Seeing red

[MarkMarine]

It is amazing how much red you can see in the woods when you are searching only for a blood trail. Leaves, seeds, and all other manner of red/ruddy flora suddenly appear where before none were noticed.

Opening day of Missouri Archery Season. I split wood in the morning and was in the woods tucked away in a blind by 3:00 PM. I had been there less than 45 minutes having just deployed a personal scent smoker (smoked my pipe).

To my surprise, a doe just appeared out of nowhere in my field of vision. I had not even moved to the stool yet and was still in a rinky-dink lawnchair unpacking the Alice pack. So, when I moved to fetch the Exomag she heard me and looked right at the blind.

I froze motionless.

She resumed browsing.

I got the bow and brought it to bear.

Another flaming squeak! She looked right at me anew, but again I stilled myself and she walked a few steps continuing to feed on acorns. She was walking out of the frame of one window, so I positioned the bow out of the next one and waited.

She came slowly into view, quartered away from me, and I released the G5 downrange.

She fell to her side like she was struck by lightning. But got back to her feet and bounded away over a neighbor's fence and off into their woods. I was a tad surprised about her falling like that as it made me worry my shot had been high or somesuch. I was also concerned about her heading off into the bordering woods as I didn't even know who owned them.

But more than anything, I was thrilled I had some meat for my Mother. Times are hard for us and she was in need. So, I took a moment to reload another GT-II and then unzipped the blind and went to look for blood and my arrow. I found it 26 yards off buried in the ground up to the fletching. The blood was good, had to hit at least one lung - I just knew that doe would not go far!

...and like a fool, I called my Mom and told her I got a doe...that was my first mistake (beyond not using a scope with my eyesight!)

...I set off after the doe...and that was my second error. I pushed her too hard and did not allow her time to just lay down...

The fountain of blood gave way to the drizzle of it until in the end, just a droplet here...a smear there...dwindling down to none. I do not know how far I trailed that doe. I cannot believe she had any blood left in her. But, after 2 hours the moon begin to rise and...in my haste I left the headlamp in the blind...my final mistake...

Tomorrow, come daybreak, I will be back out there. I think the temp is suppose to be in the 50s tonight...so I hope the meat is good.

Disheartened, discouraged...but determined.

[See4miles]

I hope you find her Mark, before the Coyotes especially.

[Bowster]

Will be looking for the picture tomorrow....

Sounds like a solid hit.

I'm sure it will be a long night then go get her.

[gerald strine]

Best of luck with your recovery.

[MarkMarine]

Will be looking for the picture tomorrow....

Sounds like a solid hit.

I'm sure it will be a long night then go get her.

These are the only ones I have now. Most of the blood looked just like this....but near the end, it just disappeared. I kept expecting her around the next bend, so to speak, but she never materialized.

[bucknbill]

looks like good blood, i,m hopin she,s right there close

[one shot scott]

Im red/green color blind, i cant see that blood trail that you posted too well. Judging by your description you should find her though. good luck man.

[BigNasty]

.

[gendoc]

best of luck !!!
you must not have kiyots in your parts ?? how bout big kitty's ??

you let fresh meat hit tha ground around here unattended, its gone !!!

i sure hope you find your doe.

[agingcrossbower]

If the deer is not is direct sunlight she will be good. No waste meat for you. Keep looking and you will find her. Times like this and I think, a dog would be great. Good luck.

[j.krug]

A great tale of your hunt Mark until the end of the story.
Sounds likes she's hit good so hopefully she hasn't gone too far. Good luck finding her and I hope to see a pic soon.

[Louvp]

good luck Mark, Hope you find her she may not be far,from last blood,she may have bled out thats why the blood slowed down. You may know this already but If you cant find her go to last blood & start walking circles around where last blood was working your way out. Look under any heavy brush I've seen them crawl under brush to lay down.

[DaGriz]

Best of luck Mark. From what you posted is sounds like a good solid hit. Shame on you for you small mistakes in pushing her but it's really easy to do that with the first deer of the season. No matter how old and experienced we get , that mistake is made by all , at one time or another. Hopefully you will find her not far from where you stopped looking!

[Hallaketrout]

Check any ponds or streams nearby, she may go to water to cool the wound.

Good luck.

[MarkMarine]

It was said thousands of years ago by a man much wiser than I, "All is vanity." In my hunt yesterday, that certainly is true.

I have AMD (Age Macular Degeneration) and yet chose to hunt with open sights. Sitting at the table and shooting at a stationary target is one thing; as I have time to bring the target out of the blindspot before I shoot. Yet, being in the woods and shooting at a live target simply (and apparently) did not allow me to bring it out of the blur enough to make the best shot...as surely I hit high.

Furthermore, in my zest and zeal to put meat on the table, I became inpatient and pushed the deer with my bumbling around to find the bloodtrail and evaluate the hit. I jumped her up perhaps 30 yards from where she jumped a neighbor's fence. Had I not gone after her, chances are she would have simply lay still until death took her.

I bushogged 40 acres of this farmer's property just for the right to hunt there. The place I was allowed to hunt was a pie-wedge woodland fenced off from his cattle. It is perhaps a 100 yards wide at the end and only about 10 feet at the beginning. I was at the end of it set up about 30 yards inside his fence and with the neighbor's to the left of me. I have no idea who owns the bordering land - but I SHOULD have checked BEFORE hunting so I could have permission to enter it. That would have allowed me not to rush to recover. But I didn't. The deer jumped that fence after it was hit and I pushed it onto another landowner's property who is a wacky woman that I did not wish to meet on her porch (much less the woods).

I could hardly walk last night (given my other medical issues). I hit the rack early and felt guilty for not overcoming the aches and pains to go back into the night and look for the doe. But I was so nauseated from eyestrain I was near seasick and could do nothing except lay in bed and hear the coyotes calling. I finally fell asleep....apparently right before the rain came.

...because when I mounted up and hit the woods, all the bloodtrail was gone - except for where it was on the fencewire she jumped over and on the side of a tree that was sprayed with it. I could not retrace my steps more than 10 feet. I did not recognize any landmarks (because I cannot see anything but nigh on blurs anyway, and I was not familiar with the property.

But I spent hours looking for some sign, any sign, including the two trees I blazed so I could find my way back to it. Once more, nausea got the best of me and after an entire morning, I just had to concede perhaps the coyotes I heard got it (I prayed they did so the meat would not go to waste).

Long story short (too late for that), I did not recover the doe. That deer deserved better than what I gave her. I cannot begin to say how disappointed in myself I am. The set up was all wrong, but I was more so for being so desperate as to hunt on this little patch of land knowing that there was a good chance any deer would hop the fence onto land I could not in good conscience enter.

I'm not the man I use to be, I better realize my limitations fast because the only thing I have to eat now is vanity and that's a lot to gnaw on.