dumb founded

[chris]

this past fall nov.10 i moved from one stand to another because of wind change.the stand i moved to is surrounded by small drainage ditch and a one acre willow patch with about 5 acres of canary grass.I came out the swamp onto the lane that runs next to the drainage ditch.i heard a deer blow,its a wide open area thinking i got busted i just kept walking.All of sudden it did it again,this time i stopped looked up and about 75 yds away was a 170 class buck in the edge of the willow patch,not looking at me but 2 smaller bucks,one through the season we called elmer.so i crawled along the trail undetected for 50 ydsand got inline with the doe.while elmer was doing his job making mr. big ticked off.she came within 30 yds broadside an brought mr.big right in,i drew without him or any of them seeing me. i let the arrow go and watch it  drill mr. big, it was a tad low but in the lungs.all the comotion stopped he went 10 yds stopped which gave me time to shoot another arrow and hit him in the leg.little willow brush in the way that i couldnt see deflected my arrow.i sat for over an hour and a half. the deer were all in this 1 acre willow patch.i could see all around it. nothing ever came out.i had the wind in my favor.i snuck out the way i came.we waited 2.5 hrs to pursue.from first impact spot instant blood everywhere.like the coolaid man sprung a leak.we took our time following the blood, it was everywhere inside that one acre willow patch,all four corners,no dead deer.no spot exiting out anywhere,check the ditch on the muddy banks, zero.We were back at the next morning with a warden asking what time we finally got out the night before.In we went with the blood dog and 4 hunting partners.we covered over 30 acres 10.5 hrs of tracking and a image of blood splatter that had made me dumb founded to this day.






[/align]

[scotman]

What did the blood look like? Another thought would check the closest water supplies. Maybe you hit him farther back than you expected. He wouldve took the path of least resistance seeing how you gave him time to do that. So might be worth the effort of just having the horns to sit back and examine the terrain with a clear head. Not that you didnt have a clear head to begin with but I know how buck fever can be

[JOEL]

wow that is strange .the fact that the blood hound couldnt find it makes me think water too.or maybe aliens

[chris]

i have spent countless hours and others in my group looking for this deer.I will be turkey hunting there this afternoon,you can bet i willl be looking again.One thing out of the whole ordeal,We got to know land pretty darn well.


[/align]

[mhouck06]

that is crazy that the blood dog could not find it. its amazing how far a deer can run with such injuries

[EatDeer]

Maybe some fat plugged the entry hole. Even so, the dog should have been able to find the deer none the less. I'd say someone stole your deer,but its hard to say,Thats why they call it hunting. You could have got a bad hit as well and not known it,then the dog would have kept bumping the deer.Did you find any spots where the deer bedded down and bleed,then moved to another spot,etc.?

[chris]

[/align]The blood was bright and bubbly I had three beds from him in that one acre spot.I didnt want to let this out but it is on county land,there was about 2 dozen different hunters in the parking lot that night.Most of them i knew and where they are set up But can't account for all.I really did not want to think about that situation but it could of happened,but that buck would of been talked about in a three county radius.nothing said.

[Sailfish]

I had a similiar scenario too.
Hit the deer. Found good blood, tissue and hair.
Deer took off running, ran a good 1/4 mile, blood the whole way.
Leaned against a tree, pooled more blood, then a few small splatters away from the tree to an open field................
I'll never figure that out.

[scotman]

ORIGINAL: chris

The blood was bright and bubbly I had three beds from him in that one acre spot.I didnt want to let this out but it is on county land,there was about 2 dozen different hunters in the parking lot that night.Most of them i knew and where they are set up But can't account for all.I really did not want to think about that situation but it could of happened,but that buck would of been talked about in a three county radius.nothing said.

I would check the thickest cover, briar patches, small creeks and behind dead falls he would've headed for that for safety.

[vambo991]

Oh man, sorry bro!