Lost deer
- Thread starter Mungo
- Start date
As it's a thread for confessions.........
Last year I was shooting Chinese Water Deer with a couple of friends when one of them shot a decent buck
As it turned out, it was well hit, nothing wrong with the shot
But the thing hadn't stayed put and had made off into winter wheat which was getting quite tall, it being close to the end of the season and all
Well, anyone who has shot CWD in or near winter wheat knows just how easily the little feckers can hide in it even when it's barely six inches high & sparse
Anyway
There's three of us quartering to & fro going over the exact patch of ground where my mate swore that the deer had dropped
We saw the usual halo of pins which suggests a good hit on a CWD and quite a bit of blood spatter - but no trail, it was like the wheat had closed over everything like a green blanket
The best bit? Or the very worst actually...........
Well, several folk suggested to Mungo about obtaining the services of a dog - oh, but we had one, my little yellow labrador bitch, who is no UKDTR dog but she IS a dog and knows what a deer means. To her it's a kidney and a slurp at any spilt blood, so she has rewards to look forward to.
Guess who was going bananas about 20 yds away from us?
I apologised to my friends about my pesky dog and tried to call her over, but she wouldn't move
I bet you can see where this is heading?
Yeah, the "pesky dog" was doing her level best to tell us exactly where the dead deer was
Talk about feeling like a right muppet
Yep, I had a perfectly good deer-finder with me and failed to pay any feckin heed to her!! Just ffs!!
How the dog ever forgave me I don't know, luckily my friends were as embarassed as I was so I didn't take too much flak - but maybe I should have
So @Mungo don't feel bad about your deer, not only did you recover it but you weren't the biggest muppet either
Last year I was shooting Chinese Water Deer with a couple of friends when one of them shot a decent buck
As it turned out, it was well hit, nothing wrong with the shot
But the thing hadn't stayed put and had made off into winter wheat which was getting quite tall, it being close to the end of the season and all
Well, anyone who has shot CWD in or near winter wheat knows just how easily the little feckers can hide in it even when it's barely six inches high & sparse
Anyway
There's three of us quartering to & fro going over the exact patch of ground where my mate swore that the deer had dropped
We saw the usual halo of pins which suggests a good hit on a CWD and quite a bit of blood spatter - but no trail, it was like the wheat had closed over everything like a green blanket
The best bit? Or the very worst actually...........
Well, several folk suggested to Mungo about obtaining the services of a dog - oh, but we had one, my little yellow labrador bitch, who is no UKDTR dog but she IS a dog and knows what a deer means. To her it's a kidney and a slurp at any spilt blood, so she has rewards to look forward to.
Guess who was going bananas about 20 yds away from us?
I apologised to my friends about my pesky dog and tried to call her over, but she wouldn't move
I bet you can see where this is heading?
Yeah, the "pesky dog" was doing her level best to tell us exactly where the dead deer was
Talk about feeling like a right muppet
Yep, I had a perfectly good deer-finder with me and failed to pay any feckin heed to her!! Just ffs!!
How the dog ever forgave me I don't know, luckily my friends were as embarassed as I was so I didn't take too much flak - but maybe I should have
So @Mungo don't feel bad about your deer, not only did you recover it but you weren't the biggest muppet either
Pagans
Well-Known Member
It happens ,would you believe lost a red my mate shot , saw it drop ,made the mistake both walking in where we thought it had dropped in the long grass amongst trees, the light was failing , eventually after several anxious minutes found it . 7 K head torch walk back through rough steep country, pitch black, not nice.Old rule ,one stay back and guide .
Oh my. I take it you’ve never made a mistake then?
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
Pretty much anyone who shoots enough deer or any other live animal will have things go wrong. Human error does come into play, but misreading the wind, range etc will come into play. Also deer can and do react as the trigger breaks. I think most will have sensed a deer move as the trigger breaks.
Then animals are unable to read the text books. I have had Roe bucks take a 7mm bullet straight through shoulder and heart lungs just stand and look at me and then bound off as if nothing has happened. Follow up - no blood. Fortunately it bounded down a tramline and so followed it. 50 yards later first sign of blood, then lots of blood and then g go found it dead after another 50 yards. Every other deer I have shot like that has dropped on the spot. This one hadn’t been told that was correct procedure.
If you have never had a **** up you either have limited experience or have dementia and wiped the **** ups from your memory.
I’m also curious: where did I make any excuses? I was clear from the start that I made a series of bad decisions.
The shooting, on the other hand, cannot be described as bad given that the back half of the animals head was missing.
Brave Echo Niner
Well-Known Member
@Mungo - anyone who has shot enough deer, regardless of preferred shot placement has been in this situation.
I remember well spending hours on clearfell, having chest shot a roe at 150m in supposedly open ground where I had seen it drop to the shot, searching and failing to find it.
Several hours later with assistance from another stalker, another thermal imager and a dog, we located it exactly where I thought it was. I must have walked over it twice it seemed.
Relieved is not the appropriate word, as it doesn't begin to approach that feeling.
***as you can see shot placement was not the issue here as it had been treated to a WSM through the chest.***
I applaud you for posting it on here, it's good for us all to be real about stalking and the sticky situations we may find ourselves in. Anyone who wishes to kid themselves this is a headshot only issue is frankly delusional.
As the saying goes: "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy."
Ben
I remember well spending hours on clearfell, having chest shot a roe at 150m in supposedly open ground where I had seen it drop to the shot, searching and failing to find it.
Several hours later with assistance from another stalker, another thermal imager and a dog, we located it exactly where I thought it was. I must have walked over it twice it seemed.
Relieved is not the appropriate word, as it doesn't begin to approach that feeling.
***as you can see shot placement was not the issue here as it had been treated to a WSM through the chest.***
I applaud you for posting it on here, it's good for us all to be real about stalking and the sticky situations we may find ourselves in. Anyone who wishes to kid themselves this is a headshot only issue is frankly delusional.
As the saying goes: "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy."
Ben
That definitely dropped on the spot
Those holes randomly dotted around in clearfell are a bloody nightmare
My last lab would eventually sit down, give me a withering look and once he had eye contact he would look over to where it was. Cheeky bastard.
He was always right though.
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