Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Al Dogs The Tales of Otis and Shelby Lou

Thanks!.....That was a fun one. We were really fortunate to be able to finish that deer off.

Just out of curiosity what does this usually cost

Just depends on who you call. Some guys just ask for donations while others charge a fee….. I charge $100.

Glad it worked out and y'all found him! Talk about being in the right place at right time. I'm there picking up some stands I've got stored at this club and a member I've never met meets me in the yard with story of his son in law sticking this buck that morning and finding blood but unable to find him. He had called somebody over in Georgia but said I hold up, I have your man! Gave Harold a call and the rest is history! This thread is like the box of chocolates referenced in "Forest Gump." You never know what your gonna get! I love it!

And for the record Harold, he did say 6 inches of his arrow went into the deer. I was standing there when he was telling you about it on the phone. He was just so shook up I think he just made a mistake.

The crazy backside of the story is that my son was supposed to meet me at my house at 8am to drive down there and help me with the stands. We should have been down there around 9-930ish. He way overslept and we didn't make it this club until around 11 . Had we been on time, this scenario would have never happened! Great job Otis and Shelby!

Dr. B

It happens…….I try to take everything the hunter tells me over the phone with a grain of salt. It’s very common for us to perceive things a little differently than they actually happened due to all of the adrenaline and being so amped up. It’s one of the reasons I try to approach situations conservatively when possible. You almost have to just assume that you’re dealing with a very marginal hit no matter what story is told over the phone.

Thanks again for the referral! I’m still amazed we were able to finish this deer off. We saw the deer on the other side of the pond but weren’t sure if we would be better off to just leave him there and come back or try to put a stalk on him. The buck had his head and ears up but looked pretty done for. He obviously saw us but didn’t run. We watched him for a while and he laid his head down. That’s when we decided to see if the hunter could get another arrow in him. The idea was to get to within about 20 yards but when he got over there the hunter couldn’t see the deer because of that grass. He kept easing in closer and closer giving me the signal that he couldn’t see it. I was hollering “Hey deer!....Hey deer!!”….trying to draw its attention off of the hunter stalking in on him. The hunter was at like 3 yards and still couldn’t see him. I figured the deer was gonna bolt at any second. FINALLY the hunter was able to see the buck and damn near shot him at point blank range.

Here’s another pic for better perspective of the pond the buck swam across with ¾ of an arrow buried up inside its body cavity nearly 6 hrs after the shot. You can see him just under that green bush in the center. Waiting 30 minutes is nothing on a bow shot fellas……Go back to camp…..go eat lunch……give it some time even if you think you made a good shot. It may not be as great as you thought…..

Call just came in……..Hunter shot a good 10 point yesterday evening. Shot down on it at steep angle. Hit low and feels like he may have only gotten one lung. Jumped deer last night and backed out. Got blood out to about 300 yards this morning and lost it. We’ll see what happens….this one is kinda iffy.

To be continued……

CNC, is that a buzzard flying over the deer? Sure looks like it. Surely it wasn’t waiting on him to die... I know they find them quick, but dang.

Btw, awesome thread! I have followed all of last year and this year. Between this, lftt, and Pinhoti project, my screen time has increased greatly.

I'm glad you noticed that....the buzzard was actually what I was taking a picture of but had forgotten about it after all the excitement. This is not the first time I've seen buzzards circling over deer that weren't even dead yet. You'll hear people talk about waiting a week and looking for buzzards but that's not true....you can start looking for them immediately.




We found the buck on the track we went on today. We actually ended up going on two tracks....I'll tell the story and post a pic in just a little while.

Well, the big 10 turned into the basket rack 10… …It happens to all of us……been there plenty of times myself. The track was a pretty routine find. The deer had gone another 250 yards or so past where the searchers had lost blood and the dogs tracked right to it.



I was amazed to see where this deer had been hit when we found it. In total the deer had traveled just shy of 600 yards from the hit site. Here is the entry hole……..



………and here is the exit hole. He was jumped one time but I’m guessing he was likely pushed again and the searchers just didn’t know it. Again, even if think you’ve smoked it…..if you don’t see it go down then give it some time.

The second track was another pretty straight forward run right to the deer very similar to the first one. The hunter said the deer was slightly quartering to him when he shot it and it looked to him like he smoked it right behind the shoulder. The arrow got a pass through and was covered in blood with no gut matter on it. They had tracked the deer for over 300 yards following really good blood but it started getting really spotty so the backed out and called for a dog.

The buck was shot early this morning. It was around 3:00 by the time we arrived so it was over 7 hrs after the shot. The dogs picked up on the track and took us another 400 yards to where the buck had bedded up on the side of a creek. I saw Otis stand his hair on end and stick his tail up just before the deer jumped out of his bed and took off. I let Otis go after him initially and he locked him down for just a moment but the buck broke again. He looked way more lively than what we could do anything with during bow season so we called it off right there in hopes that he lays back down and eventually dies by the creek. Unfortunately, the hunter isn’t able to go back tomorrow due to work. My best guess is that it was a single lung hit.

That’s a basket rack? Good Lord.

Yeah, that is what I would consider to be a basket rack…a young 2-3 year old deer I’m pretty sure…... The hunter laughed himself when we found it said….”Little bit of ground shrinkage!!!” Don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not saying it to be negative in any way. I don’t care what anyone shoots. Its a "find" all the same to me.....

Looks like he's atleast 14 inches wide

That's probably the coolest picture I've ever seen on here.

Glad we're back on the tracks!

Thanks 3FF!!…….


Call just came in for tomorrow morning…….Hunter thought he smoked a good buck. Arrow covered in blood….tracked it 200 yards though and ran out of blood. That’s all the info I have to go on right now. It was a pretty short phone conversation. It's getting close to bedtime for me.

To be continued……

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Shelby looks like she has filled out good. What are you feeding them to keep them fattened up, slicked off all while staying in working shape? I feed a 24/20 but can't keep a cur fat during season.

I feed Taste of the Wild in the yellow bag.....It's a 32/18 formula. They only eat a couple cups per day unless we're tracking a lot a then I give them a little extra.



Let's go see if we can find a deer this morning...…….

Got him!!!!