Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: CodyG on November 25, 2012, 01:01:37 pm
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Well I shot the biggest buck I've ever seen yesterday and I need y'all's help. I was hunting a big field (big for Virginia) and I shot an estimated 160" deer at about 500 yards. A solid 12 with some kickers it looked like.The shot was a long was but I felt good about it.
I shot it with a 30-06 150 grain Sierra gameking bullet. The first shot the deer dropped like he was dead. He just lay there kicking but about 30 seconds later he got back up got himself back together like nothing ever happened. I shot again when he stopped broadside and knocked him down, a mirror image of the first shot. About two minutes later he got back up but was rather hurt this shot. He was obviously hurt pretty bad, but he was still in the field. I got into a hurry and a little excited took a third shot that I missed, he ran into the woods.
I found blood, good red blood, not light colored but not dark either, with bubbles in it. The only problem was it wasn't a lot of blood. I tracked for about 60 yards and lost blood and left. I came back that night and found about 15 yards more blood but lost it again. I think I hit him in the high lungs and the bullet didnt exit leaving little blood trail. I'm going back today to grid search and attempt to find this buck, where could I have hit this deer to knock him down, twice, and not kill him? I really want to find this buck I'm not sure what to do. I'm open to all suggestions.
Thanks,
Cody
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Can you use a tracking dog in your area?
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I can, I just don't have one or know of anyone that does. I'm limited to just man power.
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I hope you find him.
Cipriano
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Try to follow his tracks from the last blood. Look for overturned leaves, broken twigs, etc whatever is out of place from where he ran.
Did you say the blood had bubbles? If so, he is probably a gonner(dead). Wounded deer head for water. Also look in thickets.
Did you find hair where he was shot? What color? Belly hair, back hair, from his side? Did you find blood or hair from both shots?
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Do a search for a hunting forum in your state. If dog tracking is legal, you should be able to find someone advertising for it. Keep an eye out for buzzards circling. If you don't find it by dark, listen for coyote activity. Good luck. Keep us posted.
BTW, I can't even imagine shooting at a deer that far. My property is all hills and thick woods. 75 yards is a stretch around here.
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I hope you find it. I know if I left a deer overnight where I hunt, there would be nothing left of it. I'm guessing it didn't make it far into the bush.
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i wouldve told ya the same as Pat i hope ya find it. btw what part of virginia are ya from?
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500 yards with a 30-06 :o :o Seems like a bit of a stretch, about 300 yards too much of a stretch, but good luck. I hope ya find him! Look for the crows, vultures, birds of that nature. They'll always find him before you will. ;)
Tattoo Dave
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From the reaction it may be high shoulder. A bit high for lung but a bit low for spine. The shock of the hits at that distance may have been enough to temporarly mess up the nerves, but not enough to break the spine. I've had that shot with a bow and the blood color can look like lung (light & bright) but without the spray, frothy bubbles, lung chunks, etc.
If that's the case hopefully you caught some lung or severed an artery along the spine and it's just bleeding internally from a blockage of some sort. If anyone in your area has tracking hounds it's worth a shot. They can do amazing things with what appears to be minimal sign to the human eye.
Good Luck.
-Dan
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Like Pat said, but leave a marker, like a can or a rag or hat between your last spottings of blood, so you can look back once in awhile. and be stubborn like SD. Dogs are great if you can find one too. Good luck, dpg
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500 yards? I have to be honest and not just the nice guy. 500 yards is a poor choice. Not trying to offend you but you probably wounded a really nice deer. I sincerely hope you either find him or that you only hit some muscle.
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I helped a young fellow try to find a deer he tried a 200 yard neck shot on a couple nights ago. I didn't know him but he asked for my help on some land adjacent to the land I hunt.
He was so sure he killed the deer as it was lying in a corn field he got on his cell phone to call his buddies. The deer got up and walked into an impenetrable pine thicket.
The kid didn't have much of a light and didn't know squat about tracking a deer.
Very little blood but I was able to track it about 50 yards into the thicket before the blood stopped.
I had to leave after an hour of tracking to get my wife's IV feeding ready for her nightly infusion.
I doubt if the kid found the deer even though he had an army of folk coming to help him.
A 200 yard neck shot is perhaps a little worse of a choice for bullet placement than attempting a 500 yard shot on anything, but not much.
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I started carrying a roll of toilet paper while tracking. On sparse trails I drop a square at every spot of blood. On better trails I drop one every now and then. It helps to look back and see the exact path it took. The TP goes away with the next rain.
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Sounds like you are learning a lesson the hard way. I can understand the desire to get that once in a lifetime buck, heck, I got one...with a handmade bow!
Always in the back of my mind is the thought that this day in the field is a day of entertainment (even though I have lived almost exclusively on venison for some years)....but for the animal, it's a matter of life and death. When I started looking at the situation with that in mind I had a dificult time taking harder shots knowing I may be condemning an animal to a slow and painful death. I also do not want to give PETA anymore ammunition.
Hope you find him.
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JW let's see a pic :o
Cipriano
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JW let's see a pic :o
Cipriano
2009 Hunting pics.
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500 yds is not even close to being out of the effective range of a .30-06. Although it maybe out of the effective range of the shooter, at 500 yds the ol '06 is still carrying twice the energy of a .45 acp at the muzzle. It would only drop 3 1/2 feet or so. Reading the wind would be the only guess work for an experienced shooter. I don't know what the qualifications are now, but in the '90's marines had to qualify at 500 yds with a .223 and open sights. Out where I live, high powers are zeroed at 300 yds. So once again, .30-06 is easily getting the job done at 500 yds. I hope you find your buck. An old pump up style Coleman lantern will make a fresh bloodtrail glow in the dark. Too late for that now though. Just something to remember next time. Josh
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I hope you find it. 500 yds was a long shot. Unless you are very proficient at
shooting at that distance, and are VERY familiar with your gun and the various bullet weights, it is not advisable to take a shot that long, even if you have a good rest. The bullet drop is about 33-36 inches give or take a few. The bullet should have still been able to expand as it is designed to. It is a lighter bullet meant for deer sized game. I have seen too many people go for the bigger grain bullet, thinking it will make a bigger impact and shock value. Unfortunately the larger grain bullet is designed for larger game, and it will not expand properly in a smaller animal such as a deer, and only pass through without much deformation of the bullet at all unless it hits a thick bone. I think your deer is dead. Let us know when you find him. A dog is definitely the answer to finding him sooner. Like they said look for crows, buzzards etc. Unfortunately the coyotes will be looking for them also. The 30-06 is an excellent round. It is very versatile in that it can be loaded down to a 110 grain bullet up to a 220 grain bullet. It was used in both world wars and Korean "Conflict" ???, Some amazing shots were made with it at a 1,000 yd.s and was effective even at that range, with a 148-150 grain full jacketed bullet. The .308 is what Carlos Hathcock used to effectively take out enemy targets, and the 30-06 which is .308 diameter is a hundred and some feet faster than the .308 used in the m14's.
Good luck.
Wayne
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I agree that a 30-06 will do it but unless you are really really good with it and have a range finder to know just how far it is it is still a risky shot to say the least .I do like Osage and use tp as a marker as I move along,then if all else fails
I grid the area off and work out a couple hundred yards back and forth in all directions,the trouble with a big old deer is it may have come from miles away and once it knows what is going on and if it has the energy it will head back to it's home and where it feels safe,I once tracked a big 10 point for over 2 miles ,it had been gut shot and went down at the shot,the guy went right after it and it got up and ran,it never stopped till it got home.I had a dog[Red bone] and with out it we would have never found that deer.Good luck ,if it died you just have to stay at it. :) :)
Pappy
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Carlos Hathcock used a Winchester Model 70 30-06 and a Remington BDL 700 in 30-06 tricked out by their Armorer. He made his famous shot with a 50 cal machine gun from the top of a mountain on single fire with a scope mounted to it.
I'm like Clint, I always carry toliet paper in my back pocket. Even when I don't use it for blood trailing I seem to find other uses for it. ::) ;D
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;D ;D ;D
Pappy
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I don't think anyone is arguing if a 30-06 "can" make the kill at 500 yards. The question is can you judge 500 yards when a deer walks out at random and do you know the exact bullet drop at that distance for the particular load you are using. Most guys that shoot that distance load their own and have precise loading down to a science.
Haven't heard back so I assume the deer was not found.
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Sounds to me like the first shot hit him in the antlers and disoriented him briefly.
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Update?? Did you find it? Hate the thought of that deer going to waste.
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Any news?
Cipriano
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First off for him to drop but recover like (after a couple min's.) that means you hit his spin.
I'd say this is what happened. When he hit the dround did his legs stick straight out.
Your first shot only clibed his spin but the bottom part some where . Fragments hit 1 lung that's why you had some lung blood(BUBBLES) after getting up. Your second shot also clibed his spin but probably across the top of it. This is why the blood ran out so quick.
IF YOUR SHOTS WERE SPINE SHOTS. Spine shot deer legs stick straight out when they hit the ground.
To find him a dog is a good choice. I can't even come close to remembering all the wounded deer,tracking jobs I've been on in the last 40 years.
Being you likely only got top of one lung. He can travel a long way. You have think like your the wounded buck.(where's you go)Since it's likely he'll die but it might take awhile. First off have you seen this buck in this area. Or was he traveling looking for doe's If that's the case he's in strange territory.
He try to get back to his home range. So you might have to look for a thick area a ways away.
He'll go in a straight line to get home. Likely he's not hurt bad enough to die in route but he might.
But you never know.
If he is in his home range most ain't bigger than a mile. (A CRUSEING BUCK well be alto father)This cuts your area down alto. Start where you lose blood first off a walk every inch to the closest clover. Spine clip ed deer WILL NOT go up hill. That cuts your area down some more. So look for cover down hill. If theres water on the way he went he may go for a drink. That cuts the area down more. Athick area with water is a good bet.
There's a few things that's been the reasons I've found bucks.
Be where you last found blood at first light. Lesson for the crows and jays. If theres snow I follow every fox,yote, coon track I find headed the way your buck went. The all love a free mill.
I've found 2 buck by waiting lessoning in the dark for yotes. Yotes have a pecking order and the alfa dogs feed first. The rest set back a yelp,bark waiting their turn.
Don't give up,although I might give up on does after a while. I've found bucks anywhere from that day to 6 or 7 days later. The meat may not be any good but you have your horns and the notage of the next deer well go to die.
HOPE YOU FIND HIM