Opening day kill in PA today. Hooked up with a farmer for a 125 acre property next to the gamelands. Only got access 2 weeks ago so I didn't get much scouting time. This past Thurs I picked out a tree near a few runs along a ridge full of nut trees. Got in really early so I wouldn't bump them back. At around 7:20 this guy came walking up behind me through some very heavy stuff. Only 1 opp for a shot at 25 yards and he would gone after that. Drilled him with the Spitfire and he had almost no reaction. I heard the impact and he jumped ran 10 yards and then fooled around and walked back down the hill. Took me 20 minutes to find the bloodtrail and I followed drop by drop(sometimes 10 yards between drop) for 2 hours. I can not tell you how little blood there was. Lucky for me he stayed on a run. After 2 hours he was all the way down the mountain and crossed some grasses and I lost him for the 10th time. Starting doing circle after circle and all of a sudden I am standing looking at a buck staring at me 20 yds out. I was not sure if it was my deer or not. Face off for a couple minutes and he walked 5 yards and layed down. I now knew I was on the right deer. After 10 min he got up and I quickly got into position and snuck in a kill shot.
Lesson to everyone here. Search search search for blood and stick with it. Over 2 hours of trailing and I got em. This buck was so heavy I couldn't get him in the xterra. Probably #25 in PA and he certainly had the largest body size of any deer I ever shot in PA. I wrestled pulled leaned shoved him into the car.
Autopsy revealed that I missed the lungs by 2 inches and hit the edge of the liver. Reason for the long trail. Quick shots in a narrow opening can be tough.
