Thanks fellas....It's a beautiful morning for hunting. I'm hoping the phone lines heat up later this morning and we'll have another story soon. Something ought to get shot today.

Call just came in for tomorrow morning. Not really sure on this one. There wasn’t a whole lot to the story. The hunter shot right at dark and didn’t get a real good look at what happened afterwards. They actually thought the deer might have went down. No blood at the hit site but they found some a little ways down the trail….I think they said about 40-50 yards away. The blood was very minimal and spotty so they backed out. I’m not sure what type of hit we’re dealing with on this one. We’ll have to put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together in the morning.

To be conitued………..

Got him!! Pretty exciting story on this one. Pics to come when I get back home.

This deer was hit high at the top of the front shoulder……just underneath the spine. You can't really see it in this pic. There was a good little spot of blood at the hit site but very little after that. We started finding a little more at about 250 yards into it but that was about it.

We were working up a creek bottom with Otis about 100 yards ahead of when I thought I heard Otis let out a bark. We were moving through some brush making noise so I wasn’t sure if that’s what I heard or not. Otis had crossed the creek and was working the track a little faster but not fast enough that I thought he was running the deer.

Well, me and the hunter made it across the creek and I checked my GPS again to see how far Otis had made it and he was about 150 yards but he was looping back to us. I just assumed it was him checking back in. About that time I look up from my GPS and see this giant buck headed right at me and the hunter with Otis trotting along right behind it. They passed within 5-10 yards of me and the hunter...I was like "Holy chit!!" . Otis had his tongue hung out and just looked over at us like he was smiling as they went by.

I immediately toned Otis back to me and the deer stopped broadside at about 80 yards out. I told the hunter….”Rack a shell into the chamber and finish him.” I guess the hunter was too excited because he missed him 3 times before the deer bounced off again. I could tell the deer was hurtin so I sent Otis back after it. We hadn’t made it 100 yards when I saw Otis stopped and looking up ahead of him in the swamp. The hunter and I eased up to him real quietly and looked around. I was looking way out into the swamp but finally looked over to my right and saw the buck laying dead still in some cypress knees 10 yards from us. The hunter put a fishing shot on him and ended it.

This track reminded me of that scene in Jeremiah Johnson where the old man asked him….”Can you skin grizz pilgrim?” Otis turned this deer and ran him all over us like….”There y’all go….skin that one!!!!” I’m still not sure why he wasn’t barking like hell at the deer. He was just trotting along behind it pushing it to us. One hell of a buck anyways…..easy 200+ lbs. The mass on that one base was bigger than I could reach around with my thumb and middle finger.

That's awesome! Great story and recovery.

Thanks man....

X1000. Please keep this going. Many of us love reading the updates. I assure you MANY more are reading them than have replied on here. It's not only interesting, it's educational.

Absolutely agree. When I killed a doe several weeks ago I paid much more attention to all the details after the shot. I knew she didn't go far but I paid attention to every detail on the blood trail as well. I've only killed 10-15 deer so each one I shoot is still a pretty new experience.

Thanks fellas. I’ll keep it up then. I’m having fun and if y’all are enjoying it too then we’ll keep sharing the stories. It may sound like a broken record but the biggest take home message I can give any of you guys is that deer are a lot tougher than we give the credit for. If you don’t see him go down or if he ain’t just plowing dirt with his nose….then take a step back and really think about how you proceed.

Good stuff pilgrim ! Sounds like things are getting right.

Good story. Can only imagine what Otis was thinking as that deer came back by y'all. Keep the stories coming.

This^. Always checking in on Otis

Thanks fellas!

Best thread in aldeer history

Alright, now y’all are just getting carried away with it.



Thanks though top cat.

I usually just snap a quick pic with my phone of Otis and the deer when we find it. I’m not much of one for posing and all. The funny thing is….Otis ain’t either. Anyways, I’ll try to start thinking to also snap a second pic of where the bullet or arrow hit the deer so you can see exactly what happened. I’ve got this chart we can use though if I forget.

That last buck was a very lucky one to recover. Another inch or so higher and he would have just slapped in on the back. He hit it just low enough under the spine that it really hurt the deer pretty bad. I knew it was hurt bad to just stand out there and let someone shoot at it multiple times. Even after it finally moved…it only ran 50 yards and laid down on its belly trying to hide.

He hit it in the lower part of the B7/B8 area.

Keep it up CNC!! Great work ..