no tag soup this season

[powderhogg01]

Well I had a chance to get up the mountain today, turned out to be a good day. I was still hunting my way up and over a mountain in order to approach a known water source for elk from above with the winds favor. On my way I spotted a mule deer asleep in his bed. I was able to close the distance to 30 yards before he jumped from his bed. I froze. He had run about 15 yards and I knew I would not have a shot in this thick timber unless he settled down and came back. Wind is blowing my smell laterally across the mountain but away from the deer so I held as still as a statue.
5 minutes go by and the deer finally calms down and started to work his way back towards his bed I range him at 40 and go full draw while his head is behind some trees, but he never steps out. Holding draw I took half a step to my right and locked eyes with him. He was standing quartering to me slightly and was blocking the vitals just right with a small tree. Knowing he has me pegged I dare not move, or let off my bow. after what felt like an eternity, my guess is 3 minutes he finally takes the one step up hill I needed. I let the arrow fly and it connected hard. He swiveled around and took off down the mountain, hunched over showing that it was a hard hit.
I sat right there for 25 minutes then walked up to the shot spot, and found a bit of hair but no blood or arrow. I followed his track, keeping in mind where I saw him run off.. and boy did he give me a slip. He made a big Z through some freshly worked clear cut.. man it was tough following him through all the pine needles and branches.. mostly due to the lack of blood. At this point I am about 300 yards from where the shot occured and now I am starting to worry I may not find him.. the doubt sets in that he was too quarteering and I made a bad shot. I completely loose his track and decide to drop another 100 yards to the road just to see if he crossed.. sure enough one spread out track and one drop of blood. At this time some muzzy hunters drive by and ask about my luck. I tell them they are parked on my last good sign and I am searching for my buck. The old timer then asks if I will pay him to find it, I say no, and he then laughs and points down the hill another 50 yards or so.. there was my buck piled up in a burn pile.
Upon inspection the arrow was a bit higher then I would have like, it completely severed one lung loose and center punched the kidney before exiting.

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[Huntrgathr]

Nice job man ! Way to stay with the tracking ! I'm always surprised at how little blood a well-hit animal can leave - especially higher hits. Practicing and becoming a good tracker is more important than most guys realize. I've found several dead animals at the end of bloodless tracking jobs. You hear all about getting in shape, shooting accuracy, equipment selection, etc. but very few guys are talking about and learning how to be really good trackers. Well done.

[GobbleFarmer]

Huge thumbs up! congratulations and way to stick with it. I second what Huntrgathr said about tracking-well said! I wonder if that guy would have really accepted your money!!
He'll be nice and tender! Enjoy.

[powderhogg01]

thanks guys. I am coming off a hard season, both emotionally and physically. last year I had a lot of misses on some big bucks. I put a lot of effort into my bow and my shooting and got everything dialed.. only to have some rude people throw me off my zen. It took an emergency tooth extraction and a day on the couch to realize I needed to just enjoy hunting, then boom, an hour later I have loosed an arrow into a nice animal. He yielded 40lbs of burger and about that much steak and roast. his heart and liver were some of the tastiest I have ever had, his backstraps taste so nice..