on the finer points of dressing a game animal. Gotta love the little ones.

[35 Whelen]

Well done.....now give that dog a bone. Good job pup.

Nice shot of the youngins too

[Bowzone_Mikey]

atta boy Walker ... nice harvest

I like the coloring of the antlers ...deep reddish ...
Is that common on the island with Cedars???

[shaner338]

Nice buck Congrats!!

[bochunk2000]

atta boy Walker ... nice harvest

I like the coloring of the antlers ...deep reddish ...
Is that common on the island with Cedars???
We have lots of dark antlered bucks but I thinks some of the reddish tint was his bloody hands all over his trophy. It might be a while before he beats this trophy. Not only his first archery buck but a realy nice one. And yes those are my future hunting partners with ear to ear grins. :-D
Steve

[Johnnybear]

Awesome story and great photos guys!!!! Congrats big time.

Only question (this get's brought up a lot on here and you will see what side I am on with this quote). Why not send the dog out the night the buck was shot to recover it (screw work or any other inconveniences like dinner or dates etc. that were applicable "I would think the animal has presidence") so that no happenings of predators/ scavengers getting to it?

Remember it's just a question:-D.

[bochunk2000]

Awesome story and great photos guys!!!! Congrats big time.

Only question (this get's brought up a lot on here and you will see what side I am on with this quote). Why not send the dog out the night the buck was shot to recover it (screw work or any other inconveniences like dinner or dates etc. that were applicable "I would think the animal has presidence") so that no happenings of predators/ scavengers getting to it?

Remember it's just a question:-D.

This Question has an easy answer. In this situation gut shot animal without confirmation of a liver hit, I have been told to wait 6 hrs. Before recovery to give them time to expire. The only reason we even gave the trail a try was because I was finding good blood. right near where we started to loose the blood we heard the deer move a bit in the trees. Now this is where I made the suggestion to pukk out and come back in the morning. The choice for the morning over say maybe 4 hours or so later was for a few reasons. Little chance of rain, Little or no preditors in the area as they usually start to move into this area with the salmon run, and the kicker and most important was that I was driving and I had my 2 kids with me and we were already about an hour past their bedtime. These were the reasons in this case why coming back in the am seemed to be the best option.
Steve

[Tanya]

Cool! Well done, and thanks for sharing the story and pics.

[5/10/85]

Nice work...what kind of bow is that you're shooting?

[Bowzone_Mikey]

This Question has an easy answer. In this situation gut shot animal without confirmation of a liver hit, I have been told to wait 6 hrs. Before recovery to give them time to expire. The only reason we even gave the trail a try was because I was finding good blood. right near where we started to loose the blood we heard the deer move a bit in the trees. Now this is where I made the suggestion to pukk out and come back in the morning. The choice for the morning over say maybe 4 hours or so later was for a few reasons. Little chance of rain, Little or no preditors in the area as they usually start to move into this area with the salmon run, and the kicker and most important was that I was driving and I had my 2 kids with me and we were already about an hour past their bedtime. These were the reasons in this case why coming back in the am seemed to be the best option.
Steve

with a not perfect shot ... the right decition was made ..... I have seen deer pushed after a subpar shoot (right where Walker got his...no offence inteded ...) and get recovered 1.5 miles away in the next section of land (good thing we had permission there too).... when not pushed Deer tend to find the thickest patch of woods nearby ...but pushed they can go along time.

Good on you guys for the right decition

[Bowzone_Mikey]

Nice work...what kind of bow is that you're shooting?


Appears to be a Hoyt Alpha Max

[rifleman]

great story. nice archery buck. sounds almost the same as my archery deer this year (archery blacktail down) good call on bringing in the tracker.

[pupper]

Nice job guy!

[Bow Walker]

We have lots of dark antlered bucks but I thinks some of the reddish tint was his bloody hands all over his trophy. It might be a while before he beats this trophy. Not only his first archery buck but a realy nice one. And yes those are my future hunting partners with ear to ear grins. :-D
Steve
Yeah, I forgot about washing before the pics. Having too much fun I guess. Austin and Abby were just as excited as I was!


Awesome story and great photos guys!!!! Congrats big time.
Only question (this get's brought up a lot on here and you will see what side I am on with this quote). Why not send the dog out the night the buck was shot to recover it (screw work or any other inconveniences like dinner or dates etc. that were applicable "I would think the animal has presidence") so that no happenings of predators/ scavengers getting to it?

Remember it's just a question:-D.
I think the kids could've handled getting to bed a bit later, but Steve was a bit cranky (no mid-day nap you see) plus the biggest reason for not going after it right then was shot placement. As BZM and most hunters say, it's far better to go back after a minimum of 6 -8 hours. Less stress on the animal as well as the hunters.


Nice work...what kind of bow is that you're shooting?
That's Steve's bow in the shot. Mine is a Diamond Liberty which was left home because we didn't need it just to recover "bucky".


great story. nice archery buck. sounds almost the same as my archery deer this year (archery blacktail down) good call on bringing in the tracker.
Yeah - I wasn't too sure about Shadow's ability to do the job. She has never even attempted to do something like that before, but she sure homed in on the scent.

[Hemi]

Yes very nice shoot Bow Walker. I am still on the prowl looking for my first deer moose elk. Hell I may even be happy with another grouse.LOL..

As far as the dog goes, it is amazing what they can do. I went for a walk the other day with my newfoundlander. It was pretty thick bush and I went to go one way and she pulled me the other way, I pulled her back and she came to me then went back the way she wanted to go. she took me out in the very same place we went in. I was amazed..

[The Hermit]

Way to go Dan!! Glad you recovered it! Even though that ******* dog barks at me all the time I say to him a hearty... Good Dog!! ;-)

So with the congrats duly noted to you both... what, if anything, would you do differently next time?

[J_T]

Hey BW, Great job. You slipped this post online after I went to bed and I missed it. The dog is an amazing tool for blood trailing isn't it. I'm not sure that bowhunters fully appreciate the need to develop good blood trailing skills.

I have a dog that I have used, but I find she's not quite as good at blood trailing as my brother. LOL

Congrats

[Johnnybear]

I think the kids could've handled getting to bed a bit later, but Steve was a bit cranky (no mid-day nap you see) plus the biggest reason for not going after it right then was shot placement. As BZM and most hunters say, it's far better to go back after a minimum of 6 -8 hours. Less stress on the animal as well as the hunters.


Thanks Bow Walker:-D.

[hoyt]

Congrats on your very fine buck :lol: He has a nice little rack there too. Love stories when a new dog can help the way that they want to, always willing to please and help.
Man still can't beat his dog as his number one hunting buddy!!
Continued success!

[Bow Walker]

Way to go Dan!! Glad you recovered it! Even though that ******* dog barks at me all the time I say to him a hearty... Good Dog!! ;-)

So with the congrats duly noted to you both... what, if anything, would you do differently next time?

Now that right there is an analytical question if there ever was one! Hmmm, what would I do differently.......well, If the same type of scenario ever comes around again I will try not to hurry the shot. Forget about trying not to get excited - if you don't get excited you should probably stay home.

I've gone over the sequence a hundred times, in my mind, and I now believe that I tried to "push" the arrow a little bit at the moment of release. Almost as bad as lowering your bow-hand to see where the shot goes. That and the fact that he took a step unexpectedly.

At least he didn't "jump the string" when I shot. Good thing that the bow is as quiet as it is or I'd have missed him altogether - he was far enough away so that "jumping" or "flinching" at the sound of the shot would've made a big difference.

[horshur]

no pic of the dog????????

[Dragginbait]

So when is it going to be, 270walker? now that your bow is not a virgin anymore. I bet it wants to go for a trip or two.

[Bow Walker]

no pic of the dog????????
OK, OK here ya go.....:biggrin:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/1_May_15.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=3073&ppuser=529)


Here she is (a wee tad older) enjoying a well earned rest on "HER" couch downstairs. Playing is hard work - just ask her.....when she wakes up that is.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/July_12_2009_004.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15317)



So when is it going to be, 270walker? now that your bow is not a virgin anymore. I bet it wants to go for a trip or two.

Yeah Terry, the gun is getting jealous a bit. I suppose I'll have to take it out for a walk soon.:cool:

[Franko Manini]

Way to go Dan the Man! Glad to hear you're out and already successful this year. You deserve it!

[Bow Walker]

Thanks bud!

[bowx4]

Holly crap was the deer ******ed.........had to be for you to get it hahahahha..........atta a boy Dan......how are you feeling these days old fella........maas

[Bow Walker]

Hey Larry. How's it going? I'm feeling just like I always do - with my hands!

Just kidding. I'm feeling fine. I've got the "go ahead" from the doc as far as physical activity goes, so look out.