PA late season archery hunt I will never forget.
 

Hi guys. Yesterday, January 20th 2012 was one hunt I will never forget. Two days ago I took my crossbow out and decided to walk in the woods I hunt on. I ended up jumping this deer and I could tell this deer was hurt really bad, hardly able to walk and run. I went to the tracks and noticed some blood too. I figured he was hit so I decided to come back in the morning and get back on the tracks. Sure enough I jumped him again yesterday morning and he could hardly run away from me. I ran and angled my way to him and saw him running towards a creek. I got within ten yards and he was just trying to stand in the creek so I put a kill shot on him and put him out of his misery. He was hit by a car and the front right leg was completely broken and the other front leg was very bad too. After talking to a local road department crew near the woods I hunt in, they told my dad that they noticed a 6 pt limping terribly all year. They first saw him in archery season and though about calling cops or the game commision to come put him down. However they kept seeing him and realized he must be doing fine and never called. Once I got the deer after I killed him, it indeed was a shed buck. It has to be the same buck the road department crew had seen all year. I am surprised he made it this long and he was in pretty good shape. He mustve been eating good because he wasnt skinny and after skinning him, all the meat looked great. The reason I found blood in the snow following his tracks was that his right broken leg had been dragging and/or using it to get up and to lay down. The skin had been raw and bleeding from the use of the broken leg. I am glad to have put a kill shot on this deer and put him out of his misery. It shows how strong these animals are and what they can go through.

Really odd that the coyotes didn't get him! Two things accomplished, you have a full freezer and the animal is not suffering anymore. Both pluses in my book.
My firend has a similar experience with a buck this year. He was looking for turkey and carrying his .17 instead of his bow (archery was still in) when he jumped a buck at 20 yds. He said the buck could barely stand and sort of hobbled about 50 yds and laid back down. That was late on a Saturday afternoon. On Monday (can't hunt Sunday in PA) he snuck back in there with bow in hand and again jumped this buck which bolted away this time - never to be seen again. My friend figured that this buck was in a fight and got the snot knocked out of him and needed a little time to recover.
But I agree, whitetails are a tough animal.

I was also surprised no coyotes got him, however this was a patch of woods basically surrounded by houses, thinking the yotes didnt want to get close to the houses. But ya whitetails are one tough animal!