my latest deer hunt
If you remember my last hunt, I felt a little bad about harvesting a yearling. But, she provided great meat, and I made some awesome jerky from her backstrap.
Yesterday afternoon I took my youngest son, Greyson (8), with me to the same property, but a different area. We got in the box stand right about 4 PM, but we didn't see anything until about quarter after 5. First came a yearling doe out to the feed plot, maybe 70 yards away. She was followed shortly after by her mother, a nice-sized momma.
We let them feed for a while, hoping the mom would look back for a perusing buck, but there was no sign. It was starting to get dark, and my son kept saying, "I want you to shoot one!" So, I told him to hold his ears, and I took the shot at the mother.
She was facing to the right and slightly towards me. I felt I lined up on the proper place on her body, and fired. She jumped/kicked, and ran off to the right into the woods. I didn't hear much, and never heard a crash.
We waited a few minutes, packing up our bags and climbing down, and the went out to the plot to look for blood. Getting darker and darker, we finally found 1 single drop where she was standing. One drop. I immediately feel bad that I made a poor shot.
We go off to the right into the woods, looking for more blood, but we see nothing. We walk around for about 15 minutes, but it was not getting any lighter, especially in the woods. We give up and walk about a mile back to our drop-off point from our host (a guy I work with). By the time we get there, it's completely dark, and I am very upset and depressed. Not because I didn't get a trophy, but because I'm afraid I left a wounded animal to die a slow and painful death, or go through the rest of its life wounded and lame.
Our host shows up with his 4-wheeler and a spotlight. "No, we don't leave a deer out overnight, let's go find her!" An experienced hunter, Gary takes us back out in the 4-wheeler, and I feel a little hope.
After starting at the original blood drop, he finds another small drop about 10 yards away at the start of a trail entering the woods. He finds one more drop another few feet away, and then nothing.
By this time, my son is almost crying because he's cold and hungry, not to mention scared of being out in the woods at night. Can't say I blame him, as we haven't done too much night stuff together.
Gary goes on ahead, basically guessing her direction. My son and I wait alone in the dark, me silently praying that Gary finds her. Amazingly, he calls me over to her. She had doubled back towards the food plot, and fell in grass, which is why I didn't hear her crash when she finally fell.
Relieved that she is dead and found, the happiness quickly leads to more disappointment as I see my entry wound is too far back, barely getting the end of her lungs. Fortunately the exit wound was also tiny, but it was far enough back to be gut (remember, she was facing a bit towards me). Obviously I hit no bones, because the bullet never expanded.
So, once again, I am disappointed in myself. I am going to re-sight in my rifle on Saturday. And I will fire many rounds to get back into the good shot I know I am. I didn't sleep very well last night, going over and over in my mind the disappointment and relief. The dichotomy does not make for a restful night. But at least it all worked out well in the end, and I'll have a lot of good meat to show for it (we estimated her to be about 110-120 pounds). Maybe I'll get about 30 - 35 pounds of meat? I hope. My son REALLY wants more jerky.
Yesterday afternoon I took my youngest son, Greyson (8), with me to the same property, but a different area. We got in the box stand right about 4 PM, but we didn't see anything until about quarter after 5. First came a yearling doe out to the feed plot, maybe 70 yards away. She was followed shortly after by her mother, a nice-sized momma.
We let them feed for a while, hoping the mom would look back for a perusing buck, but there was no sign. It was starting to get dark, and my son kept saying, "I want you to shoot one!" So, I told him to hold his ears, and I took the shot at the mother.
She was facing to the right and slightly towards me. I felt I lined up on the proper place on her body, and fired. She jumped/kicked, and ran off to the right into the woods. I didn't hear much, and never heard a crash.
We waited a few minutes, packing up our bags and climbing down, and the went out to the plot to look for blood. Getting darker and darker, we finally found 1 single drop where she was standing. One drop. I immediately feel bad that I made a poor shot.
We go off to the right into the woods, looking for more blood, but we see nothing. We walk around for about 15 minutes, but it was not getting any lighter, especially in the woods. We give up and walk about a mile back to our drop-off point from our host (a guy I work with). By the time we get there, it's completely dark, and I am very upset and depressed. Not because I didn't get a trophy, but because I'm afraid I left a wounded animal to die a slow and painful death, or go through the rest of its life wounded and lame.
Our host shows up with his 4-wheeler and a spotlight. "No, we don't leave a deer out overnight, let's go find her!" An experienced hunter, Gary takes us back out in the 4-wheeler, and I feel a little hope.
After starting at the original blood drop, he finds another small drop about 10 yards away at the start of a trail entering the woods. He finds one more drop another few feet away, and then nothing.
By this time, my son is almost crying because he's cold and hungry, not to mention scared of being out in the woods at night. Can't say I blame him, as we haven't done too much night stuff together.
Gary goes on ahead, basically guessing her direction. My son and I wait alone in the dark, me silently praying that Gary finds her. Amazingly, he calls me over to her. She had doubled back towards the food plot, and fell in grass, which is why I didn't hear her crash when she finally fell.
Relieved that she is dead and found, the happiness quickly leads to more disappointment as I see my entry wound is too far back, barely getting the end of her lungs. Fortunately the exit wound was also tiny, but it was far enough back to be gut (remember, she was facing a bit towards me). Obviously I hit no bones, because the bullet never expanded.
So, once again, I am disappointed in myself. I am going to re-sight in my rifle on Saturday. And I will fire many rounds to get back into the good shot I know I am. I didn't sleep very well last night, going over and over in my mind the disappointment and relief. The dichotomy does not make for a restful night. But at least it all worked out well in the end, and I'll have a lot of good meat to show for it (we estimated her to be about 110-120 pounds). Maybe I'll get about 30 - 35 pounds of meat? I hope. My son REALLY wants more jerky.
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I'm really glad you persevered and were able to find the deer!
This year I became a believer in the neck shot, but obviously if the gun isn't sighted in correctly then it wouldn't matter. I've always gone for the heart and lungs and I've always been successful, but not without some amount of trailing before I found where they finally fell. In talking with many of the guys at the deer club I hunted with this year, the majority believed in the neck shot, especially late in the afternoon when you really don't want to have to track a wounded animal in the woods or fields after dark.
The buck I took this year was with a neck shot at 5:15 in the late afternoon at just over 100 yards and it dropped where it stood and didn't even flinch. So, for me, depending on the situation, from now on I'll always take a neck shot late in the day and leave heart/lung shots for mornings and mid-day if necessary.0 -
Interesting. Is there a particular placement on the neck, or is the force of the shot there enough to snap the spinal cord? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by callktulu
Interesting. Is there a particular placement on the neck, or is the force of the shot there enough to snap the spinal cord?
In the case of the deer I shot this year, the impact point I went for was about 12 inches up the neck from the body and at a point where I believed the shot would severe the spinal column. In my case it worked. I think the point someone would aim for would depend on how the animal was standing and how much neck meat they wanted to save. However, if the deer was running and I wanted to take a shot I think I would revert to a heart/lungs shot regardless of the time of day.0 -
I don't feel comfortable shooting at a moving deer yet, especially if it's running. I'd much rather let it go than risk a bad shot.
I wish we had a range in our town so I could practice more often. All the more reason I want to open up my own....0 -
I'm glad you got the deer. Better take a flashlight to the stand next time.
You definitely need more range time as that was an easy shot.
I screwed up a couple shots when I was a rookie but you can learn a lot from mistakes.
When you find the spot where the deer was standing when you fired, get down on your hands and knees and start going in circles, looking for blood drops. A blood drop shows up great under the light of a flashlight, it glows.
A small drop of blood may not be visible when standing, but you can see it on your hands and knees.
Some deer just run straight until they drop. Occasionally, one will run 15 to 30 yards, then turn maybe 90 or as much as 180 degrees, and from that point run straight until they drop. Almost always the wounded deer will run down hill.
Good to take a roll of toilet paper with you also, and leave a piece in a bush every five feet or so as you find blood drops. This way you can stand up and see these "flags" and see what path the deer is taking.
Many many well hit deer are not recovered because the hunter did not know how to blood trail.
Should be some good eating!
Most hunters, including me, would not take a shot at a running deer.
Too great a risk of blowing off a leg, or the jaw, and having the poor deer suffer for days in the woods.
If someone would take a shot at a running deer, I would ask them, have you practiced a running shot? I have a Jack O'Connor book where they rigged up some pulleys 100 feet apart, ran a rope between them, and put a deer target on the rope, and one guy would pull the rope real fast and the other would shoot, and could practice a running shot.
If a person has not pracitced a running shot I can't see how they could effectively make that shot on a deer.0 -
Good advice! I did have a flashlight, but it wasn't a powerful spotlight like my host had. And I like the TP idea, too.
This was my first afternoon/evening hunt that I saw any deer. I was very lucky, not only to see some, but that my shot killed her quickly. Like you said, rookie learning experiences.
Off to the range, Rookie!![:D]0 -
While the neck shot certainly works, I think it is poor advice for a new hunter. The spinal cord running through the neck is what 1" wide? That is an awefully small target. Now the lungs are what, pie plate size? I don't mind a short blood trail.....you can guess where I aim.
I have a buddy who is a very good shot, who swears by the neck shot. He just doesn't seem to remember all of his 'misses' where the deer didn't drop and he found blood but never found the deer.0 -
"While the neck shot certainly works, I think it is poor advice for a new hunter. The spinal cord running through the neck is what 1" wide? That is an awefully small target. Now the lungs are what, pie plate size? I don't mind a short blood trail.....you can guess where I aim."
You know what you are talking about.0 -
quote:Originally posted by KX500
While the neck shot certainly works, I think it is poor advice for a new hunter. The spinal cord running through the neck is what 1" wide? That is an awefully small target.
Yeah, way too risky for me at this point.0 -
quote:Originally posted by callktulu
quote:Originally posted by KX500
While the neck shot certainly works, I think it is poor advice for a new hunter. The spinal cord running through the neck is what 1" wide? That is an awefully small target.
Yeah, way too risky for me at this point.
I'm glad to agree, here are some sites on shot placements ...
http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/killzone.htm
http://www.huntingnet.com/articles/hunting-shot-placement.aspx
http://www.bowhuntingnorthamerica.com/Shot Placement.htm
http://www.rubsnscrapes.com/Articles/deer_shot_placement_anatomy.php
Good luck!0 -
Awesome, thanks FEENIX! 0 -
Well congrats on the deer. As Griggs said about TP,that does really help to find wounded game. You may want to look into different bullets also. I,myself love hollow points,no matter what they hit. They seem to blow up,causing enough damage to internals to make the kill.Neck shots are great if you have a steady rest and your adrem.isn't causing you to shake at all.I've harvested alot of deer with a 223 and varmit loaded hollow points.My cousin's daughter got her first deer this year,using that combo.She said it only went 30yrds.When they skined it out,her dad couldn't believe the damage that little bullet caused.The big down side is, you usually won't find much of a blood trail. 0 -
Well, I'm limited on caliber right now. I have a Remington 700 chambered in .270 that I've been using. I also have a Marlin .30-30, but it's not sighted in. I think I'm going to go to 150 grain .270's instead of the 130 I've been using. 0 -
I find it hard to believe your making jerky out of backstraps, I hope the Nuge never finds out [:)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrbruce
I find it hard to believe your making jerky out of backstraps, I hope the Nuge never finds out [:)]
Why? What's wrong with that?[?][?][?]0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrbruce
I find it hard to believe your making jerky out of backstraps, I hope the Nuge never finds out [:)]
I was going to say that earlier but didn't want to get flamed for harassing a new hunter. Backstraps are the best meat on the animal. Make jerky from the small trimmings.0 -
All I had from my first kill was some ground and backstrap, so that's why I used it. This most recent kill I specifically asked the processor to give me cuts just for jerky. 0 -
Jon, It's up to you of course, but I wouldn't do it. I would make it out of the meat you are going to grind up for burgers and sausage. 0 -
Well, the first backstrap I made into a grilled steak, and it just didn't come out well. And my kids don't too much care for the taste of the venison. Maybe I'm not cooking it right, but they LOVED the jerky. So I'll probably just stick to what works. 0 -
I butterfly it and fry them up in a cast iron skillet with onions and a pinch of garlic. Yum, yum!!!
What can I say, at least you got one (or two) this year![:D]0 -
Yeah, two so far. From this doe I got last time, I'll have more than enough meat for my picky eaters at home. I'll jsut go for bucks from now on (if I see any). 0 -
there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 130gr pill in the 270,..I am 5 for 5 with that combo this year. Going to a larger bullet is also a rookie mistake. Whitetail expire easily, and don't provide enough resistance to fragment heavy for caliber bullets. Shot placement is key,..and the more you shoot, the better you'll get. 0 -
Just remember, the older the deer the tougher the meat. IMO, the best meat comes from a 2 1/2 year old. Big enough to get a good amount of meat from and still young enough to be tender.
Glad you had a good first season and hope you have continued success.0 -
quote:Originally posted by guntech59
Glad you had a good first season and hope you have continued success.
Had?!? Our season ain't over until mid-January![:D][8D]
Thanks though![;)]0
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