Wounded a monster this morning.
12-11-2011, 07:33 AM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Lee , New Hampshire
Posts: 312
3. what bullet were you using? By this I am asking was it a ballistic tip? or a powerbelt? If it was, then here is your problem. They just do not (in most cases) pass through therefore you dont have a good blood trail to track.[/quote]
Ballistic lesson 101...when you can expell ALL of your energy within the game you are shooting you have done the best possible job that bullet has to offer.
IMO...passing through any animal in hopes to get a blood trail is a bad way to start the hunt. Placement and complete energy "dump" within the animal is the answer. I reload and have used Nosler Partitions 4 ever, there are a lot of good bullets out there but these have left my game DOA everytime.
Ballistic lesson 101...when you can expell ALL of your energy within the game you are shooting you have done the best possible job that bullet has to offer.
IMO...passing through any animal in hopes to get a blood trail is a bad way to start the hunt. Placement and complete energy "dump" within the animal is the answer. I reload and have used Nosler Partitions 4 ever, there are a lot of good bullets out there but these have left my game DOA everytime.
12-11-2011, 10:21 AM
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 98
IMO...passing through any animal in hopes to get a blood trail is a bad way to start the hunt. Placement and complete energy "dump" within the animal is the answer. I reload and have used Nosler Partitions 4 ever, there are a lot of good bullets out there but these have left my game DOA everytime.[/quote]
I respect your opinion and your experience. But my experience has been the opposite. And this is after 42 hunting seasons and every single issue we have had at our lease with non recovered deer. Was due to ballistic tip bullets.
Maybe you are an excellent shot? Yes shot placement is everything. But not everyone places their shot exactly where they are supposed to.
12-11-2011, 02:10 PM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 1,260
Well I went back to the shot sight. I know I followed the right tracks. It was the only running tracks. Theres alot of sand by the stand so it wasn't to hard to see the sand all tore up.
When I shot he bounded off about 150yds then started walking. He never blew, or fell. He just bounded off and then walked through an oak patch. I found the drop off blood and there was a small white hair in it. This leads me to beleive I hit him low in the front leg. I couldn't find anymore blood. I went back to that drop and creeped down all the possible routes through the oak flat. I'm still sick to my stomach.
It's amazing how you can keep your composure and hit one at 200yds and drop him. Then completely screw everything up when he's 20 yds in front of you. All I can say is I was freaking out. Here is this big buck right in front of me I can't get a shot at first and I rushed it. Looking back i know I could have waited and he would have calmed down and gave me an awsome shot.
Theres just to many places he could have gone. A thick draw, a pine thicket, a snarl of bushes and vines. All I can do is get back up there and hope he comes by again. He has fresh rubs and scrapes in the area so I'm hoping he'll be back. I'm pretty sure he's not dead. What makes it worse I didn't do my job to make a clean kill and it's hard to swallow. Not cause he's a big buck but cause I owed it to that animal to make a clean kill.
When I shot he bounded off about 150yds then started walking. He never blew, or fell. He just bounded off and then walked through an oak patch. I found the drop off blood and there was a small white hair in it. This leads me to beleive I hit him low in the front leg. I couldn't find anymore blood. I went back to that drop and creeped down all the possible routes through the oak flat. I'm still sick to my stomach.
It's amazing how you can keep your composure and hit one at 200yds and drop him. Then completely screw everything up when he's 20 yds in front of you. All I can say is I was freaking out. Here is this big buck right in front of me I can't get a shot at first and I rushed it. Looking back i know I could have waited and he would have calmed down and gave me an awsome shot.
Theres just to many places he could have gone. A thick draw, a pine thicket, a snarl of bushes and vines. All I can do is get back up there and hope he comes by again. He has fresh rubs and scrapes in the area so I'm hoping he'll be back. I'm pretty sure he's not dead. What makes it worse I didn't do my job to make a clean kill and it's hard to swallow. Not cause he's a big buck but cause I owed it to that animal to make a clean kill.
12-11-2011, 02:27 PM
#15
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 83
Don't get too down on yourself Deernutz. You might get another crack at him. There are so many things in life we can look back on and wish that we had handled them differently...... Ya know what they say, "Hind sight is 20-20." And at the time you squeezed the trigger, you thought you were making the right move. You will get more chances. Don't kick yourself in the butt over it. You are still a good hunter that obviously has good ethics. You made your best attempts to recover and locate the deer, that's really all you can ask of yourself right now.
12-11-2011, 02:42 PM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
Good effort deernutz. You are right...big deer can instill panic to even the most seasoned hunters. Hopefully you will see him again, and it sounds like he may still be alive....but I would keep an eye out for buzzards just the same. Good luck.
12-11-2011, 02:48 PM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 1,260
I will keep an eye out. I'll be back out there mon night. I don't like to use cameras this late in the season seems to spoke deer by me. But I think I'm gonna put out 3 of them on his trails just to see if I can get a pic of him to help ease my mind.
