Yesterday morning I had the chance to experience a "feel good moment".
It all started Sunday evening when a neighboring small land owner came to the door to tell me that he had arrowed a buck that late afternoon but that the buck ran away when he went to approach it. He thought that it probably ran over onto my property and asked permission to look for it the next (Monday) morning. I told him that I would go with him.
So Monday morning I get up early and get the tractor out and put a riding platform on the 3 point hitch and waited for him to show up. When he arrived I drove up through my property to where our mutual line fence is. Then he showed me the scene of the shot and where he had last seen the buck and what direction it was headed.
The crux of the issue is that he didn't wait long enough after the shot before he went looking for the deer. He only waited long enough to pack up his stuff and get out of the tree stand. The buck was only yards from where he had hit it. It probably would have expired right there if my neighbor hadn't pushed it.
It had rained about .4" Sunday night and there was NO blood sign. Anyway, I was pretty sure I knew the escape route the buck would take and the area it would head for. There were breaks in the stone wall between our properties so there were only a few trails across the wall that lead to the area I thought the buck would head for. So, we started with the southern most of these trails and followed it out to where the woods ended. Then we came back and picked up another trail leading from the next break in the stone wall. From there we followed branches of the trail through the thickest, nastiest brush and briars one could imagine. On the third branch I found the buck laying in a tiny little clearing in the middle of a five acre tangle.
I called the neighbor over and when he saw the buck he was ecstatic. I don't think I ever saw such a outpouring of relief and gratitude in my life. He said that he never would have found that deer on his own.
Dan
It all started Sunday evening when a neighboring small land owner came to the door to tell me that he had arrowed a buck that late afternoon but that the buck ran away when he went to approach it. He thought that it probably ran over onto my property and asked permission to look for it the next (Monday) morning. I told him that I would go with him.
So Monday morning I get up early and get the tractor out and put a riding platform on the 3 point hitch and waited for him to show up. When he arrived I drove up through my property to where our mutual line fence is. Then he showed me the scene of the shot and where he had last seen the buck and what direction it was headed.
The crux of the issue is that he didn't wait long enough after the shot before he went looking for the deer. He only waited long enough to pack up his stuff and get out of the tree stand. The buck was only yards from where he had hit it. It probably would have expired right there if my neighbor hadn't pushed it.
It had rained about .4" Sunday night and there was NO blood sign. Anyway, I was pretty sure I knew the escape route the buck would take and the area it would head for. There were breaks in the stone wall between our properties so there were only a few trails across the wall that lead to the area I thought the buck would head for. So, we started with the southern most of these trails and followed it out to where the woods ended. Then we came back and picked up another trail leading from the next break in the stone wall. From there we followed branches of the trail through the thickest, nastiest brush and briars one could imagine. On the third branch I found the buck laying in a tiny little clearing in the middle of a five acre tangle.
I called the neighbor over and when he saw the buck he was ecstatic. I don't think I ever saw such a outpouring of relief and gratitude in my life. He said that he never would have found that deer on his own.
Dan
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