It ain't been a good year but, gees! LONG!

[RC]

havin huntin since mid october, tween the weather :shocked2: an lack of deer sightings :shake:it's been a long year,I love huntin and usually enjoy it,but when ya don't see any/many an nobody else is either...sorta takes some of the enjoyment outa it..now, there was the high point of gettin a nice doe with my smoothie last weekend, :grin: but she was only the 5th deer I'd seen,,,so today I had mixed emotions,,last day of deer season in n.y....but least brothers had seen some deer lately, amazing, given all the crusted snow.
So out we went this morning,,I walked down to to a place I watched the nite before,alotta sign there, deer beds an feedin on acorns all over.I picked a spot against a big oak lookin down into mostly pines,some hardwoods,this piece happens to form a V, creeks in steep gorges on both sides that meet on the end, but deer come thru..so I looked around and figured out where I could an couldn't..wouldn't shoot,,straight below me I figured I could shoot 75yds..with my smoothie.(I've practiced an checked! :wink: ) well bout 8:00 I heard a shot,way down the creek,lil bit later another...not much closer. then lil bro said he was gonna do a lil walkin..about 8:35 straight down from me, a deer! looked like a nice sized doe,an appeared to be all alone,but was acting nervous.. :hmm: I had the smoothie up,hammer back,and she stepped in an opening @75yds..+, I squeezed the trigger.. boom! well the smoke cleared enough to see her runnin away........ an a small(bleepin) buck in hot pursuit :idunno: drat damn!...okay, shot felt good, I was sure my aim was good,,but ya never know,,,I reloaded,told bro what was goin on an started down(boy! that is a long way!)well lots of tracks down there, couldn't find/see the exact spot where she stood..did a lil zig zag over the tracks went a lil, there was blood! looked back and a spot where she had fallen,was bleedin good,called lil bro, he was close to the point of the V,an told me to wait till he got in front of it, so I backtracked the blood,deer had gone around 100 feet,before she bled,but was spillin good here..so bro is ready an I'm figurin we'll find her right away..start to trailin,blood is lessening since her fall :hmm: .. an she veers to the left towards the small gorge an creek,now I can see she's gone down,across, an up the other side,,an it's steep! .............................................. ............................. ........THEN :shocked2: someone yells! :idunno: right from where the deer went??? :idunno: so I yell back,guy says "who's that?" I said "I'm trackin a deer", he said "I got mine!" :shocked2: I said "you sure it's yers?" he says "YES! I tracked it!" :shake: so I get to lookin around my side of the creek,,,A deer came across with a left front foot bleedin,,,barely,,,and went right back across..right below where the one I shot at went..so I tracked that one across the creek (whew!bleepin steep!) but couldn't keep the track,bled only once in awhile,jus the foot,,now, I KNEW it wasn't the deer I shot at..I JUST KNEW..BUT. :redface: so I made sure,..as sure as I could that other deer weren't bad off..then headed back towards the road...well got to the spot across from where I had talked to the guy, a gut pile.. so I followed out the drag marks,,(this guy is bookin!!) meanwhile,brothers had both went down to where I shot an checked to make sure what happened,,they jus said "he's got yer deer"......(BLEEP!) got to the road guy was there jus finished loadin this really nice doe, said he had tracked it fer about 1/2 mile after shootin her,,shot it in front of the shoulder an split the heart! (I seen the heart in the gut pile....split!) I said "well, don't be surprised if when yer skinnin it, ya come across a hole about .62 caliber!" :cursing:
okay, now I understand he's young,I understand he shot at a deer,I understand it followed a blood trail(and I'd bet..(a bunch!)it was the same deer that's been bleedin on her foot fer a week!(ice cut??))so he followed a blood trail/deer track and came to a downed deer..hadta figure it was the one...BUT! cannot understand how he figured that deer went that far with a broken heart! that deer was maybe 125 yds from where I shot her..I figurin his deer came across the creek,went back,and mine followed..but not far..gees last day, only the 6th deer I'd seen all year.and with a smoothbore,,,damn bleep drat..coulda turned the year around,,,,and filled the freezer! sorry but this just [strike]sucked[/strike]stinks! and I honestly think he knows...boy it was a great shot too :grin: , so HAPPY with my Stroh smoothbore..lots of confidence in it!
well it's all over now..be one to remember...wish I'd known the buck was there! let him explain shootin at a doe and gettin a buck! :hmm: Sorry so long, but I'm sufferin from DHS wait'll next year!

 

[Protrucker]

WOW RC! What a frustrating way to finish a season! :idunno:
I hope next year goes better for you.

 

[jethro224]

That's a story you'll be tellin' for years. I doubt the other guy will ever figger it out. :shake:

 

[dbutch]

R C..I feel for ya!.. You made a nice shot too!...I'm thinking it's time to buy some hunting land..Make it your own..put in some food plots and apple trees...Of course this is after you win the lotto! It's not easy sharing the woods.
The shop I work in I was the only one to tag a deer this gun season that's 1 for 10...Half of them never saw a deer! Don't despair..only 10 months till next hunting season....Dan

 

[Stumpkiller]

Bad situation. That's a shame. But you find some folks that can't tell a deer from a goat and probably have no clue with regards to organ damage.

That's one reason I gave up where I used to hunt. If you didn't knock the deer down there was a good change it would run past other hunters. Can get ugly when someone knocks down a wounded deer as to who tags it.

It was a pretty dismal year for me, too. Saw maybe 14 deer but way too far out (including a group of four antlerless twice). Only a few glimpses of antlers all THREE seasons (bow, regular and m/l). Plenty of tracks and as many coyote tracks as deer. I think the deer did a lot of moving at night and a lot of laying low during the day.

 

[roundball]

That's a tough way to end the season for sure.

I can't understand anybody who would knowingly take a deer they didn't shoot...they'd be living a lie the rest of their lives...or could he really have been that screwed up to think it was his deer...should have been obvious tracking it through snow.

Anyhow, get out there now and get some rabbits, grouse, etc...where I hunt I'm blessed with good deer and no other hunters...but have only kicked up one rabbit in the past 5-6 years

 

[GreyWhiskers]

That was a long story but once I started readin it I couldn't stop. :wink:

A bad situation fer sure, RC. There was probably no convincing that fellar it was your deer unless you could find a large r/ball in her. GW

 

[rabjr]

Sad to say I know what it's like, having a nice 8 point stolen by an *******. I'm sorry you had to go through that RC, I know you hunted hard all year for what you got. Wish I was there to give that guy a piece of my mind. :shake:

 

[shootemup]

Bad situation, had a similar experience years ago although not in snow. Sounds like you handled it about as well as it could have been handled, good job on that.

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[chance]

Sorry to hear bout the deer. At least you know you got the deer.

 

[larry wv]

Bad deal RC. It least you were there and made the shot. You know and will remember. The modern generation has little common sense. You handled the situation like a man. Good for you. Larry

 

[Dave K]

I remember a similiar story that happened to me. I was hunting Pa. during the regular gun season and I was using a modern gun. Regardless, the gun season is pretty crowded there at least it was in '84 when I was hunting. I put a bullet through a legal spike and he ran down the hill and across a creek. It wasn't far at all, but I soon heard a shot. I followed up on my spike and at the end of the trial stood about a 12yr. old boy beaming from ear to ear, about the deer he just shot. Well, I knew it was the deer I hit, as I could see the the hole was right were I put it ( the whole body of the deer was screened by the "Y" of a large tree, the only place you could place the bullet was in the boiler room". All I did was tell the kid, "great shot" and asked if he needed any help. He was too proud to ruin his day, by telling him otherwise.

 

[roundball]

Speaks volumes about your character Dave
:hatsoff:

 

[PreglerD]

Hi RC!

I feel with you! My season was even much more worse! I got only one roe with modern rifle. With my smokepole I saw many, but it was never possible to get one. Sometimes too far away, sometimes they were disturbed and escaped, sometimes it was my falt. So my last hope is now to get one in the last 3 weeks of the season at a baiting over snow!


Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[JayDee Flohr]

That's rough!!!!! Better luck next season.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Sorry about your deer RC. At least it was a stranger and not a freind who did you in. Shot a doe once with my .40 and was tracking a good blood trail and guy I was hunting with jumped it up and shot at it. I came on him and together we found it. There was the neatest .40 cal rb hole thru the middle of the lungs in and out. He claimed the deer as he shot last. He was using a .50 with a tc maxi ball. I took one of his and covered the hole completely over. He still didn't believe it was mine. So we drug it back to camp and let the others deceide. All agreed it was mine. Still not giving up he shot his gun at target and found out the rear sight was way off shooting high at 25yds. finally convincing himself. Go figure. :hmm:

 

[Roy]

 

[KyFlintlock]

Sorry to hear of this RC, that does stink. I wish you good luck next time and a big buck to boot!

Wess