Today started off with a deer passing within 5 yards of me while it was still too dark to tell what sex it was. I hunt on the ground so this was very exciting. The deer made its way off in the direction of where my hubby was set up. About a half hour later I hear a deer running from the direction of my hubby. It turned out to be a 4-point - he then slowed and walked right by me looking at me as he went.
Then almost an hour later I hear a deer approaching from behind. As slow as possible I turn to see a buck. He starts to turn to go up the hill right in front of me. He looks at me then continues. (This is the huge buck that surprized me last year and made me shake my arrow off the rest) Anyway, I got ready to shoot and he turned about 3 steps before my shooting lane and started the other way. I bleated out to him but he just kept walking away.
A half hour later I hear deer running and turn to see a small 6-point chasing a doe. She runs away and he then beds down along with a tiny buttonbuck. I didn' t want them there cause I knew they would bust me if another deer came along to shoot. So I began making noises to try to spook them away. Nothing worked! I grunted, bleated, barked, whistled, oinked, threw small rocks and twigs. Finally I just stood up and walked toward them. Then they took off. It was quiet after that so I headed in for lunch.
Hubby went back out about 3:30. We decided to check out what was going on by some apple trees. We get there to see a buttonbuck feeding. I told hubby to sit on a milk crate by a tree where he could wait to see if he could get a shot. (This is only his 2nd year hunting and has never gotten a deer yet. He' s a senior so it' s his special doe season) I sat on the ground to see what would happen. It turned out the buttonbuck bedded down. Then I noticed there was also a doe there. It took over an hour but finally they got up to feed again. Then they started up the trail that leads to a field. I told hubby to take the doe. He shoots her at about 35-40 yards. We couldn' t tell where it hit but the doe ran about 10 steps and stopped. Then she turned around and started back towards us. The buttonbuck followed her and seemed to distract her. She then turned and went downhill into some thick cover. The buttonbuck followed. We could hear crashing then alll was quiet. Suddenly I can hear snorting off to the right in the direction of where the doe was headed. I could see a deer and it headed up towards the edge of the field. It was a big buck. I got out my bleat can and that seemed to catch his attention. He began to head towards us. I told my hubby " Don' t move a muscle!" . I got my bow ready and waited. And surprize - there are deer running at us from behind. I turned to see two mature doe. They stopped at 5 and 10 yards. So I turned and was just getting ready to shoot the one at ten yards as the other was right behind hubby. They then spooked and went downhill the same way the doe and buttons went. By then it was beginning to get dark and I couldn' t tell if the buck was still there or not. So we then decided to run back to the house and get flashlights to track the doe. We came back and found a blood trail. We found a small clump of tissue which appeared to be reddish-purple. It was not fat or skin. It wasn' t bloody but there was blood spattered all around it. Also, there were a few light colored hairs. We marked the trail and it seemed to go in a circle within the brambles. We looked and looked but could not find where the trail came out. This was some really thick stuff and in some places we couldn' t get thru it. We finally gave up three hours later. We' ll go out at first light to see if we can find her. Anyone have any idea what the tissue could be? There was a good trail (while we found it) and the blood was red - not pink or brown. No bubbles. When the deer was hit she kept her tail down and walked and trotted - no running. The hubby could have shot again but his gun is having trouble ejecting the shell. Any help on where he hit would be appreciated....