Archery buck....lost!

[matchset]

well guys! you've heard me blab and blab some more about how great Rage broadheads are.... the horrible reality is that eventually you will lose a deer; no matter how proficient of an archer you are!

friday night it happened to me. this was the first deer i've lost in 8 years; but this one hurts!

it was a great evening to be in the woods! i was fortunate enough to see 17 deer from my stand; but nothing mature! lots of little bucks chasing does around. just before dark, i heard the crunch of crispy oak leaves beneath a esterous does hooves! the pace quickened, and i soon saw a bruiser following her. he was totally love stricken; walking within fifteen yards of my stand. i quickly came to full draw....maybe a little too quick! i torqued the string or something; and my arrow fell off of my G5 rest! by the time i got the arrow back on track, he had taken a few steps, but was still mostly broadside; maybe slightly quartering away! i released.....THWACKKK! everything happened so fast and i didn't see the impact, but it sounded good! i immediately backed out, went to the house, at some dinner and then called three buddies to help me track after a few hours had passed. no arrow, but we found good blood, RED blood, then lots of blood. we found two pools, maybe 2 pints in a ten yard stretch! he ran in a "j" shape direction, and we followed the trail 80 yards; i was sure he'd be over the next log! he headed straight up hill; then the trail went cold! our straight line blood trail up the hill then expanded to about a 15 ft across. that was last blood!

we looked for a little while longer, but elected to wait to daylight to try to find more blood. the worst thing happened, it rained and then turned to snow saturday morning! we grid-searched the surrounding area and came up empty handed.

its a heart-sickening to lose a buck of that caliber.

i was hunting a large side hill (400+ acres). it has a road at the top and bottom the the hill.

my stand was located on the bottom fifth of the of the hillside..... there are two creeks the run up and down the hill and are pretty much impossible to cross.

if you've got any advice; i'd really really really like to find this buck! IMHO he's dead!

and if i do find him 3,4,or 30 days later..... what's the procedure as far as tagging him???

[DHost21]

Dang!! I sure hope you find him!! It sounds like you did everything you could I hope you run across him sometime soon tho walking through the woods. Any crows or coyotes or anything you hear or see close its worth checking out cause they will still find him in the snow and if nothing else you can hopefully get his rack atleast or know he is dead

[BigJakeL]

I have had that happen to me just to find out he had bedded down in a corn field. when the farmer combined he found it! Bad situation but it happens to the best of us! My suggestions is to search nearest known bedding areas and especially watering holes! I have heard of countless buck after being shot head towards water! Hope to hear good news in finding the buck! Good Luck!

[AuggieDawg11]

Search downhill and around water. I helped a buddy this year recover a dear that ran straight to water after being gut shot. Good luck.

[fire29]

Watch for crows. May be tough with all the gut piles out there, but once coyotes get him at night the crows will love him during the day. I shot one 3 years ago and am still looking for him. If you have the time I would walk every inch of land you can, maybe go phesant hunting dog may find it. Good luck, hope ya find him

[bottom-bouncer]

match set sounds like a liver hit maybe even muscle. judging by the large amounts of blood then no blood. If he went uphill that tells me that he wasnt hit were you wanted to hit him. I would expand your grid. Good luck!

[Scott Stein]

from my expeirence tracking deer,a good hard hit deer will not go up a steep hill. Hope you find him!

[thesecret]

get a good dog.

[matchset]

a buddy of mine hit a nice buck last year... buck ran up hill and and with the wind! seemed like he wanted to see what "poked" him and maybe get a smell.....

i'm headed out tomorrow!

[thesecret]

best of luck to ya

[sticknstring]

All a guy can do is put on some comfy boots and burn some sole leather. A dog's nose can be very helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to do some grouse hunting and scour the area thouroughly. Hope you find him.

[walleye365]

good luck!you dont think he back tracked on ya had one do that to me.