southpaw Report post Posted December 23, 2004 HEY EVERYBODY, I HAVE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FOR YA. WED MORNING I PUT A STALK ON A WHOPPER OF A MULE DEER, TOOK A 35 YARD SHOT AND I THINK I SINGLE LUNGED HIM BUT HAD A PASS THREW. I ENDED UP TRACKING HIM FOR 2 MILES IN THE FLATS. THERE WAS GOOD BLOOD THE WHOLE TIME SO IM FIGURING HE DIED DURING THE NIGHT. WE WENT OUT TODAY AND TRIED TO PICK UP FROM WHERE I LEFT THE FLAGING OFF AND COULDNT PICK UP THE TRACKS AGAIN. THE LAST TIME I SAW HIS TRACKS HE WALKED THREW A YELLOW BUSH AND HAD BLOOD SMEARED ALL OVER IT, SO I KNOW HE WAS STILL BLEEDING WHEN I LOST HIS TRACKS. IM FIGURING HE WILL GO 180+ AND I FEEL TERRIBLE NOT BEING ABLE TO BRING HIM HOME WITH ME. I WAS TALKING TO A FRIEND AND HE SAID THAT GETTING A TRACKING DOG WOULD BE THE BEST BET ON FINDING HIS TRAIL AGAIN. THE PROBLEM IS I DONT KNOW ANYBODY THAT HAS DOGS. SO IM WRITING THIS TO SEE IF ANYBODY HERE HAS OR KNOWS ANYBODY WITH A DOG AND WOULD GO OUT TOMARROW WITH ME TO TRY AND FIND THIS BUCK. ITS IN UNIT 34A AND ISNT THAT FAR OF A DRIVE OFF THE FREEWAY. I KNOW THIS IS THROWING THIS OUT BUT I NEED TO FIND THIS BUCK AND I HOPE SOMEONE ON HERE CAN HELP.IM LEAVING AT 630 TOMARROW MORNING TO GO BACK OUT. I HAVE A FEW FRIENDS HELPING ME AND IF ANYBODY HAS A GOOD TRACKING DOG I WILL PAY YOU IF YOU CAN HELP OUT YOU WOULD BE A LIFE SAVER. MY NUMBER IS (928) 606-2736 IF YOU CAN HELP OUT PLEASE CALL ME TONIGHT AND I THANK YOU AHEAD OF TIME. MARK Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manamal Report post Posted December 23, 2004 sothpaw, I know the gutwrenching pain of not being able to find a bowshot animal. You just need to keep looking!! I dont think a buck can live with only one lung (correct me if I'm wrong), so he has gotta be out there somewhere. Also when bloodtrailing, sometimes it is necessary to get down on your hands and knees to see the little specks of blood when the trail seemingly goes dry. There is also a product called Blue Blood Tracker that will turn the blood into a blue foam when sprayed on it. Never used it just thought it might help. If you still cant find blood or tracks get your buddies and search in an organized grid pattern. If all else fails wait for the birds to start circling. Just wondering, how long did you wait to follow up after the shot? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COUESAZ Report post Posted December 24, 2004 So did you find the flagging you left behind? If you did you just need to take a couple guy's back with you and just start fanning out to try to find him. You should be able to smell him before long too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the breeze Report post Posted December 24, 2004 tracking dogs are a nono in az. do what az guide said or wait a week and look for the crows. what kind/color blood were you getting? what brdhd were you using? try typing in lower case as all caps are considered to be shouting as far as the internet goes. good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted December 24, 2004 What a tough story. I wish you the best in finding him. I would definitely get the blood trail products mentioned previously or something simiilar before you go out. If he was hit that badly, he cannot be too far. as soon as he felt you were out of his immediate area, he would have likely stopped and tried to recover. I bet he is pretty close to where you left off. Good Luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
recurveman Report post Posted December 24, 2004 Did you by chance hit him high in the ribs/lungs? If you did then there is a little gap between the lungs and the backbone where an arrow can be placed and not hit anything vital. I've done it a few times and all I've ended up doing is tracking the animal a long ways and never finding it. The crows will show up in a few days and tell you if the animal is dead or not. You might even want to get up one a nearby hill and look for the crows. The deer might have went a ways before it died. I would think that the animal is probably fine. I haven't seen to many animals go 2 miles and end up dead. I have however seen quite a few deer survive an archery hit and live. They are tough animals and can endure quite a bit. I also believe if you would have hit the liver or anything further back the animal would have bedded down. If he did bed down I hope you didn't push him. Most animals will just lay down and die if they get shot in the guts. Unless they are pushed. Best of luck. If you don't find crows you might still be able to find him. There is a good chance he lived and will resume his normal activities. Later, recurveman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
southpaw Report post Posted December 24, 2004 Went out again today with no luck. I hit the buck low but it was a good shot right behind the front shoulder. What im thinking is he was slightly quartered away when i shot it hit fine but went out threw his shoulder because the arrow broke about 6 inches from the nock but was covered in blood. We went to the last flagging and still couldnt find his tracks but like i said before the last flag had a good blood spray so i know he didnt dry up on me. On the GPS there was a wash ahead of where the deer was headed about .4 of a mile so we walked it up and down but couldnt find his tracks crossing. Maybe he died before it or maybe he just circled back where he was but his trail was pretty much headed straight west the whole time so who knows. We saw about 5 crows flying around the area but werent circling anything. You guys don't know how bad i feel about not being able to retrieve this buck of a lifetime. I've never gone through such a rollercoaster of emotions after i shot this buck. I went from doing backflips right after i shot him to dragging my feet and cursing the mighty one for letting this happen. but i know it wasnt his fault, things like this happen i guess but nobody wants them to. We are going to head out again to our glassing spot sometime next week and hopefully if hes alive still be able to spot him and get the job done. I'll keep everybody posted and hopefully i'll have some good news next week. Until then wish me luck and the same to everybody who has a tag left. mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
galiuro mountain man Report post Posted December 30, 2004 Try to get downwind of where you think he may be and try to smell him, he ought to stink pretty bad now. Withthe rain, this is probably your only hope at this point. If you really believe he is dead you should try again. I found my buck in aug this way, I could smell him from about 350 yards away. GMM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted December 30, 2004 I commend and respect your persistence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
az4life Report post Posted December 30, 2004 ditto what Chef and GMM Said... Good Luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TREESTANDMAN Report post Posted December 30, 2004 It is good that you are being persistent in your search for him. I have no idea what you did after the shot but I have learned that waiting a good half hour or more is very important in archery hunting. I have a friend that is impatient and he has not found several animals because he goes right after them. Good luck on finding your buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jamaro Report post Posted December 30, 2004 Keep plugging away.... jason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
