HuntingNet.com Forums - Bad experience on public lands (IDIOTS) redeemed by 9-pointer

Okay, it has only taken ONE time for me to visit public lands on opening day of firearms season to know that I will NEVER do that again. This is only my second season of hunting, and last season I didn't get into it until late November when I was invited by a buddy. Once I went with him, I was hooked! I'm just bummed that I've missed out on 20+ years of hunting!!

Anyway, I scouted out Pocahontas State Park a few days before the opener and found a real nice spot a couple miles back...a ravine with a gully running through. Found a nice tree to blend into and built a little blind there. Got up WAY too early on Saturday and was in my spot by 5:15. 10 minutes before sunrise, I see another flashlight on the other side of the ravine, about 50 or so yards to my right. Every time his flashlight was pointed in my direction, I flashed mine back at him, as if to say, "You're barking up the wrong tree and you're TOO close." He finally flashed his light back at me, which I interpreted as, "I see you, I'm moving."

Well, after an hour and a half had passed, I saw antlers moving in the brush to my right. I didn't have a shot yet, but anticipated I would. Then, BLAM!! The guy was still in the same spot!! The buck came zooming past me but I didn't have a good angle to shoot. As he passed, I saw he was gut shot. At that point, I would have taken any shot (as long as the area behind was clear) at him but it was too late. The guy makes his way near me and I signaled him over to show him the direction of the buck. I told him the animal was gut shot and he said that he was aiming for the heart but when he attempted to shoot, the safety was on. So I guess he just decided to shoot at anything brown after disengaging.

I told him exactly where I saw the buck go and in which direction. The guy thanked me and continued to look for the deer, but not where I told him to. He never recovered him. If the buck went running for a long time, it's likely he was caught because the woods were so packed (I hope).

So another couple of hours passed and I saw a doe wandering on the other side of the ravine. I had my gun on her, but she looked small so I was pretty sure I was going to let her go. She disappeared behind a tree. I was waiting for her to come back into my field of view, but she never showed again. I was focused so hard in the distance that she surprised the crap out of me when I stopped looking only to find her 10 feet in front of me!! She was just looking at me, wagging her tail, with not a care in the world. I decided to let her pass and when she turned, I noticed her rear leg bleeding slightly. I was pissed. I procrastinated and then took the shot when she was about 50 feet out or so. She went right down.

A few minutes later, the idiot who shot her came calling for her (like she'd come like a dog or something), hooting and hollering, totally disturbing my space. I signaled him up to me, and he shouted back, "WHAT??" I grunted back to him, "COME HERE." I asked him if he was looking for a doe and he said that he was. I told him that he shot her in the leg and he said, "Dang man, yeah I sure busted up that tree!!", as if to imply that she was behind it and he just decided to shoot. I told him to take her and as soon as I did, he yelled into his walkie, "Hey boys, we got some meat!!"

Then, he threw her over his shoulders to carry her out (hmmm...hope another one like him didn't see her!!) and gets down to the gully and throws her across. Except he didn't throw her far enough and she landed right in the water. Making a total ruckus the entire way out. No respect for wildlife, my hunting space, or anything else.

Then of course, there were a bunch of guys I heard off in the distance pretending they were dogs (since dogs aren't allowed), howling most of the day long to stir up the deer.

I got one good chance at a 4 to 6 point buck a little later, but when the time came to squeeze the trigger, I decided to wait to see if anything bigger was behind him. He was the last I saw of the day and was a little regretful of not taking him.

However, had I taken him, I probably wouldn't have gone out yesterday and picked out this big boy! Okay, his 9-point rack isn't huge (20-inch spread), but he's big to me. He's my first real buck (last season I took a 3-pointer during a population control hunt...what's up with me and odd-pointed bucks??) and I'm pretty proud of him. And he was heavy!

I went to the exact same spot I did on Saturday because I knew it was good. I was using some estrus scent and a can call. Every 20 minutes I hit the can call, but at about an hour after sunrise, I decided to blow in it to make it a bit louder. I was worried when I did it though because it changed the tone a bit. A minute after the call, I saw him come over the opposite ridge, about 100 yards to my left. He hopped over the gully and slowed down a bit. I thought I might be busted, but he proceeded. However, all I could see was brown until he moved to this tiny crack in my field of view and I saw his complete shoulder. I took the shot immediately and he went right down on the spot and never attempted to get up. I ran over to him and he was only twitching a bit, not breathing. Double-lung shot with my Marlin 512 Slugmaster, open sights.

The only problem is that I had to drag his ass up the hill and about 2 miles back to my vehicle, and it was as very hilly path!! He barely fit in my back seat...I need to get me a truck!! :bash: