I think you’re missing that this buck didn’t just disappear or run off. We watched him through the spotting scope for awhile. He didn’t go out of sight. The deer headed up the basin before bedding down. Probably 10 minutes of walking uphill about 1,000 feet in elevation. Then when they bedded down I watched him at 40 power for awhile. He was feeding, rubbing brush, and keeping a young two point in check. We decided to move around onto their bedding spot. That walk took some time. Then someone bumped them and they headed up and over a peak. Right at the peak it was remarkable. Probably another 1,000 feet of elevation. We looked at them through the spotter and the buck was carrying on normally. At this point going back to the original location would have taken tons of time that got us no closer to getting that buck even were he hit. The decision was made to come up the following morning and try to get onto their likely landing zone. That next afternoon we saw his herd but not him. We saw him on a dudes back being packed out. I always check for blood but in this instance it wouldn’t have provided more useful information towards getting him even in the unlikely event he was mortally hit and sparing just minutes later and gaining thousands of feet of vertical…. I would put total time from shot to last visual of the buck at 1.5 to 2 hours. Roughly 20-30 minutes of close inspection through a spotting scope. When I know where the deer itself is.., I don’t typically drop a bunch of elevation to go back to the start I typically go to the deer itself when I can see it. In this case I saw it’s entire path for an extended period of time. I see what important point you’re trying to make but given context I think you’re making it in the wrong situation.You lost the bullet impact when you shot, correct, but also saw a buck flinch, correct?
You watched a buck walk away, but haven't a clue if the bullet you sent from five hundo hit a buck because you never went over there and looked. How do you know what buck you shot and what buck walked away if you didn't go to where the deer were? "Perfectly confident"...
The SpongeROB Chronicles: The 2024 Elk and Deer 🦌 Hunt with the Avery’s and Cash
There’s 6 of us hunting this ranch and we’re all trying to cover different parts of it, my son couldn’t go this morning (test at school) so I was the scout and sure enough, I was the only one that had bulls within range, but everybody was seeing elk. Tanya and Ryan made an impressive mile climb...rokslide.com
This is a good post to read through and should highlight that what one sees through the glass is vastly different than standing there first-hand. I find carcasses every year in locations where they should be found very easily. The idea that if the animal doesn't flop over in sight it must have been a miss and no need to track it down is easily avoidable and a black eye for hunters.
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