wolves beat us to it first!

[Quackaddict9]

My brother shot this buck up near Middle River on Saturday around 3:15 in the afternoon and rushed the shot a little bit before it could get in the woods, Gut shot... He walked up and looked for blood for about a 1/2 hour and found a little blood. Marked the spot and let it alone for the night. He was getting all the thoughts about finding this deer. Well today we started the search around 9:45 am and found blood here and there, small drops and it was not easy. About 1 hour 1/2 later, we found this deer but the only thing was that the Wolves beat us to it first. Some pictures.

[brian6715]

Wow! What a cool story!

[cybermuskie]

That's to bad! It was a nice looking buck!

[deerhuntr8]

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Wow! What a cool story!

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Why? Because it was gut shot?

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[Quackaddict9]

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Wow! What a cool story!

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Why? Because it was gut shot?

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no because I type cool stories

[mskyfshntchr]

I'm with deerhunter...waste of an animal there...nice work....I don't know...I guess I would have been tracking a deer like that during the night to make sure it wasn't wasted if that was any possibility...respect for the animal and hunting...but...I wasn't there and don't know the whole situation, so i could be wrong...

[irvingdog]

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I guess I would have been tracking a deer like that during the night to make sure it wasn't wasted if that was any possibility...respect for the animal and hunting

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Maybe I think to much like a seasoned bow hunter. I think they did the right thing by letting it die without pushing the deer. These boys don't seem like amateurs to me, and I'd guess they have a pretty healthy respect for the animal.

You sometimes have to play the odds of pushing the animal on adrenaline, or risk having a scavenger stumble on the body first. I'd wager more guys lose their deer by hastily trailing a gut shot deer and having it run into the next county than ever lose their deer to a wolf (yote, dogpack, whatever...)

[Quackaddict9]

OK, I'm sorry if I made a mistake by not telling my brother to track it right away and push it for miles and walk in swamps,willows, big wooded area in Agassiz and possbily get lost, but we have a compass. Ok maybe I should have not acted like that.

but do whatever you think its best for your retrieval of a deer or any animal.

But anyways more to the story... It was interval bleeding, not pumping any blood out at all. It didnt have a exit wound, it was just a 1/8 diameter hole, the bullet went right through it. A family in my deer party have shot a nice buck and few does in the past 3 years and were bad shots, gut shots, low and they started tracking right away, jumping the deer out, pushing it further and never found one of them. So I think we played the odds pretty smart and we were really happy to find the deer. It was emotional when looking for blood and many mixed feelings/thoughts in our heads. I had to say this was exciting moment tracking with my brother. Something to remember for the upcoming years.

[shae1986]

Quack

You guys did exactly what i would have done by leaving the animal overnight. Im not a person who is for pushing animals. That second wind and they are gone. Ive even seen lung hit animals get pushed too soon and make it a long long ways. And when they lie down and get pushed the wound is usually clotted and doesn't bleed much. I would rather leave them overnight and find them there in the morning. Sorry about the wolves finding the deer, its just something thta happens, it was a nice deer though.

[cybermuskie]

Quack,

I think you did the right thing by not pushing it! And your right...it's not like you were tracking it across a corn field up there. They may have been looking for you had you tracked right away. They say if you make a questionable shot bow hunting to let it sit for around 6 hrs so you hopefully can find it where it laid down. It was just bad luck the wolves got there first. I was just happy to see they loaded up in their truck and were going to get what meat they could from it! How many people would have just cut the head off and never tagged it? Good job guys!

[charliepete2]

Another seasoned bowhunter weighing in....you just don't push a gut shot deer. I think you guys made the right decision by waiting. It's a shame you ended up getting scavenged, but it looks like you'll still get some front shoulders and backstraps off of it. On a side note...how can you tell it was wolves not coyotes that hit the deer?

[mwal]

You made the right decision. Gut shot deer when pushed are usally not recovered. I would guess chasing a gut shot deer in the dark would of been futile. You recovered it got the rack and I would still butcher what is left.

Mwal

[Mark Christianson]

I second Cyber on that post to a "T"!

Was the cape wrecked or is it in tact and going on the wall?

[DRH1175]

Too bad... I lost one last year to Coyotes. Actually looking at the pictures how do you know wolves? I actually would guess coyotes my self. If it were wolves I would have bet it would have been totally gone. you did the right thing. If you would have pushed it you may not have even found what you had left. Just luck of the hunt. what were you using for gun? Surprised you didn't have a pass thru with a rifle. Good luck next time and hopefully you can salvage a little of the deer. YOu may still be able to get backstraps and tenderloins and the shoulders for butchering. Not much but something. Thanks for posting pictures and story.

[Quackaddict9]

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On a side note...how can you tell it was wolves not coyotes that hit the deer?

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Well you know, I could be wrong.. Agassiz is known for wolves and I have only seen wolves around, no coyotes. Also I assume that coyotes do not like being around Wolf territory? I think the wolves/coyotes found the deer not too long before we started looking as that my brother and the others were hear howling nearby.

DRH- he was using a Browning 30-06 Bolt action.

[Quackaddict9]

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Was the cape wrecked or is it in tact and going on the wall?

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BLB- the cape was ruined. My brother wants to do the mount himself, he did one 2 years ago and it turned out pretty well. So we're gonna shoot another nice deer or find a cape for it.

[mskyfshntchr]

I'm glad you "seasoned" bowhunters have chimed in, but it appears the deer was shot with a gun...There is a difference comparing a bow hit to a gun hit.

He said it was shot at 3ish...I originally said track it at night...so, give it a few hours after dark and track...That would be around 7:30 or so..so over 4 hours...plenty of time for him to lay down and die...I'm not one to push gut shot deer...they are rarely found.

Whenever I have tracked deer after dark, we mark our trails where we find blood...we do it during the day too. So, I dont think getting lost should have occured, just backtrack...

I guess if I would have shot a deer like that, I would have been out there sometime after dark starting to look for the deer. If that would have proven fruitless, then I would have waited until morning.

I think people get that "bowhunter" mentality too many times..leave it and find it the next day. I realize looking after dark is harder, but it can save some things from happening...

All in all, a shame the meat and cape was wasted from that deer.

[charliepete2]

Msky...it takes a lot longer than 4 hours for a gutshot animal to die. In this case you are suggesting starting a track job precisely at the time when it is no longer legal to shoot at the deer you are most likely going to jump. I might see your point if you said start right after it, but waiting until dark when you can't shoot is silly.

If you don't feel you can give a gut shot deer 8-10 hours, it's probably better to start after it right away so you can utilize the light and try to finish it off. To me this is the real difference between bow and gun hunting...with a gun you have better chance of taking a jumped deer. I'd still rather take my chances waiting unless I have a crew of guys who can all shoot.

A gut shot deer is a gut shot deer regardless of what it was shot with. Rifles and shotguns kill by static shock and bows kill by arterial bleeds, but when you shoot them in the guts with either a bow or gun (and don't catch liver or kidney) it's sepsis that kills them and that takes time.

[Jackpine Rob]

Things are a little different in the woods than they are down in the south. Taking off in the dark after a deer you are unsure of in big country is not a real bright idea. The decision to wait until morning was the correct one in my book. I wouldn't call it 'bowhunter mentality' - I'd call it simple common sense.

The wolves ate. Bummer for the hunter, but its a fact of life when hunting in wolf country. None of us are unfailing marksmen, and sooner or later a bad hit is going to happen. The decision to not only follow up the next day but also attempt to put the deer to use speaks volumes.

Congratulations to the hunters.

[Quackaddict9]

well if we did start tracking it in the dark at 7 pm, we would have not found any blood with a light... it wasnt easy as it sounds, there was no blood coming out. it was just tiny drops that you had to look really closely, the deer was bleeding inside and there was no blood where he laid down. So I'm glad we waited. Like I said, do whatever you think is best to retrieve your deer or animal.

[JoeTC]

How is that a waste of an animal? The wolves got some and the hunter retrieved the rest...I don't see any waste there. Nice job on the recovery, I would have done the same thing. And theres no way you would find me wandering out into the big woods at night.

[icehole10]

You guys did the right thing waiting that deer out. If your not sure of your shot and feel it was gut shot then you would be crazy chasing that deer around all night. I took a shot fri. night at around 5:00 pm found blood right away followed for about forty yards and lost it. It really didn't appear to be good blood so I marked the spot and walked back to my truck. When I got back to my truck the dnr was waiting at my truck wondering why I was out so late. I told what had happened and he agreed that I was doing the right thing. I should explain that I was hunting on the teawoken refuge. Needless to say it was a long night I don't think I slept for more than a couple hours. The next moring I was up early and out there right after sun up and I found him not forty yards from where i quit looking. I was worried about coyotes, but I was also in umfamiliar territory and it would have been even a longer night had i got lost. I was hunting by myself.

I would also like to add that I watched hundreds of hunts on tv and it seems to me that most of the time if there not sure of there shot they usually wait till moring. It seems to me that people who hunt and write about hunting for a living would know what there doing. just a guess!

[harvey lee]

Quack

I hunt a area that has many coyotes.If I have a bow hit deer and I believe it is not hit well,I will leave it until morning before I will push it into the next county.

A gut shot buck will also go a long ways.In the past 15 years while letting poorly hit deer go until morning,I have lost 1 to coyotes and recovered the majority.

I will always do the same thing again and believe you also did.Its a call that you have to make while being there and knowing the facts.No one can make that call for you.

Its very hard to lay in bed all night until morning wondering where that deer went or if the yotes got it.But if it is poorly hit and you push it you may never find it.We went through the same thing twice this year and never recovered either.One was pushed and the other we never found.Both very nice bucks.

[jacobj12k]

By the looks of the pics I would guess the wolves/coyotes either took the buck down or were chewing on him while he was alive yet. I base this on only the hind end being chewed up.

Anyways, I think you did the right thing. You can't control every factor.

I helped my friend find a buck that he arrowed last year that ended up being eaten by coyotes. He arrowed it early in the morning, couldn't follow any blood trail. I went looking for the buck with him that evening and I found the buck alive 74 rows into an unpicked corn field. The buck bolted when I stuck my head into his row 25 yards away. The next morning he found the buck two sections away. The coyotes had found him during the night. Here's a pic...

[shae1986]

This also happened to a buddy of mine last year. he shot a nice buck and we lost the trail after 3 days of tracking. Found it rifle hunting all chewed up by the coyotes. Sad deal but it happens.