Not impressed with myself.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. Well, I don't have a dog, so that one's not an option. I can't get out to hunt until Saturday afternoon anyway, so I should be good to go. I was out and checked my apples last night, and they were all gone. I'm going through a 100lbs every 3 days, and there are 6 does, a spikehorn, and an 8 pointer on my camera, all within hunting hours, so I feel good about my chances. Also, where I hunt, it's open for doe or buck. I'm after meat for my freezer, so a nice doe is preferable, but if a nice buck pops out, lights out.
 
anarchist_ns said:
I lost my first buck this week. I shot at, and hit a nice 10 pointer at about 50 yards. I hit him right where I aimed, right behind the shoulder blade (where I always aim), but instead of dropping like they usually do, he bolted. I heard lots of crashing in the bush as he bolted through the chopping, and then a final crash which I assumed was him falling down. I climbed out of my tree stand, and proceeded the the point of shooting, and noticed blood on the ground, and a trail leading to the direction he ran. I followed the blood (there was a lot of it) for about 500 yards. Towards the end, it was getting spotty, and clotty, and then it stopped. He seemed to be running for a copse of trees near the center of the chopping. I was about 30 yards from it by this point. I cocked the bolt on my .303, took two steps towards the copse, he jumped up out of the brush, and bolted into the copse of trees. He moved so fast I never got a shot off. I went to the spot he was laying, found a big blood clot, and more fresh blood, I followed it for another 100 yards, before it too, dried up, and the blood trail went cold. I attempted to track him for another hour until it got dark, but I was eventually forced to give up. This is the first deer I have ever lost, and it gutted me.
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I have lost deer before as well, it's not a good feeling by any means, but i do have a few things to add. I have read a lot, and i have experienced it first hand, once you take the shot and you know you hit him, just sit tight for a bit. You're going to be all amped up and take off running after it, which will keep driving it to get up and run more and more as you chase after it. Once you shoot sit back, relax, eat your lunch you brought with you, have a smoke if you smoke, but give it 20-30 mins. It sounds like if you had waited a bit before you went looking for him he would have stayed laying down in the copse and continued bleeding out, and once the adrenaline wore off of him he more likely wouldn't have been able to get up and run again.
I have also found that deer i have shot with my older .303 always tend to run much longer distances, and have a harder time tracking them. Since i started using a .308 they seem to drop much sooner after being shot. This is in no way scientific, or tested beyond me, but i have noticed it. I don't know if it's the shape of the bullet, or the speed, or maybe the difference is just me shooting the rifle differently.
 
Slaymoar said:
I have never done feed before. This to me sounds like a very huge and expensive amount of apples.. are they bad apples you get from a farmer for cheap? Do you roll out with a truck and just make a huge pile?

Thanks
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I go down to the Valley, and get drop apples from the orchards. 60 bucks for a 1/2 ton truck load. I bag them in 50 pound bags, and haul them into the bush as needed.
 
As my own example, the best years for one-shot DRT deer harvests, were my years living in South Saskatchewan. A spring and summer full of varmint shooting is the best practice for the fall big game season. Unless you take the time and effort to hunt coyotes in NS, rifle range practice is the only third option to prepare yourself for opening day.

maybe
 
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