2020-21 Hunting Season

[Saltwater60]

without entering, i could see less than 20 yards inside and it is a dense brushy area, with deer trails, i would have to sometimes crawl on knees to track them. i measured in google maps, that would stretch approximately .6 mile to the next unpaved road [measured in a straight line]. there is also a small lake in between.

i did not get a chance to scout/explore the area before, so a bit hesitant to follow, without knowing whats below that snow, it was not a flat terrain just a 100 feet up/down. not too bad.

i have no idea if they make this route daily or not. had absolutely had no time to scout anything as i have moved into new house only 3 weeks ago.

i am optimistic about next season for sure. so many options. i can simply open my bedroom door and harest one if i have a doe tag [bit of an exaggeration, but close enough]

Then check it out tomorrow and see if they or another set will pass by. Seems like you’ll spook them before you’d even get a shot with it being that thick. I bumped a Deer in a really thick patch last night. Heard it crashing through trees and brush but never even saw it.

 

[Saltwater60]

I’m heading out today about one and I’ll have an hour and a half or so to hunt before dark. Hoping to connect tonight but of course that’s unlikely. I’m hunting tomorrow as well then maybe a different spot quickly on Sunday. I have to come back Saturday evening for my nieces Birthday party. Normally I wouldn’t but there’s a lot going on and I don’t want to upset my wife or her sister by not showing up. Plus I should be there anyway.

 

[ikilledkenny]

I shot a buck and have been tracking for more than a hour. I am about 150 yards from shot taken. I am loosing the track

 

[Karpteach]

I shot a buck and have been tracking for more than a hour. I am about 150 yards from shot taken. I am loosing the track

View attachment 99173

Good luck.

 

[ikilledkenny]

I am almost 300 yards still following blood trail. Any tips? Should I wait to track or continue to track. It’s been at least 1 hour 45 minutes. Going through very thick brush. This deer might have outsmarted me

 

[Jaywmustang]

I shot a buck and have been tracking for more than a hour. I am about 150 yards from shot taken. I am loosing the track

View attachment 99173

How do you feel about the shot taken? Good/bad/marginal? If bad or marginal, give it some time. A wounded deer can go a long way if you kick it up. Do you have any dog trackers in your area to call?

 

[ikilledkenny]

How do you feel about the shot taken? Good/bad/marginal? If bad or marginal, give it some time. A wounded deer can go a long way if you kick it up. Do you have any dog trackers in your area to call?

deer jumped after being shot moved slowly and ran.
I could not locate any blood AT the location. I almost gave up but decided to enter inside the brush and started looking. About 40 yards from shot I saw puddle of blood I posted above. One or two things might have happened. Without any experience my gut tells me that deer might have laid down there to rest and this blood? And once it heard my foot steps rustling leaves etc it bolted? I am not sure. I will continue to track as I am seeing blood trail

Edit. I just found a second pool of blood another 100 yards from the first one. Looks like it was resting and I am kicking it by tracking. I will wait. Is my assumption correct?

 

[Hillbilly77]

deer jumped after being shot moved slowly and ran.
I could not locate any blood AT the location. I almost gave up but decided to enter inside the brush and started looking. About 40 yards from shot I saw puddle of blood I posted above. One or two things might have happened. Without any experience my gut tells me that deer might have laid down there to rest and this blood? And once it heard my foot steps rustling leaves etc it bolted? I am not sure. I will continue to track as I am seeing blood trail

Edit. I just found a second pool of blood another 100 yards from the first one. Looks like it was resting and I am kicking it by tracking. I will wait. Is my assumption correct?

View attachment 99175

That isn’t very much blood.
If you’re sure there wasn’t any other blood for 100 yards, the outlook is not great for you to recover your buck. Also in your other post you said you’ve been tracking for almost 300 yards. That’s not that far of a distance, but it’s rare for a mortally wounded deer run that far.

It is still worth looking to be 100% certain one way or the other.
To be absolutely sure, mark the last blood you found and go back to the first blood you found and retrace the steps.
Also look for disturbed leaves, kicked up dirt, etc. that can clue you in to the direction the deer ran.
On a positive note if that’s all the blood there is, if you don’t get him, he’ll most likely survive.

 

[ikilledkenny]

That isn’t very much blood.
If you’re sure there wasn’t any other blood for 100 yards, the outlook is not great for you to recover your buck. Also in your other post you said you’ve been tracking for almost 300 yards. That’s not that far of a distance, but it’s rare for a mortally wounded deer run that far.

It is still worth looking to be 100% certain one way or the other.
To be absolutely sure, mark the last blood you found and go back to the first blood you found and retrace the steps.
Also look for disturbed leaves, kicked up dirt, etc. that can clue you in to the direction the deer ran.
On a positive note if that’s all the blood there is, if you don’t get him, he’ll most likely survive.

First pic and second pic are two different locations, with steady trail in between them. I have stopped at second one now and can see more blood ahead of me. Just sitting here with dilemma should I just follow it. Or wait longer

 

[Hillbilly77]

First pic and second pic are two different locations, with steady trail in between them. I have stopped at second one now and can see more blood ahead of me. Just sitting here with dilemma should I just follow it

Ok, you didn’t say there was blood in between the two spots - you said, “I just found a second pool of blood another 100 yards from the first one...”
I understand you are pumped up and your nerves are wound-up tight.

TRY TO CALM DOWN.

If there is a steady trail of blood, I would proceed slowly and with caution, but I would keep going. If there is only sparse blood every little while, I’d back out and wait a bit.

Do you have a scope on your gun or binoculars with you? If so, use them to look as far ahead as you can see. The deer will see your approach long before you’ll see him. Glassing the area may help you spot it first, before he bolts again.

 

[ikilledkenny]

Ok, you didn’t say there way blood in between the two spots - you said, “I just found a second pool of blood another 100 yards from the first one...”
I understand you are pumped up and your nerves are wound-up tight.

TRY TO CALM DOWN.

If there is a steady trail of blood, I would proceed slowly and with caution, but I would keep going. If there is only sparse blood every little while, I’d back out and wait a bit.

Do you have a scope on your gun or binoculars with you? If so, use them to look as far ahead as you can see. The deer will see your approach long before you’ll see him. Glassing the area may help you spot it first, before he bolts again.

my bad. I need to def calm down. I am in the middle of thick brush. I cannot see anything beyond 30 feet. Using rifle scope as much as I can.
On the positive note I am continuing to see more blood.

thanks

 

[Hillbilly77]

my bad. I need to def calm down. I am in the middle of thick brush. I cannot see anything beyond 30 feet. Using rifle scope as much as I can.
On the positive note I am continuing to see more blood.

thanks

As long as there is blood, I would keep going, slowly.

 

[Robin]

Good luck!!!!!! Take it slow, sit down take a break, then go slow again. Could be the camera, but the blood looks very dark, could you have hit him in the liver? They can go a long way with the liver shot, If you are still getting good blood its most likely a fatal wound, take your time and don't push it. Keep an eye ahead as best you can, it will get weak and lay down, if you go easy you may get another shot .
Robin

 

[ikilledkenny]

As long as there is blood, I would keep going, slowly.

50 feet from the second one I saw this

 

[stokes]

Sit quietly for 15 mins or more.It seems you have already kicked him up a couple times,he's been shot,he's spooked by you tracking him,he'll run at every sound he hears.They can go far,I tracked a doe once for near 2 miles.Its part of the game,you signed on when you pulled the trigger,you have to keep going to finish it off or find it dead.

 

[Hillbilly77]

50 feet from the second one I saw this

View attachment 99196

That amount of blood looks good to see.
Are you seeing blood like that all the time?

 

[Hillbilly77]

Sit quietly for 15 mins or more.It seems you have already kicked him up a couple times,he's been shot,he's spooked by you tracking him,he'll run at every sound he hears.They can go far,I tracked a doe once for near 2 miles.Its part of the game,you signed on when you pulled the trigger,you have to keep going to finish it off or find it dead.

Good advice.

We tracked a doe years ago for a mile before we caught up, and we had the advantage of multiple people and snow on the ground.

 

[ikilledkenny]

That amount of blood looks good to see.
Are you seeing blood like that all the time?

Amount of blood yes. Lots of it.

 

[ikilledkenny]

Sit quietly for 15 mins or more.It seems you have already kicked him up a couple times,he's been shot,he's spooked by you tracking him,he'll run at every sound he hears.They can go far,I tracked a doe once for near 2 miles.Its part of the game,you signed on when you pulled the trigger,you have to keep going to finish it off or find it dead.

will do. As long as there is visible blood trail I will rest and continue to track. Have to call off before dark. Not good getting stuck in the middle of forest.

 

[Jaywmustang]

That doesn’t look like a lot of blood too me in the pics. You would think there would be more consistent blood after the cavity filled up. Tracking in thick brush sucks if there isn’t enough blood. Positive in tracking in thick brush is the blood will be on the brush and not easily lost.

 

[stokes]

Aint you got a flashlight? Cant give up on it,there is no way you'll pick up the trail tomorrow.Even if you find it in the next 10 mins your gonna be draggin it out in the dark.

 

[Bustedknees]

Turn your phone off and hunt his ass till he's dead

 

[Bustedknees]

Waiting on kenny's wounded buck

 

[ikilledkenny]

I gave up. Will look early in the morning. Temps are low. Only hope is it lives long enough. Just feel awful it wasn’t a clean shot. I thought it was. I made a lot of n00b mistakes as to not wait long enough for it to rest.

I left my blind somewhere in the woods as it got heavy while tracking. I lost my orange hat. Probably got caught in the bushes while I was crawling on my knees tracking. I have to find them tomorrow.

while walking back, I was scared shitless as I know I’ve to pass a bunch of hunters hunting in the blinds, and hope they won’t mistake me for deer and pop one (no orange hat and Public land). I had to walk with my iPhone light on flashing while walking home. Hunters flashed back with their lights on my way home. Yea I lost my flashlight in the woods.

it’s a day of misadventures for kenny. Hope that deer lives a long life

 

[Hillbilly77]

I gave up. Will look early in the morning. Temps are low. Only hope is it lives long enough. Just feel awful it wasn’t a clean shot. I thought it was. I made a lot of n00b mistakes as to not wait long enough for it to rest.

I left my blind somewhere in the woods as it got heavy while tracking. I lost my orange hat. Probably got caught in the bushes while I was crawling on my knees tracking. I have to find them tomorrow.

while walking back, I was scared shitless as I know I’ve to pass a bunch of hunters hunting in the blinds, and hope they won’t mistake me for deer and pop one (no orange hat and Public land). I had to walk with my iPhone light on flashing while walking home. Hunters flashed back with their lights on my way home. Yea I lost my flashlight in the woods.

it’s a day of misadventures for kenny. Hope that deer lives a long life

Laying overnight may well be all it takes for the deer to die.
If it was a mortal wound, he may lay down and die in his bed.
Give it an honest effort tomorrow. That’s all you can do at this point.

 

[1075tech]

I've had bad days hunting as well. Probably most have, whether they admit it or not. Other than losing a nice buck a few years ago, I think the worst was when my magazine broke on a shot on opening day. Missed the doe I was shooting at. Sitting in a stand, holding my rifle in my arms, bullets in one hand, parts of the magazine in the other, and a 6 walks out. Later that day I shot a nice doe. Watched her drop. She was close but I had a heck of a hike to get to her as she was on the other side of a hedgerow. Get there and she's gone. I start tracking her. She jumps up and ran into a road and got hit by a car. FML.

 

[Jaywmustang]

I gave up. Will look early in the morning. Temps are low. Only hope is it lives long enough. Just feel awful it wasn’t a clean shot. I thought it was. I made a lot of n00b mistakes as to not wait long enough for it to rest.

I left my blind somewhere in the woods as it got heavy while tracking. I lost my orange hat. Probably got caught in the bushes while I was crawling on my knees tracking. I have to find them tomorrow.

while walking back, I was scared shitless as I know I’ve to pass a bunch of hunters hunting in the blinds, and hope they won’t mistake me for deer and pop one (no orange hat and Public land). I had to walk with my iPhone light on flashing while walking home. Hunters flashed back with their lights on my way home. Yea I lost my flashlight in the woods.

it’s a day of misadventures for kenny. Hope that deer lives a long life

Could you have done things differently? Sure, there is always room for improvement but it sounds like you put in your best to try and find your deer. It’s not always like a hunting show where the deer fall on the spot or drop in eye sight. As long as you learn what you need to improve on and make you a better hunter.

is there any dog trackers in your area?

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

My buddy's dad got lucky in my back yard while I was at work.

 

[ikilledkenny]

Could you have done things differently? Sure, there is always room for improvement but it sounds like you put in your best to try and find your deer. It’s not always like a hunting show where the deer fall on the spot or drop in eye sight. As long as you learn what you need to improve on and make you a better hunter.

is there any dog trackers in your area?

I recently moved here (about 3-4 weeks, new house). Don’t know anyone. My neighbors hunt for sure. Just didn’t get enough time to say hello still settling in. it’s country side, next door neighbor is few acres away. Probably rude to to show up and say ‘hey man I am your new neighbor, need a favor’. Will give it a shot, see if he knows anyone

 

[Jaywmustang]

I recently moved here (about 3-4 weeks, new house). Don’t know anyone. My neighbors hunt for sure. Just didn’t get enough time to say hello still settling in. it’s country side, next door neighbor is few acres away. Probably rude to to show up and say ‘hey man I am your new neighbor, need a favor’. Will give it a shot, see if he knows anyone

I see trackers in ny on fb. I personally don’t know of any.