He followed the blood trail for atleast 1/2 a mile and he kept finding less and less blood. The last spot he found blood had 1 drop within 10 feet of another.
With this statement it appears through your words that you guys never went back. You relied on what HE said. And it also appears he walked away from the blood trail.
We did look until we couldn't anymore.
Not according to your original thread. I'm sorry, it seems like your story is changing.
There was not enough blood to follow anymore. I forgot to add this part, but we looked until 11:00 that night and then it rained over night and a mist held up all night. Like I said Dave was following the blood trail until there was almost no more blood.
Again, your saying here that Dave is the only one following the blood trail but yet you say we, we, we. In the end, it was Dave who was the only one following and you didn't go back on his word alone.
And not enough blood is still blood.
He found one drop 10 feet apart from each other continuously.
So if there was blood present.....why stop. Just because it's ten feet apart, there is still a trail and by your words.....it's continous?
I don't see how some of you can criticize how I dealt with the situation when none of you were there.
True, we can only go by what your telling us but what I read your telling us is that Dave alone made the decision for you to quit when there was still a blood trail. I'm sorry but Dave didn't pull the trigger, he didn't have the investment you had in the hunt. I do not quit looking by what some else said. Perhaps you should read Matt / PA's recovery persistance on the buck he killed. He looked for 3 days with ZERO BLOOD. You had blood and quit in one night/4 hours. Your respondibility was to look the next morning NOT shoot another one regardless of the rain. AGAIN, Matt had zero blood, 3 days and found it. You had blood and it appears by the writing on the wall that you cut the artery in the hams. That deer is probably dead and you gave up. Sorry, that's the way I read it by your own words.
I waited 2 hours before looking and then we searched for her for almost 4 hours. The trail got washed away because it rained. While we were looking for her the blood trail was already washing out some and it was only a mist.
The wait was appropriate, the search was not. Again, your saying the blood washed out SOME...not totally and again, Dave was the only one looking at that point according to your own words?
The next day it got up into the 70s. I got out of there right after I shot that second doe and got home to cut her up.
Again, you shouldn't have shot the second deer (congrats again) without first exhausting the search for the first one. Exhausting means grid searches etc...Temperature shouldn't have been a factor had you not shot the second one.
Original GMMAT:
Did you ever think about a follow up shot on the doe you did get down? She's 20 yds away.....and expiring for five minutes?
Great question, why didn't you shoot her again to speed up the expiration?