I know this is a bow forum but considering I am a bow hunter almost exclusively and spend the gun season taking my daughter gun hunting and the fact that I post here quite frequently,I thought I could post this story here.

I' m sorry but the fact is this is a gun hunt so I will have to move it over to the deer hunting forum. Hope you understand.


This started last year when my daughter was only 8 years old(to young to shoot enough poundage to bow hunt).We were hunting a favorite gun stand beside a huge bedding area and about a half hour into the hunt,a nice 2 1/2 year old buck came in chasing a doe.The 2 deer stopped at 20 yards but the doe spotted us when I was trying to get my daughter in position and the buck still hadn' t turned broadside.I gave her some questionable advice because I told her to shoot the buck while it was quartering to us. I knew the doe was going to run and the buck was going to follow.I figured the gun,although small would do the job.Well,I was both right and wrong.She made an awesome shot because I could see the blood behind the front shoulder as it ran off.She had to hit the front shoulder and penetrate into the heart to do this,or so I thought.I waited a few minutes to calm me and her and then I got down to check for blood.PERFECT trail so I proceeded,the blood was huge and frequent so I just knew we would find it.After tracking about 75-100 yards into some VERY THICK cover we jumped a deer.I thought it was a different deer but after going to where the deer jumped,I found a puddle of blood about 2 feet in diameter,so I knew it was the deer.Naturally I backed out and came back about 3 hours later,in the dark,and started tracking again with some friends.We lost the blood that night so I went home and came back the next day with another friend and looked for a few more hours but could find no deer.The biggest problem was we were right in the middle of the bedding area and this was the thickest stuff I have ever seen.It was an overgrown sage brush field with briars and stuff about 6 feet tall.We literally was crawling around trying to find the deer but it just wasn' t to be,or was it.



Naturally my daughter was heart broke and so was I because I knew it was my fault,first I suggested a less than perfect shot and then I started tracking to soon.Even with a small caliber rifle,I thought we would be ok,boy was I wrong.


Well we jump forward to this year,we had already hunted 1 weekend together and were seing deer but were having the worst luck imaginable getting a shot.We went to the place where we stay when we hunt and we walked in the garage and the person was sitting there with a $#it eating grin on his face and when we got close to him,he held up a deer skull with a nice 10 point rack.He asked my daughter if she recognized it and immediately her eyes lit up and said yes.Believe it or not,a friend of ours was looking for a cow that got out that week and stumbled across this deer head less than 100 yards from where we were looking for her deer the previous year.The darn thing doubled back on us and actually when into less cover on top of the hill.Unless the coyotes drug it up there.



I know it is hard to believe that a deer would still be around after a year in the woods and not have been eaten by rodents,but the skull had no flesh and no hide around it.The skull and rack was also bleached out from the sun and was IDENTCAL to the deer she shot the year before and in the same area.I am about 90% sure it was her deer and she is 100% sure it is her deer and that is what matters.Needles to say,even though this year was tough,it has been a succesfull one for her and I think she is now completely hooked.I know we didn' t get any meat off this deer and that is very important but she does have the antlers and will charish them for a lifetime.