mdunc8
Well-known member
I work on the Yellowstone River during the summer and fall which allows me to spend about 50 nights camping on the river. This gives me a lot of time to do some scouting along most of the river below Billings. I've seen quite a few bucks this year and have had my eye on a few I've seen hanging out together several times this summer. I managed to squeeze in a few days of hunting down there a few weeks ago. I take pride in never loosing a deer in my short (16 years) hunting career. Well I can't make that claim anymore.
I had just finished setting up camp and started walking around when I found the group of bucks only a few hundred yards from my tent. The three of them were still hanging out together: a nice 6 point that will be a great deer next year; a really nice, thick, tall 8 point; and a monster that I didn't get a real good look at. It had rained pretty much all day so I was able to sneak behind some willows and get into position. They fed their way across a dry side channel about 50 yards in front of me. I ranged a tree they were heading towards at 39 yards. The closest buck, the nice 8 point, moved in right behind the tree. His head and neck were blocked by the tree so I didn't have a problem drawing. As I let the arrow fly, things went downhill real quick. I don't know if the tree scared me a little, even though it wasn't blocking any of the vitals, but I pulled the shot. The arrow ended up entering back in the stomach. I found the arrow which was covered in mostly stomach juice, so I backed out and let him alone over night. I now know how Randy felt when he shot his first archery elk in season 1. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.
When I woke up in the morning, I didn't find much blood at all. A few good spots where I shot him, but he quickly quit bleeding. I also figured out that he was actually five paces behind the tree rather than right next to it. If you've read any of my other posts you know that I shoot an older bow and I don't pull that much weight, so there is a big different between 39 and 44 yards for me. I'm more than comfortable shooting at both those distances, but my arrow drops quite a bit after 40 yards. After two hours of searching I randomly found a small drop of blood a few hundred yards away. I started walking straight away from where I thought I was in relation to where I shot him. After about 20 minutes, I walked up on the buck bedded under a Russian olive. He was less than 10 yards away by the time I saw him. I had an arrow in my hand, but before I could get it nocked, he took off. I backed out and went back to looking that evening. No sign of him later that day or the next morning.
Loosing a beautiful, or any animal for that matter, SUCKS. I had really high hopes for this season as I had located several really nice bucks and bulls that I thought I'd be able to close the deal on. I also drew the antelope tag I was looking for and have seen several nice bucks hanging out on the ranch I'm hunting. Now it seems like this year's hunting season has quickly gone right down the sh&%%er. I should be thinking about buggling bulls right now, but I can't get the picture of that buck under the olive tree out of my mind.
I had just finished setting up camp and started walking around when I found the group of bucks only a few hundred yards from my tent. The three of them were still hanging out together: a nice 6 point that will be a great deer next year; a really nice, thick, tall 8 point; and a monster that I didn't get a real good look at. It had rained pretty much all day so I was able to sneak behind some willows and get into position. They fed their way across a dry side channel about 50 yards in front of me. I ranged a tree they were heading towards at 39 yards. The closest buck, the nice 8 point, moved in right behind the tree. His head and neck were blocked by the tree so I didn't have a problem drawing. As I let the arrow fly, things went downhill real quick. I don't know if the tree scared me a little, even though it wasn't blocking any of the vitals, but I pulled the shot. The arrow ended up entering back in the stomach. I found the arrow which was covered in mostly stomach juice, so I backed out and let him alone over night. I now know how Randy felt when he shot his first archery elk in season 1. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.
When I woke up in the morning, I didn't find much blood at all. A few good spots where I shot him, but he quickly quit bleeding. I also figured out that he was actually five paces behind the tree rather than right next to it. If you've read any of my other posts you know that I shoot an older bow and I don't pull that much weight, so there is a big different between 39 and 44 yards for me. I'm more than comfortable shooting at both those distances, but my arrow drops quite a bit after 40 yards. After two hours of searching I randomly found a small drop of blood a few hundred yards away. I started walking straight away from where I thought I was in relation to where I shot him. After about 20 minutes, I walked up on the buck bedded under a Russian olive. He was less than 10 yards away by the time I saw him. I had an arrow in my hand, but before I could get it nocked, he took off. I backed out and went back to looking that evening. No sign of him later that day or the next morning.
Loosing a beautiful, or any animal for that matter, SUCKS. I had really high hopes for this season as I had located several really nice bucks and bulls that I thought I'd be able to close the deal on. I also drew the antelope tag I was looking for and have seen several nice bucks hanging out on the ranch I'm hunting. Now it seems like this year's hunting season has quickly gone right down the sh&%%er. I should be thinking about buggling bulls right now, but I can't get the picture of that buck under the olive tree out of my mind.
