Wasted Tag!

[Protrucker]

We were hunting on one of our hunting clubs properties yesterday. This property is 750 acres on a mountain with some rugged terrain. I dropped my buddy off at one end of the property so that he could do a long walk to try to push something my way. Then I drove around to the other end, where I parked the truck at the bottom of a quarry road. This is not a public road, just a road cut into the mountain for access to the quarry. As I walked up the quarry road toward where I was going to turn off & set up to wait for my buddy I was keeping an eye out for deer. I was about 3/8 of a mile up the quarry road when I looked up & saw a deer just off the right edge of the road. It was a long ways out, standing there looking at me. I froze & watched it, then slowly lowered to a kneeling position. The deer still stood there. I tried to take aim, but I was breathing too heavy from the hike up the mountain. I couldn't believe the deer was stood there while I waited for my breathing to slow down enough to attempt the shot. Finally, i settled down enough, took a steady aim & squeezed the trigger. BOOM! The gun fired as good as you could expect it to. Thru the smoke I saw the deer turn & run away & to the right. I stood up & reloaded, then started walking up to where the deer had been standing. A few step that way I saw my patch on the ground. I continued on up until I found the tracks in the snow. I realized just how far that shot had been & started wondering if I had missed. Following the tracks, I went about 20 yards before I saw any sign of a hit. Then there was blood spray all over the place. The deer had run down over the bank to an old log road & was traveling the log road. As I followed the tracks I kept hoping that the deer didn't turn down the mountain. It would be a really tough drag to get it back out. Wouldn't you know it....that's what it did. This was a steep enough grade that I had to hold onto trees while working my way along the track so that I wouldn't go sliding down the mountain. Here's where things took a turn for the worse. I looked forward along the bloody trail & saw a big red smear on a rock edge. It looked like the deer had gone off the edge! Nervously, I carefully approached the rock edge, hanging onto every tree that I could. When I got near the edge I peeked over & couldn't see anything, so I moved a little closer. That's when I saw what could have only been worse if I had slipped off too. The deer had gone over the edge & was straight down about 20-25 feet laying there on a shelf. I looked for a way to approach that shelf & it was impossible. There was no way to even get to this animal, much less try to get it out of there! :shake:
I went back out to where my buddy would be coming thru & waited for him. When he got there we discussed the situation & decided that it wouldn't be worth the risk to try to recover the deer. This is a shame even if it wasn't a trophy buck. It was going to help fill the freezer. To add to that disappointment.....I paced off the distance of the shot. It turned out to be probably my longest ever flintlock kill of a deer at 110 long stretched out paces. The deer only ran about 75-80 yards before it went off the cliff. With the amount of blood that was spraying, I don't think it would have gone much farther either.

 

[chance]

Sounds like my season!!!

 

[larry wv]

Thats not bad luck thats no luck at all! At least you were not tracking it in the evening with a mini mag flash light. :grin: Larry Wv

 

[RC]

damn, I had one stolen, but not like that....boy, long season fer alot of us! ya dun yer best,sometimes things jus happen...........

 

[roundball]

Too bad...sometimes those kinds of things just happen...no fault of yours.

 

[hawk]

not much you can do about that...

 

[bobman]

A rope with a slipknot dropped down 20 feet around a antler maybe

have another rope around you connected to a tree with your buddy there

 

[hawk]

lifting 150lbs of deer is hard enough with good footing, tring to do it on a slippy side of a mountain well you gotta be dang hungry for venison. then when it's to the edge you still have to wrangle it over the top ...the rope was tied to the horns did you say??
if you do try this do video tape it...that would be something to see ...just dangle a rope down eh?

 

[Livbucks]

How did you waste a tag? You didn't throw the tag over the cliff too did you? LOL

 

[tg]

These things happen to most of us at one time or another, I dropped a nice doe a few years back only to see her and drifting down the river when I pushed to the top of the Canary grass covered bluff along the river, I had not hunted there for a few years and had forgoten how close the river was to the place I saw the deer, there was no way I could get to her, it hurts but will happen to most of us sooner or later.

 

[MDK_WV]

I am sorry to hear you were unable to retrieve your deer. However I would not consider it a wasted tag. I would consider it worthwhile if one had to buy a tag every day to hunt. Hunting with a Flintlock slows you down and makes you appreciate the time spent outdoors. Once you squeeze the trigger the work usually begins. May the next deer be yours.

 

[Protrucker]

How did you waste a tag? You didn't throw the tag over the cliff too did you? LOL

:haha: Well, I didn't throw the tag over the cliff or even fill it out yet. I don't really know what would be the legal thing to do, but I did take one more deer out of the population, so I don't know if I should still consider that tag to be a good one. What do you all think?
:hmm: Maybe I should make a phone call to a game warden to see what he says?

 

[Flintlock58]

I think there may be some hawks, owls, and small birds etc. as well as any other critter that can find a way to that carcass that may have a much easier winter due to the food cache youve unwillingly provided. Although you feel terrible when something like this happens, as long as you have done your best, which you have, chalk it up to experience and go hunting! Thats what I did.

 

[Livbucks]

The deer was unrecoverable. I say keep hunting and forget about it. Some things are simply out of your control. Nobody expects you to rapel down there and crane out your deer and risk injury.
I say the tag is fine, and ready for some more hunting. You might want to try a different area though.

 

[B.Habermehl]

You comitted no sin! You did the best you could. The only other answer is rappelling gear. And I haven't used it for 30 years and doubt I would have the nerve any how now :idunno: Keep hunting. nothing ever goes to waste in nature. BJH

 

[larry wv]

I agree with livbucks.- But I would not call the game warden. He may have common sense and know things happen and you did your best. Or he might be a butt hole or feel he has to follow up with paper work. Larry

 

[doulos]

Ive hunted in places like that many times. 3 years ago I had to hang onto trees like you were so I wouldn't slide down a hill while following a blood trail. I recovered the animal but it was very difficult and dangerous.
You did what you could ethically so whether the tag is wasted is up to you. Unrecoverable deer aren't taggable in my estimation. No deer is worth the injury you could have suffered.
I now try to avoid situations like that by not hunting in those areas. Im getting too old for that stuff.

 

[410-er]

Get the next one. :thumbsup: Maybe put a light rope on the horns,tie it off,come back and retrive in the spring.

 

[Protrucker]

Yea, I guess you're right. I'll just chalk this one up to experience.
Maybe calling a game warden would just be stirring up a hornets nest too. :shake:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Yea, I guess you're right. I'll just chalk this one up to experience.
Maybe calling a game warden would just be stirring up a hornets nest too. :shake:

I'd leave that nest alone too. :hmm:

One thing about this hunt is that you'll never forget the details. GW