Found what I'd been missing

[Kbetts]

I don't make it a point to pick out a single deer a year to pursue. However, if I find a good one I will do what I can to put it together. This one was on the list this past season.

[Kbetts]

More or less a ghost, I only have the one pic above of him in velvet. I got one other picture when he went hard horned. You can see him on the far left.

[Kbetts]

Five days later, I got my shot. Even though he's traveling with foes in the last pic, the night I encountered him he was the seventh buck of the evening. The first six went through together with light sparring and really neat vocalizations. He came from behind me.....nine yards away when I first saw him and about twelve yards when I took the shot. Perfectly quartering away, I watched my arrow hit a little high and only get about ten inches of penetration. He broke the arrow almost immediately on the get away and I stood there looking at my blue lighted nock with a mixture of shock and "uh oh".

I flagged the trail and backed out till morning. I didn't want to go anywhere near where he may still be. I returned bright and early with my brother and we hit the trail.....or lack of. No blood, no sign and no indication besides a guess on his direction of travel. I was sick. That night took the wind out of my sails for the rest of the season. Not that he was the only deer out there, but I beat myself up pretty bad about the shot and failure to execute. I'm a big time prepper, and this is the worst thing for someone that tries to prepare for every situation possible.

[Kbetts]

We looked and we looked. Concentrating our efforts around a ditch crossing, I felt like we had covered as much ground as we could in hopes of finding him. I kept cameras going around his core area but never saw him again, until........turkey season.

One blustery morning I plopped myself down in the same ditch bottom to do a little calling. I had caught a glimpse of a nice long beard bird dogging a hen and was making a move in their direction when I looked up and instantly went into the shakes. There, not fifteen yards from where I was sitting was my buck. Fully decomposed, not a scratch on the rack. I skipped, I hopped, I thanked the big man upstairs and even shed a tear. We had walked within 60 yards of him more than once but never at the right angle in order to see him. No doubt he had died the night I shot him. I even found the shoulder blade with a perfect "Y" from my Snuffer. Talk about relief. I felt like a hunter, reborn.

[Kbetts]

It wasn't until a day or two later as I was in the shed that I realized I had picked up this deers' shed the year before about 3/4 of a mile from where I shot him.




I contacted the state deer biologist and told him the story. I don't get credit for a bow kill since he wasn't recovered right away, but I was given a tag so that I can have him mounted. This deer surely deserves it. Oh, and that pic I have of him in velvet....I shot him exactly a month to the day and within the same hour......crazy.

[Carpdaddy]

Wow, now that's a nice buck! Glad you finally found him even though it was late, better late than never!
You got the memories and now the rack to mount, enjoy them both.

[Graps]

Nice deer , to bad you didn't get back straps with that .

[Captainkirk]

What a great story or redemption! You earned that rack, Kyle!

[Carpdaddy]

Hopefully if you get a very talented taxidermist he can put some color back into the rack. They can do wonders these days. A rack that big is worth mounting on another head. Be sure to come back with pictures when it's done.

[Captainkirk]

Or you could just go with the Euro-style mount.