2nd & 3rd D16 weekend (bow, hit, lion) what would you do? + Poll

So do you think it's the same buck I hit, alive and well 3 days later?

  • Yes, looks like the same buck

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • No, looks like a different buck

    Votes: 9 90.0%

  • Total voters
    10
  • Poll closed .

brad nsw

Active Member
Oct 24, 2015
201
235
43
2nd weekend - 3 nights nothing, then 3x3 at 15yds but he wouldn't come out from behind a bush...no shot.

3rd weekend. In my bush blind at 4PM on Fri. at 4:05 (clock isn't on DST) a nice forkie RUNS into far end of meadow to 60yds and stops. He ran by my camera see photo below.
000001prey.JPG

Thought it was weird he was running (maybe a bigger buck chasing him off?). He keeps looking back but 60 is to far for me. After a few minutes he runs straight at me and stops behind a bush 30yds away, still looking back. He steps out, I draw, center the pin for an easy heart shot, pull the release just as he bolts (THWACK - Hit). I know it's back but he arched nice so I've got my fingers crossed lungs. I reach down to grab my quiver and look up and what do I see?
PICT0025.JPG
Yep, a big kitty running trotting after him. Now for the first "What do you do"? It's gonna be DARK in less than an hour. Well, I go check for arrow and blood to help determine next move. Can't find an arrow. 4:30 and I figure I'll walk where he ran and look for blood. At 30yds I find one tall blade of grass with a drop on it. Hmm, he's not bleeding much. Go about 100yds and find a second drop of blood on the ground. Now going on 5PM and twilight. Push another 50yds with headlamp now and find a clot about the size of a silver dollar, with two drops 10yds past that. I drop my pack at the pool, my bow at the drops and push on. Headlamp is getting weak, so I get on my hands and knees for about 10 seconds before I realize DON'T DO THAT YOU IDIOT, there's a big CAT out there!! Change batteries in head lamp. Now what do you do, push on or go back to the tent and resume in the AM? I pushed for about an hour in concentric arcs for about 50yds from last blood for an hour. At 8ish, NO MORE BLOOD and I got SMART and went back to the tent.

Next AM, up and at the last blood by sunrise. Didn't find any more blood till 8:30 or 9. It was 200yds from the clot and looked like a similar clot but slightly bigger (about as big around as a racquet ball). Interesting because it looked like he bedded there and was spooked because there were deep hoof marks like he bolted/was startled. Looked for 3 more hours and no more blood. Either the Lion spooked him Friday night, or I did Saturday morning. Now what do you do? I felt sick but it sure looked like it was a non fatal wound. I went back to hunt mode, not feeling really "into it" and didn't see anything for the next 3 days.

Tuesday I get home and download my latest round of camera pictures. 3 items of note. First good news. I think this is the same buck (see the spot, maybe bloodstain)? Maybe wishful thinking but in the series he lifts his left rear leg weird. Also, the left side rack looks slightly smaller than the right, just like the one I shot at.
000001.JPG000002.JPG
2nd and 3rd points of note: If two hunters pass in the night but don't see each other, is that something to worry about? Guess two hours isn't such a close encounter, right???
hunter or prey.jpg
hunter.jpg
 
Busy spot... From the pics I'd say not the same buck. Photos are deceiving and perspective can play tricks on size.
 
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I'm not so sure it's the same buck. Go back and look at the curvature of the right antler where it begins to Y. Then go look at the pic of the buck in the dark. Doesn't look as curved at that Y junction in the pic at night, or does it?
 
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Time to head back to the truck....looks like a grocery store sale. Bummer about the forky...lion will be fat and happy. Got a few weeks left out there. Finish!
 
Well if he is wounded then you just gave "Gavin Newsom's" protected pet a free meal. I am tired of hearing the "Liberal" pieces of SH*T on this site and there bleeding hearts for these cats. The deer population in this state has dwindled to the lowest. Between hunters, mountain lions, coyotes and cars hitting them is why the success rates are so low not to include the number of houses popping up everywhere. Nothing would excite me more then them to open season on these freaking cats. I would be first in line to buy every single tag..
 
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Well if he is wounded then you just gave "Gavin Newsom's" protected pet a free meal. I am tired of hearing the "Liberal" pieces of SH*T on this site and there bleeding hearts for these cats. The deer population in this state has dwindled to the lowest. Between hunters, mountain lions, coyotes and cars hitting them is why the success rates are so low not to include the number of houses popping up everywhere. Nothing would excite me more then them to open season on these freaking cats. I would be first in line to buy every single tag..
Your ignorant comments do nothing to advance hunting interest in this state. Not to mention calling every person a demon or liberal who doesn’t agree with you does no good for anyone and if anything only drives non hunters further away and dig their heels in deeper.

How about instead of complaining all the time to like minded people you do something to change this world.
 
Or actually get out and hunt...kill sonething, preferably a large mammal...but at this point, a squirel,rabbit or bird would do,something..anything. oh man, i said bird...getting soft in my old age...lol
 
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I feel for you archery hunters. I strongly prefer the company of that gun in lion country. Gave up bow hunting pretty much right after I started. And too many cats were the main reason. Good work on it though. It’s a tough break!
 
Fri nite to Mon morning. Sunday, had a forkie (spike with small splits, so technically a forkie) come in to twenty yards. Only problem was it was 5:30AM and I couldn't see my pins at all, so he walked. Saw a decent forkie at about 100yds but headed away. Weird season...I've seen 6 different bucks and not a single doe. All the bucks are cruising...looking for the elusive does???
 
I am tired of hearing the "Liberal" pieces of SH*T on this site and there bleeding hearts for these cats.

Are you sure there are folks on this site that agree or approve of the current mountain lion situation? I am not aware of such a thread/post(s). Maybe I am not reading your post correctly. I am easily confused.

BTW - I have no issue with the cats. They are just doing their thing. My issue is with how they are being managed. There lays the challenge. If they were truly endangered, I would want them protected. Everyone on the site (for the most part) probably agrees. Having hatred for lions or any other predator goes against how most sportsman(women) think.

Categorizing folks isn't solving anything either; just creating more devision. We have had some really good folks leave this site because of ridicule based on a perceived political mindset. What a shame.

Just my two cents...
 
John,

I agree...I admire the big cats and lack of management is the problem...But what bothers me is we have folks that come on this hunting & fishing site that vote for the very people that have made it so we can't manage them...They vote for people that want to stop all hunting...They vote for people that want non native species (like chukar, pheasant, & turkeys) eliminated...They want to put you out of business!...What's the common denominator with these people?... They ALL have a "D" next to their name.

Pretty dang hard to bite your tongue time after time knowing they vote for the very people we fight on a daily basis as we try to hold on to our God given rights, traditions, and our 2nd Amendment.

My 2 cents
 
John,

I agree...I admire the big cats and lack of management is the problem...But what bothers me is we have folks that come on this hunting & fishing site that vote for the very people that have made it so we can't manage them...They vote for people that want to stop all hunting...They vote for people that want non native species (like chukar, pheasant, & turkeys) eliminated...They want to put you out of business!...What's the common denominator with these people?... They ALL have a "D" next to their name.

Pretty dang hard to bite your tongue time after time knowing they vote for the very people we fight on a daily basis as we try to hold on to our God given rights, traditions, and our 2nd Amendment.

My 2 cents


I know a lot of people on this site but I have never stepped into a voting booth with them. I know of one person who was thought to have voted a specific way, and it turned out that it wasn't the case. They left the site (no pun intended). The bullying has not fixed a single thing.

To each his own regarding political views. And I understand your quandary Steve, but beating folks over the head doesn't solve anything.

Folks might want to take a page from "The Great Communicator", Ronald Reagan. He was able to get his point across to both sides without the ridicule.
 
John,

I agree...I admire the big cats and lack of management is the problem...But what bothers me is we have folks that come on this hunting & fishing site that vote for the very people that have made it so we can't manage them...They vote for people that want to stop all hunting...They vote for people that want non native species (like chukar, pheasant, & turkeys) eliminated...They want to put you out of business!...What's the common denominator with these people?... They ALL have a "D" next to their name.

Pretty dang hard to bite your tongue time after time knowing they vote for the very people we fight on a daily basis as we try to hold on to our God given rights, traditions, and our 2nd Amendment.

My 2 cents
Very well said , very well !!!!!
 

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