Sam16 Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Well guys, i've waited a week before posting this one cuz i'm still pretty frustrated with last weekend's hunt. before i get to the main course, listen to my luck. I was hunting NW illinois on saturday evening. I decided to sit on the ground and try a new area. I get set up at 3 oclock, and at 3:05 i look up to see a big ole buck comin my way. He spotted me, stared me down, and kept walking. I was preparing to draw, just a few more steps until he's in my lane... and A TREE FELL BEHIND ME! the buck took off for the hills and i sat there staring at the tree. Never in my hunting career have i witnessed a tree fall of this size... and it happens when a monster is on my trial. Anyways, i stayed optimistic since it was the rut and bucks were moving. The following evening i set up in the same area with a climber. At 3:30 i heard a deer coming my way. I see it's a beautiful 8 pt coming through the thick brush. After watching him take his time towards me for 2 minutes, he presented me with a beautiful 12 yard broadside shot. The shakes got to me, i rushed the shot, and hit him low. I still felt i could have gotten heart though. He takes off, runs 50 yards, looks at me, and takes off again. We waited an hour, followed the blood trail and decided to come bakc in the morning with more light. We wake up to rain hitting the windows. My stomach sank. Luckily some of the blood trail was still visible. We followed it for about 500 yards and 4 hours. Our last blood was a pool the size of a basketball in a crp field. We looked forever and could not find any more blood. It would have been my biggest buck to date, but it wasnt meant to be. Anyways... just needed to get htis out.. haha. Hopefully he's alive and will be bigger next year. I have a hard time believing he lost so much blood and is still alive, but he did make it 500 yards, so who knows. Any ideas? I believe i hit him about 2-3 inches above the white of the belly, but it wasnt a gut or shoulder shot, looked good. Any similar experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shockwave Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Re: I choked.. How long did you track him ?? Any marginal shots you need to give them a little extra time.. Did you wait any amount of time before you started tracking him since you were on the ground ?? My reason for asking , is you might have pushed him 500 yards instead of him laying up after a 100 yards or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Illinois1958 Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Re: I choked.. Thems the breaks. It happens to all of us. Sorry for the result. I have lost bucks that i thought were dead. Learn the lesson and move on. Good luck in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstringking Posted November 18, 2006 Report Share Posted November 18, 2006 Re: I choked.. if you are sure that you hit him good enough to kill him then can could use a tactic that we use here in PA. get a few friends and start to walk like your small game hunting or pushing deer. usually someone will spot something. it works all the time for us up here but if that doesnt work...then your pretty much screwed sucks. hope you find him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam16 Posted November 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Re: I choked.. once we felt the hit wasnt a slam dunk kill shot we got out of there that night... we came back in the morning and followed the blood trail. We looked for 4 hours in the morning... an hour looking for more blood/sign at the last spot. I'm pretty sure he's alive, all we can do is hope i guess. Thanks though guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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