First time leaving game in the field overnight.

[supercorndogs]

I shot a deer right as it was getting dark. He goes down like a ton of bricks then gets back up. I shoot again while he is moving and miss. Bad position, hurried shot he goes out of the sight picture, and loose which one in the herd I shot. Wife said I think he went behind the tree. Then she spots him, still on the same hill side still about 350y. I can't for the life of me find him with my scope. They are standing still, and don't even know where the shot came from, but I make a hasty descsion and move closer so I can see them. I move closer and push them over the hill up the canyon. Probably not even 5 minutes had transpired. Fucking hasty rookie move.

We head up to the ridge line, and drive down the ridge to a bowl where I think they might have stopped. I run about 1/4 mile, through fading light, then hear the horn honk. Through the orange sliver of sunset left in the sky, I can see my wife pointing up the road. Good girl she was in the car watching the exit with some binos and saw them starting to bed in on a hillside. I moved in on them looking for the one bleeding. I got in too close and pushed them agin deeper into the canyon. I didn't see the one with blood. Hopefully he is expired somewhere between the two hills. I will be looking in the morning. Maybe use my dogs nose a little.

The wife said the blood was running down from right where the spot you shoot on a bow target would be.

We saw a bunch of big horn sheep, 4 pretty good sized rams stood on the side of hill starting at us from about 40ft. I saw a herd of white tails too, they used to be rare as hen teeth down in the SE corner of the state.

I haven't hunted much since I got hurt, and god damn today, I felt like I was about as sneaky as godzilla.

 

[lightman]

Good Luck finding it when you go back.

 

[stello1001]

So long as the temps don't get too high, if the coyotes don't get to it, the meat will probably still be good tmrw. Good luck finding it, this stuff happens sometimes!

 

[Steel+Killer]

That's happened to me once and most guys I know at least once. When it happened to me the overnight low was below freezing I went back early the next morning and found him (9 point) and the meat was still good. It happened to my brother one time and the coyotes field dressed the buck for him......LOL Good Luck!

 

[acudaowner]

you can do it .

 

[TheHorta]

This thread reminds me of a hunting story my new neighbor told me when we first escaped the Metro NYC area for the lush paradise that is North Alabama...

Kenny and Frank go out deer hunting together. Frank spots and nails a nice 14-point buck. Both Kenny and Frank huff it about 300 yards to his quarry. When they get to the big buck, Frank clutches his chest and drops dead right there. Kenny is alarmed and begins to panic. They’re in the deep woods with no one around for for quite a ways. Kenny dresses the deer and drags it back to the fieldhouse, where he tells the other hunters about poor ol’ Frank and asks them to help him retrieve the body. When the other hunters ask why in the hell would he leave his hunting buddy and take the deer instead, Kenny just says “Well, I figured no one would steal Frank.”

 

[D̷e̷v̷i̷l̷D̷o̷c̷A̷Z̷]

Helped a friend in that situation once. Wasn’t fun but we got the job done. Best of luck to you.

 

[HeavyAssault]

Considering 99% of the "professional hunters" in TV shows these days can't find their shot animal till the next day, I'd say you are going to be just fine.

 

[smoooth1]

Meat will be very questionable as they bloat up soon after death and the methane and other gasses permeate the meat.

A couple hours, no worries; 12 hours.....no thanks.

These situations really suck!!

Best of luck to you!

 

[wade2big]

That sucks @supercorndogs. I have lost one before as well. She run and entered the brush about 150 yards away. It was right at dark like you and I got confused as to where she went in. I looked and looked and looked. The only blood was at the spot where she was hit. No blood trail. The next day in the light I got my bearings and walked right up to her but temps were above 70 overnight so I didn’t even consider the meat.

 

[Jgunner]

Thermal spotter would sure come in handy in a situation like that

 

[Scott037]

So

 

[KYAggie]

Shot a mule deer at dusk years ago in Idaho. He ran 150’ in elevation down a hill and expired in some tall grass. I didn’t find him until the next morning and it took me until the afternoon to get him out; it was 58 overnight and warmed into the low 70‘s the next day. I just knew it was going to ruin the meat, but it didn’t. The meat was great. I butcher my own deer and there were a few areas I chose to discard, but 90% of it was fine. If you find it, gut it, wash it out, skin it and let your nose be your guide.

As far as finding it goes, I’ve left three elk and two mule deer, all gutted and drug away from the pile, over night in Idaho and I’ve never had a predator find them. You leave the guts close by and your mileage may vary.

 

[Howland]

I left a 300 lb. gutpile from a moose late one afternoon. I went back in the next morning to retrieve a call I had left at the site. There was nothing more than a dark stain where the gutpile had been. Coyotes have to eat too. Good luck finding your deer.

 

[acudaowner]

had a guy tell me that buzzards would not turn a dead deer around drag it through a fiend just to put it in the road to get it tenderized more shame we don't have the video anymore but there were 4 of them pulling and tugging the dead deer through the field into the road these were not california condors sized birds but they did work together to get a meal and after it was hit a few times they picked parts the wanted and moved to the side of the road to eat it was gross but funny Id go to the same lenght for a good bbq I guess to the birds it was the same thing .

 

[Crang]

Around here the yotes take everything with speed that astonishes me sometimes. Hopefully up in CO they arent as bad.

 

[Slash0311]

Predators are always a question. Temps are normally fine overnight. Remember that large game temps are about like ours, 98 (give or take) So any animal will start to cool right away but air temps overnight are generally low enough to not cause issues.

 

[hlee]

If the overnight temps are in the 40s or below, the meat will be fine so long as you get there before the carrion eaters...

 

[MtnCreek]

Bad things happen to meat if the guts aren't removed quickly and carcus temp brought down shortly. With whitetail, if someone says their meat is gamey, it's due to not being properly taken care of. A cornfed yorkshire hog will be gamey if it lays around with the guts in it for 5 hrs.

 

[hlee]

People also say deer tastes gamey because it doesn’t taste like feedlot beef.

 

[hlee]

@supercorndogs So, did you find him? Pics?

 

[TACC]

Keep us posted​

 

[supercorndogs]

Never found it. Went back, picked up the blood trail. Lost it after a few hundred yards. It was really spotty, less than a deer hit with an arrow. Followed the contours where I figured they went. Picked up a few more drops about 1/4 mile from where I lost it. Searched the canyons till noon. Couldn't find ravens circling. When I spotted the shot I thought it raked the top of his back, second shot looked high too. I went back to recreate the shot and ranged it 248, I have no idea how I got 348 last night. .7 MIL difference make me feel confident what I think I saw is what happened.

The gremlins getting to me out there. Same thing happened with an Antelope a few years ago. I ranged a few times 500, 500, 500, 500. I dial 500. Way the fuck over. He runs off, I range it again 400. IDK, maybe I can't read numbers sometime. Can they read wrong of you obstruct the laser a little?

Had I just slowed down for second. Waited to find him,wife is telling me where he is. Ranged them again, corrected. It would be meat hanging in the garage. I believe in getting the guts out ASAP. I carry a knife to remove the guts as soon as the animal is down.

I went hunting with in KS one time with some friends from college. Their brother had friends there hunting too. They just hung their deer up guts and all, then packed them into their trailer in morning to head back the Wichita. It was -20 overnight, I imagine they froze solid. What a fucking mess that must have been.

 

[supercorndogs]

Thermal spotter would sure come in handy in a situation like that

And here I was pissed about the $20 in gas I used to drive back down this morning.