Thread: The Return to woods

I have not been back down to my little slice of heaven in the woods for about a month . The cccold and the holidays and the freezer being full has kept me from going . Now mind you it isn't I didn't want to , I just didn't have the time and some of this cold was more then I wanted to deal with out there as well .
So I had a plan to meet a bud I have not seen much of after I hunted yesterday and headed out about noon. Picked up one I had at local locker down that way and went to corp. park to drop a jig for a few . Park was closed because of the last weekend for a big bucks was upon us . So I said well i know one thing for certain .......
This aint no party , This aint no Disco , This aint no fooling around ........
So I turned the Kaboom wagon around and headed down the road to the ranch . I got there about 3 and hit the pond for a few small crappie for about 30 minutes and then loaded up to go visit my blind area . I sprinkled about 20 lbs of corn along an area I like to feed and as I was driving up I saw a big doe run off ! I was there for a big doe or a cull buck in the under 13 inches and one or both sides being a spike as that's what I have tags for and I was on a mission to donate a deer to a less fortunate buddy that lives about 20 miles from me in route to my house when I go home .
So here we go 4:30 nice one side spike comes in , I photo him a bit and decide he will do and will have lots a light to clean it tag it and load it . put the cross hairs on the shoulder ....KABOOM ! He goes down and gets up stumbling and running towards a thicket .
I tell myself he aint going anywhere for sure and cycle the bolt . Next thing you know he comes out of the woods flying like a super deer across the pasture at about 200 yards out ! I can clearly see a big bloody area on his chest low where his front leg meets his body , I am confused at this point how he could run that good and fast after that hit and begin to wonder if I will find him . Well long story short I followed his tracks that were easy to see and never saw a drop of blood ? I went well into a ravine where he traveled and lost his tracks and never saw any sign of him again !
So I went back to my hide and sat back down and told myself I suppose some things are not meant to be and begin to wonder if I have ran all the deer in the area off for the day .
Well low and behold about 15 minutes later here comes a little tribe of more cull bucks . One in particular does not meet the criteria for my tags and what really sets him apart from the crew is he has TIGER stripes on his back ? Never seen that before and got a few photos before settling in on a one horn on one side and a nub on the other in the rear of the group . One thing for certain buck 2 got confused on the hit and ran right at me and fell about 20 yards from me and the hunt was over .
I am now sad and happy at the same time but to be sure we all lose a deer sometimes if we hunt often and I have not lost one in a good while so I guess it was my turn .
hope you enjoy the photos and read .
p.s. a red tail hawk was nice enough to let me get a few photos as well
and remember this ...Kaboom is near ....

Originally Posted by hdhntr

no waste in the wild, coyotes, foxes and crows gotta eat too. good story and wtg taking care of your friend.

this is so true and for sure I think it passed at some point , the problem with this deer in this spot is most likely the way it was running and at the speed it was going it most likely made it to the brush on the offside of the ranch I hunt on the neighbors place as the next fence wasn't terribly far from where I last saw it.
and of course to add insult to injury ,I had a bud about 300 yards away on the other side of the river on the next ranch on the other side of me texting me , when I shot the second time he is all up with the hey dude you want to run to Walmart to get more ammo or what ?