My mistake in the description of his position. He was quatering away not quatering to. I decided to go out about 5hrs after shooting him to look for some blood where I shot him. If I find some then I'll continue the search. IF not I'll back out till tommorrow moring.

Alright! Sounds like he should be dead. Good luck I cannot wait to see the pics? How big?

Bad news guys. Went out last night around 10p to look for him. Good news found my arrow covered in bright red blood, right where I seen him run 75 yrds into a patch of woods (25yds across). There was some brightred blood on the ground w/the arrow. Not a ton, but fair amount. So I figured he'd be in that smallsection of woods. As we walked in, the blood became less & less, down to a drop here, a drop there.I know that I saw that fletching sticking outbetween where his liverwould be &his back leg.The shotwas from his right rear side going towards his neck/L side. We think he may have made it to a alfalfa field next tothat small patch of woods. We were out until 1130. Wewalked an adjoining fence line, & doulbled backon the fenceline, walking tall grass. Even wentalong thefence line, which is behind my tree. NOTHING! Talk about dissapointment & a let down. I thought for sure he'd be just a few yards past the woods he went into. I plan on going out tommorrow morning. Rain is predicted, so blood trails are out. I did leave toilet paper on theblood as we found it, up to the lastdrop. I left my arrow also wherewe found it. I think I'll have to get a small posse together to find him.Amazingly he may have madeit across the field to the next tree line. There were tractors spreading manure in those adjoining fields,so hopefully he kept to the one alfalfa field. Maybe we'll find himtommorrow. Sorry guys,Ithought I had this one bagged. But alas, as well as you allknow, when it comes to deer & there resilency,hecouldv'egone a longway.What do you guys think of the arrow we found & the blood. It was bright red blood, no bubbles.

Really bad news guys. Went out looking this morning for 4 hrs. Tracked him about 600 yds, ( 3 farm fields), blood was very spotty. Still bright red, but speckles. Anyway, he came to a large picked soybean field, & there was a couple of good blood splots, then absolutely nothing. So we figured that he had trotted across the field to a nearby mix of tall grass/thick cover/trees. After walking that thing systematically, we actually came across where he was bedded down. Fresh bright red blood in his bed, & found enought blood to run off a leaf nearby. So we may have pushed him. Mind you, it's been 15 hrs since I hit him. So with that I can't figure out where he was exactly hit. A friend suggested that maybe it was more parallel to his ribs, & maybe just below the skin or under the ribs. He bedded down just the one time, we figured must have been last night. But the distance was unbelieveable. So I don't know what to think. We trailed him out of his bed & up a field to an alfalfa field w/a patch of hard woods across from it. I think that's where he's headed. I got permission to look tommorrow. Maybe the land owner will come out for a look. He's a hunter himself. Hopefully time will take it's toll. The temp is around 50 tonight. Sorry for getting any hopes up, I thought for sure that it was a good hit with where I had seen the fletching sticking out. Talk to you all tommorrow.

Thas's horrible news. It's not about the contest but us as hunters hate when something like this happens. Sounds like you are doing all that you can. Hopefully if he is mortally wounded you will find him. Good Luck

Heartache & disapointment. I spent 2 hrs the third day trying to locate him. I went to the alfalfa field & tried to think of where he may have gone. No blood trail. Looked in the woods all around the field, & obviously did not find him. I feel bad for the deer to go thru that. I have never failed to place a mortally wounding shot, let alone not retrieve a deer. Not to mention, if he did expire, then that was sure a waste of meat. That was the biggest deer I've ever seen. Very handsome features. The only thing that I can explain is that either I pulled the bow, or nicked one of the branches on the limb out to my left, which deflected the arrow enough to parallel him. I just don't know. It was covered w/bright red blood from tip to tip. That friend of mine that helped me track him, said that he didn't think he was mortally wounded & able to cover that distance w/bedding down only once. Especially after 15 hrs. But he said that deer may show up again. The real problem is that gun season starts here this Sat, & I don't have the time to go out & hunt this week. So sorry team, I counted my chickens too soon.

in da woods,

Sorry to hear about that. Your friend may be right, it is hard to tell. Angles are tricky.

I haven't posted much due to the fact I am in the woods as much as possible. I have not found what I am looking for so I will keep hunting until I do.

Let's just keep hunting smart and spend as much time as we can in pursuit and let the chips fall where they may.

Well Team,

It has been quiet on our thread. With exception to a few guys I haven't heard any talk at all. I guess I will start us out by saying I connected with one. After many passes on smaller bucks and 2 sightings of bucks I thought would be "shooters" but stopped short of me or in one case I was busted by a doe and game was over on that particular buck. I was out in my stand planning to do a all day because of the bucks I have been seeing. I settled in my stand I have only hunted twice this year. Once a small buck at 20 yards at first light. Second time out nothing due to cars tearing up the road not far away.

So I thought I would give it one more try. A funnel that is a small ridge that curves around the back of a pond to my left. Then 100 yardsto my rightis a country road that gets fair traffic. The deer have to funnel through so I had high hopes. In my stand by 6a.m. it's still 35 minutes to legal shooting time. After about20 minutes I hear a deer walking slowly towards me from my front.
I pick up a sillouette and it appears to be a doe. Wind isin my face so I felt safe about that. But like them old does do she stops and stares at me and I was just amazed at how she knew something wasn't right. We have a stare down for 10 minutes. She was trying to bust me but I just held still. She turned and walked back the way she came slowly. I reached over for my bow when she went behind the brush. I looked at my sights and I knew I was still 5 minutes from shooting time.

I do have a doe tag so I was going to beready. My sights are now bright enough to see. She re-appears and stares again. She did notknow what I was but she desperately wanted to get by to get to the bedding areas. Then I pick up a leg move behind her. At 20 yards I can see a deer browsing with the head down and I see a huge neck. I am thinking has to be a buck. He continues to walk towards the pond and I see a main beam. It looks like a good buck but it's dark enough I can't tell how good.

After watching him I see him turn and I can tell the main beam is real heavy and long. And his body was large. "So I figured shooter" He continues to parrallel my stand to the leftand this doe I see is still staring at me.
Wondering how I will pull this off, I literallyam saying the lords prayer in my head.I watch the buck and its light enough now to see him at 30 yards behind her. I never really examined the rack but I knew he was mature.Icame to full draw as hewalks right into my shooting lane. I knew he was a tad over 30 yards from numerous hits from my rangefinder on the previous hunt when I am bored.When I drew sheblew butthe buck just froze. My heart was thumping but because I never actually knewhow big the deer was I was pretty relaxed. My 30 yard pin a tad high and squeezed the release. The luminock left little doubt I missed. It appeared to be a good shot. The doe spins and is gone, I am trying to watch the buck through my binocs but only can see pieces of him through the trees. Then I see him on rubber leg street and tip over.

Three pumps of the fist in theair, and I sat down and gathered myself. Watching through the binos I saw no movement. After 10 minutes I got down quietly knocked another arrow and crept towards my buck. He was expired. As I looked down it sank in what a magnificent Monarch I justhad the opportunityto harvest. I started to get emotional but kept it under control. I looked up the sky and said thanks.
He is what I believe my biggest buck to date. I have been very fortunate, and I am VERY thankful.
I don't know what he scores yet I will post a pic when I get time to green score him.

So Team 9 we are on the board. Good luck andlet's makea strong finish.

Regards,
Tribal
Proud member of Team 9 "The dream Team"

IN DA WOODS: sorry for your miss fortune, i have been there myself, just keep at it

Tribal: sounds like a beast, i have been keeping an eye on this thread, i knew you would score a good one soon congrats, cant wait for the pics. good luck everyone

Dan, you're not the only one keeping an eye on this thread. There are some very good hunters on this team. Tribal is always good for a big buck.Just a matter of time for the Masked Wonder!! Lady Forge who has already gotten her's if mymemory is right.

Tribal

Congrats!! Great recap of your hunt. Look forward to seeing the pictures ofyour Monarch. You have shot some great bucks in the past. I always look forward to seeing how your year goes.

Tim