I got in the stand this afternoon around 2:30 hoping to pay off the debt to my aunt for our wedding cake (she made us a beautiful cake and asked if i could shoot a doe for them instead of paying) Of course! Within 20mins a small group of does came in downwind of me and made me before they got in range. Most of them turned and walked the other way while one came in to 30yds and i shot right under her belly. No idea what happened but either way it was a clean miss. She trotted off where the others headed. About 20mins later a yearling came in from behind me and must've seen my hat brim as i turned to look. She ran off and i watched 4 other tails follow right behind her through the brush. Around 4:00 i had a small spike followed by a mid size 6pt and then a button buck walk in to 10yds then head off in the direction of the 2nd group Then the same doe i missed earlier comes walking back in but very weary of the area. She paced back and forth at 40yds for almost 30 mins! Finally she came in to 20yd with 10 mins of daylight left. I let the arrow fly and it looked and sounded like a good hit. Not a pass through though so i gave her plenty of time before tracking. I found some good blood after about 10yds and then it was on and off. I tracked her towards some houses and then she started circling back towards my buddys house. Once she got into the swamp i started losing blood in the wet mossy ground and my freakin flashlight started dying. So i called it quits for the night and i'll hit the woods in the morning. Temps should be in the 20's tonight. Crossing my fingers she aint in someones back yard.
Started tracking around 8am yesterday and found her by 10am. I lost blood a few times and almost gave up but i just had a feeling she was closer than i thought. Found her under a big blowdown about 50yds from my truck! Made it a nice easy drag.
Glad you were able to recover her! I am always Leary of shooting at dusk cause I I have lost a few once the darkness settled in.
I hit her a little high and back. Must have at least got one of the lungs. The blood got kind of frothy once I picked up good sign again. Just thankful that I kept on looking. My aunt and uncle were so grateful for the meat and my cousin happened to be there with his two boys. They got their first experience skinning and butchering a deer. Stuff like that makes it all worth it
Nice Job getting your aunt some groceries! I've always had better luck in the daylight when blood gets scarce. Schoondog
