Mountaintop
11-20-2011, 11:13 PM
I have been trying hard all season but have not had more than a glimpse or two of a buck here and there and nothing within arrow range. I was starting to accept that with only a few weeks left in the season it would be tag soup this year. With it being about -2 this morning and snow or rain forecast it was not hard to sleep in a bit and do some chores. In the early afternoon it was still below freezing and I debated about going out. I finally decided to give it another go and headed out. I hunt my own small acreage and started my regular circuit. There was nothing moving except me but I enjoyed being outside and the cold. I was going to start back when I saw something about 50 yards off. I crouched behind a bush and glassed it. I thought it was spiker but could not be sure so I stayed and watched for a while as it munched on some bushes. It wasn’t big and his spikes were only a few inches long but was an antlered male for sure. With an empty freezer I figured it was good enough.
I’m no expert but was able to move up little by little. Every time he raised his head I froze, thinking I would be busted and he would be off. Each time he went back to his meal. I was able to get within about 20 yards and slowly raised my crossbow. He raised his head again and stared right at me. I froze again and he turned and started to walk slowly off. For some reason he stopped, giving me a broadside, and I fired. I heard the arrow strike something hard and saw it tumble end over end as the deer ran off up a nearby slope. I thought for sure I had misjudged the distance, undershot him and blew the opportunity so I stood up and went to get my arrow. It was at that point I saw the blood. It is not clear in the photo but it was everywhere and a blood trail up the slope almost like it had come from a hose. This is only my second season and I have never really seen a blood trail like this. My kills last year left only a few drops, even after a good hit so this was something new to me.
I figured he was not going to go far with that kind of blood loss but still waited the 30 minutes before tracking him. I followed the blood and found him a bit up the slope and piled up only about 25 yards from where he was hit. He was an easy recovery and when I cleaned him out I noticed the entry was a bit lower than I would like but was still a heart lung shot. The strange part was that the exit wound was almost straight down, like the arrow deflected inside him but I could not find any indication it hit anything but soft tissue. The G-5 Montec hit something though, maybe a rock after it exited, as the tip was bent and there was a gouge in one of the blades.
So I learned today not to let myself get discouraged and keep at it even when things have not been that great.
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae48/Mountaintop99/D1.jpg
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae48/Mountaintop99/D2.jpg
I’m no expert but was able to move up little by little. Every time he raised his head I froze, thinking I would be busted and he would be off. Each time he went back to his meal. I was able to get within about 20 yards and slowly raised my crossbow. He raised his head again and stared right at me. I froze again and he turned and started to walk slowly off. For some reason he stopped, giving me a broadside, and I fired. I heard the arrow strike something hard and saw it tumble end over end as the deer ran off up a nearby slope. I thought for sure I had misjudged the distance, undershot him and blew the opportunity so I stood up and went to get my arrow. It was at that point I saw the blood. It is not clear in the photo but it was everywhere and a blood trail up the slope almost like it had come from a hose. This is only my second season and I have never really seen a blood trail like this. My kills last year left only a few drops, even after a good hit so this was something new to me.
I figured he was not going to go far with that kind of blood loss but still waited the 30 minutes before tracking him. I followed the blood and found him a bit up the slope and piled up only about 25 yards from where he was hit. He was an easy recovery and when I cleaned him out I noticed the entry was a bit lower than I would like but was still a heart lung shot. The strange part was that the exit wound was almost straight down, like the arrow deflected inside him but I could not find any indication it hit anything but soft tissue. The G-5 Montec hit something though, maybe a rock after it exited, as the tip was bent and there was a gouge in one of the blades.
So I learned today not to let myself get discouraged and keep at it even when things have not been that great.
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae48/Mountaintop99/D1.jpg
http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae48/Mountaintop99/D2.jpg