# 4 1/2 hrs. to find my 7pt. buck



## trackdog (Apr 9, 2005)

Thursday (12/1/11) Me, my son and his buddy went to public land there by trapper john's (route 665) got set up in a tree line watching an over grown field. About an hour later i seen a hunter in the middle of the field so i stepped just out of the tree line so he could see me, he was about 175 yards from me and im waiting for him to kick one out to me....sure enough about 15 minutes of watching him 2 does jump up 50 yards in front of him and run to my son (my son seen them but couldnt get a shot) 10 minutes later 1 doe comes back and blew right by the guy, i still cant believe he didnt c him, 5 minutes later he jumps a buck, and this buck is coming straight at me and he isnt stopping, he get's close and i duck down so #1 i dont get shot at and #2 the buck dont c me. 25 yards from me he stops and im looking at him looking at me, i wont shoot cause i know that guy is about 100 yards the other side of him, the buck takes off to my left, crosses my tree line i was in and disappeared, so i cross the tree line, look in the other field and there he is 100 yards out broadside, 870 cantilever w/ simmons prodiamond and hornady sst, i put one behind his shoulder and he jumps straight up and takes off, i know i made a good shot and i watch him go down about 80 yards further, so we go to get him and we cant find him in the tall grassy field ( weeds about waist to chest high) looked every where. i told my son and Brian about a grid search, didnt work so then we zig zagged the field, didnt work, 3 hrs. later they told me i missed, i told them that deer was dead and im gonna find him, 1 1/2 hrs. later i told them to bo back to where the buck went down and i was gonna go over by the woods and look cause i heard a small stream running, i get over there and i come to a big rub, something told me to turn right, i go 25 yards and there he is, shot one lung and brused the other, he crawled in that grass about another 100 yards, i knew he was there and i wasnt givin up, 3 1/2 hrs. to drag him out. I was glad to find him for the relief of knowing i made a good shot and recovered my deer, that was better than the hunt itself, thanks OGF caused i learned about a grid search on this site. I think if u click on pic it get's bigger im not sure, not a monster but he was over 220 dressed, fill the freezer


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## Got One (May 26, 2006)

Nice job sticking with the track job. To many people give up if the deer does'nt fall right away. Kudo's !!!


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## DaleM (Apr 5, 2004)

Here you go:


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## justin3687 (May 29, 2009)

Nice job Congrats

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## Header (Apr 14, 2004)

Good job Dog and way to stick with the tracking, they will always go to water if there is any. Nice buck. Do ya think your boys learned a good lesson?


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

Great job on putting the effort in to track that deer down.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Interesting story and a great effort on following up sticking with the search.


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## trackdog (Apr 9, 2005)

Header said:


> Good job Dog and way to stick with the tracking, they will always go to water if there is any. Nice buck. Do ya think your boys learned a good lesson?


Yeah Header, i found a doe once like that, i went to a pond a couple hundred yards from where i shot her and there she was so when i heard that water running i thought to go that way and yes both those boys learned a good lesson there, they was gonna give up but i knew i hit him good and hard and i knew he was there somewhere, it was a good experience for all of us, a big relief finding him, thanks guys and thanks Dale for resizing the pic, im gonna have to learn how to do that.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Great persistence and great Darby buck....that area gets hunted hard, so it's extra special.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

nice buck and great job sticking with it!!


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## mpd5094 (Jun 20, 2005)

Way to stick with it! Nice buck


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## Snook (Aug 19, 2008)

Way to stay with it. Confidence in your shooting abilities helped you recover that deer when others thought you missed. I too use the Hornady SST's but am not a big fan of their terminal performance. They shoot awesome but IMOP they just "poke holes" and leave a HORRIBLE blood trail. Have shot at least 4 different deer with them(hit right behind the shoulder) and hardly any blood to follow. One was in the snow and no blood until about 60 yds and it was only where the deer layed dead! Congrats on your deer!


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## Danfc80 (Nov 16, 2011)

Best deer hunting story I've heard all season. 220# dressed is huge! Had to be a real challenge to drag, even with help! Nice job.


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## BassBlaster (Jun 8, 2006)

Nice deer, especially for that area. That place gets a ton of pressure. I have bow hunted there numerous times with no luck. Wasnt ever brave enough to go there for gun season.

The far South side of that place looks really good but its pretty dificult to access without crossing private property and getting permission to cross is pretty difficult.


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## buford2 (Dec 16, 2010)

powder finger no doubt.............


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## fishwendel2 (Nov 19, 2007)

Nice job!!


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## trackdog (Apr 9, 2005)

Snook said:


> Way to stay with it. Confidence in your shooting abilities helped you recover that deer when others thought you missed. I too use the Hornady SST's but am not a big fan of their terminal performance. They shoot awesome but IMOP they just "poke holes" and leave a HORRIBLE blood trail. Have shot at least 4 different deer with them(hit right behind the shoulder) and hardly any blood to follow. One was in the snow and no blood until about 60 yds and it was only where the deer layed dead! Congrats on your deer!


I agree with this. The SSt hornady's shoot very accurate out of my 870 ( cantilever barrel ) but there was hardly any blood and very very small entry hole, there was hardly any blood on the ground where he died. The next day i killed a decent doe, she didnt go far but once again hardly any blood, i find that these are excellent slugs but shot placement is definetly a must with these ( same with all slugs imo ) biggest deer i have ever killed weight wise and yes it was a pain dragging out with three of us


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## trackdog (Apr 9, 2005)

buford2 said:


> powder finger no doubt.............


not sure what that means " powder finger"....muzzleloader comes to mind though


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