Absolutely Worse Case Senario

The moment I had been dreaming of for 3 1/2 years finally came to fruition.. and I completely blew it.
This 6.5 year (possibly 7.5) old buck that has been some what of a Local Legend between my neighbors and I… A- because he was big.. B- because between my neighbors and Myself no one had seen him in person besides myself on 1 occasion where I saw him from my truck still breeding during the first week of February under the cover of darkness. For 5 years..He only show up on trail cameras after dark.

Well you can imagine my surprise when he came in like a ghost behind me with plenty of legal time left to play with. I was on an (observation sit) not expecting to see any of the shooters, because I had not had a legal shooting time shooter picture yet this year.. I was scouting entry and exit routes to the standing corn field I had planted.

Anyways long story short. it was dead calm, and I had a small window of opportunity in a clearing behind me. He was walking through the window at plus or minus 20 yards and I took it. Arrow hit low and back.. straight intestinal shot. He took of like a rocket, arrow came tumbling out about 60 yards later with a complete pass though. Waited 14 hours took up the blood trail. Meticulously trailed him for 4.5 hours and there was pretty decent blood at times so I was feeling optimistic. But that optimism ended after I saw his blood trail nose dive off the river bank. Climbed down there saw his track stumbling about and blood trailed him right at the waters edge for 5-6 ft and then the tracks turned right into the water. As you may know right now with all the rain, medium sized rivers are completely full, and the current is really ripping right now. River is about 90 yds wide at this spot.
Other problem is that the other side of the river is in a different state.

As hard as the river is flowing depending on his condition, he could have either not made it to the other side.. or on the slim chance he did make it.. could be several miles down river by the time he made it across or maybe more.
I feel really terrible, physically ill.. I would have rather clean missed so that I can still hunt this awesome animal, or someone else could hunt him. Almost makes me want to put down the bow for good. I am always the one lecturing wife and friends about being a “responsible hunter” and owing it to the animal to make a good shot. But now.. a giant legend of a buck is dead somewhere and no one has anything to show for it. And that is 100% on me, and I am not sure if I will continue with this passion or not.

Thoughts?

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Sure wouldnt hurt to go for a canoe trip. Deer float well – decent(relativey) chance of finding it??? Just a thought.

It is a sick feeling no doubt and as much as we try to be perfect with every shot, things just happen. The longer you hunt the better your chances of having one go south. All you can do is try every thing possible to find the deer.

I agree, if you have access to a boat or canoe, hit the river. He could very well have gotten hung up on a log or some debris in the river. You could cross the river and look for exit tracks also. Get everyone you can out there to search the area of the crossing.

Sorry to hear your luck went bad, but don’t give up.

Mistakes like this should hurt, monster buck or otherwise. It obviously doesn’t sit well with you and it shouldn’t. That’s the important part and you’ll learn from any possible mistake you made.

This can happen.
I’ve lost one deer in my lifetime and I won’t forget it.
Good luck the rest of the season/s!!!

The fact that you are broken up about shows that you truly care. Its a major bummer, but like others have said, if you can float the river you might have a happy ending after all. If its as swift as you say it is, I doubt he made it across after blood loss and the distance traveled. Could be wrong, but its worth a shot to look.

That sucks man, but happens to everyone who hunts long enough. I’d still take a boat ride down the river and see if he’s hung up or made it out the other side. With a high current if he made it across, he likely didn’t go far. There are a million things that can and do go wrong, don’t beat yourself up too bad.

Canoe or duck boat. What state is across the river and what are the laws regarding tracking?

Did the deer cross from MN to WI or vise versa? Last time I checked in MN it was not yet legal but if in WI it might not be a bad idea to get a hold of someone with a tracking dog. I’ve heard some very impressive stories of what those dogs have been able to find.

I’d take a canoe and go look, with an open wound in the water he would bleed out profusely and die quickly.
He’s most likely hung up along a river bend.

Sorry to hear about it. Not much consolation, I know, but you did your absolute best and I can’t see a single thing you could have done given where the track ended.

I’m not keen on the canoe or boat idea on a swollen river. I pulled a kayaker out of tree tangle once and the combination of cold water, fast current, and debris make this a bad situation waiting to happen IMO. Others may disagree, but IMO no deer is worth that kind of risk on a swollen river in October.

Sorry to hear about the situation but you’re a good hunter and did everything you reasonably could.

Grouse

Mistakes happen, it’s how you handle the mistakes that really matter. You handled the situation to the best of your ability, so I see no reason to be down on yourself about it. I know it’s a lot different, but I did that to a coyote last year. I was so mad when I saw it that I made the mistake of not waiting for it to cross a shooting lane. The arrow ticked a branch while traveling and got him in the rear leg. Stuck a second one just minutes after and dropped it in its tracks.

I am kind of with grouse on this, if the river is as high as you say, it could be a very dangerous venture to drop a canoe or kayak in and float downstream if you are not an experienced paddler. It could be quite the walk, but it would be much safer to walk the shoreline (if able to).

Call both CO’s for both state’s and explain the situation. Then get a boat on the river and keep looking. Worst that can happen isn’t you don’t find it, rather you don’t look.

Your attitude is reason enough to keep bow hunting. You can’t control everything, learn from it and try to move on and do better next time.

Thanks for the words of support guys.
I have secured a 16ft boat with a 4 hp honda motor…
And I now have in possession the number of the landowner across the river from me. Hopefully Ill be able to first walk the shoreline and surrounding banks and see what I can find.
Then I will try to boating venture. I have never been on this river or in heavy current.. only giant waves on Mille Lacs with my skeeter..the similarities end at both boats floating on water.
If I come up empty handed after those endeavors I guess I have exhausted every possible recovery method short of hiring a helicopter.

Again thanks for the encouragement.. will keep ya’ll updated on the latest.

Deer swim really well, I bet he made it, with a belly full of water he didn’t go to far before bedding up, look for crow’s and scour the bank real well for tracks. DK.

If he died on shore somewhere I would watch for vultures. Get permission from landowner then the boat ride.

After another 7 hours of searching yesterday on the other side of the river.. I have come up empty handed. No sign anywhere. Feeling pretty defeated at this point. Unsure if I will continue to try to fill that tag. But no further search efforts will be conducted.

Had a friend come over with his drone and flew the river for miles and miles.. reviewed the footage on the computer… nothing.

At least I know that I took every reasonable effort possible to try to locate the buck.

On the Bright-side.. I think I might be purchasing a drone in the near future.. holy smokes was that cool!

That’s a real bummer, but maybe he lived…

Good full effort you put in though

I feel for yah. Thanks for giving everything you had to look for him. Ive been in the same position, youll feel better. 6 years ago i shot a beautiful buck. 15 yards away, perfect arrow, pass through and lots of blood. 8 hours later i started tracking. That night, and all the next day, got 4 neighbors to help. We never found him. I felt sick for weeks. I still hate the memory, but i havent lost the passion.

I know this doesn’t happen often. But true story bro in law shot a nice 10 low in the guts ,I tracked it for about half mile ,lost the track,one month later a buddy shot a skinny 10 point with hard lump on its belly.It lived,go figure! And it had corn n it’s belly.

Nothing else you can do. Sucks, but there’s a lot more out of our control than is easy to admit. Props for exhausting all options.