It's Too Bad - A Goodbye Says Hello to the Wrong Man

[Sam Ubl]

It’s a painful thing to lose a deer. I lost a giant, my biggest encounter ever in the woods and it happened on the ground as I gave up my stand to my brother in-law. It was November 11th when I shot him, and it wasn’t until November 14th late into the darkness of night before I gave up my search.

Now, 5 months later, I contact the landowner of the property my deer disappeared onto in order to ask about his turkey hunt. He says he hasn’t gotten out back lately, but his 5 buddies are coming for the weekend to have a turkey ball out there – plenty of land over 80 acres of prime real estate. Says to me, “Funny thing, my dog and I were out walking as I was scouting birds and he started getting into something so I left him out there. He comes back to the house with a big ol’ deer leg in his mouth.”

I of course asked, “How big?”

He replied, “It’s big! Not much left of it, but it has a BIG hoof.”

Of course I say, “I wonder if that’s the deer I lost??”

“How big was that thing?” The landowner asks…

“BIG! At the very least 10 pt’s, but he had a lot more going on, I just don’t know because I didn’t study the rack after I saw how big it was.” I replied.

“Huh. . . Okay, well, maybe I’ll get back there and have a look.” He says.

I asked that he call me if he stumbled on the carcass. I told him if he came across a giant cage laying in the woods, there is no doubt it’s the one I lost. I also mentioned that in all honesty, I looked EVERYWHERE except that one little “unlikely” spot his dog found the deer. I did, however, find 5 dead deer while shed hunting the property, but not my deer.

Long story short, the guy said he’d call me if he found it and it was indeed the big one, but he’d wait till’ the weekend ended. So what do you know, I haven’t heard from him. So yesterday, the Wednesday after the weekend, I give him a call and he answers.

“Yeaalllo.” He answered casually.

“John?” I replied.

“Yeassss Sir!” He replies, unaware of who I am at this point.

“Hey John, this is Sam Ubl, I was wondering how you and your buddies faired for turkeys over the weekend and if you stumbled on my deer?” I started the ‘conversation’.

In an abrupt, rude and peculiar fashion, he says, “I gotta go, I’m real busy, gotta go! I’ll talk to ya later.” Then he hangs up on me in the rudest way possible.

NOW, you tell me. Did he or one of his hunting buddies find my deer? Did he decide to keep or give away my rack? Is he putting me off because he could care less about me since I’ve never met him face to face – afterall, it’s his uncle who’s knocking on deaths door now, but is the one who let me back there to look for my deer who traveled off the land I have permission to hunt.

I believe he did  I only have this to say, it’s a damn shame that someone can find pleasure when they look at the rack of a true monarch that they had nothing to with. In other words, how after knowing the entire story of this buck and my history with him on that fateful evening, could he not feel sick about keeping it or giving it away. . . He knew that closure meant everything to me.

[tim]

i agree ,why would he want someone elses trophy. i does sound like he found your deer to me. not sure why he even brought the whole thing up to you in the first place. he sure in the least made himself look guilty , that sucks
!

[PredatorTC]

Didn't you say he posted a monster up on lake link that he had found? I think i remember you saying something about that in another post?

[Black Squirrel]

He sounds a little fishy to me. I'd say it's a possibility he found your deer. That sucks that he would not want to give it to you. I couldn't imagine being proud of a deer I found, but knew someone else shot. Good luck, maybe he'll rethink it.

[Sam Ubl]

That was the other buck... Lost two bucks, both my biggest as hard as it is to admit. That deer was shot in 2005 on public land. We bumped him when he was bedded - the shot was a little far back (liver/guts)- and he ran across the road onto private land. That D-Bag was another story.

This past years blotched opportunity was a lost cause to me. I took three days off work to look for the deer, over 30 hours into looking. The reason he brought it up to me in the first place is because it's actually his uncle, who's on his way out, who owns the land. The ol' man was agile enough to make it to the door when I asked if I could go look for the deer since he ran onto his property from the land I hunt (my stand is close to the edge of the two properties). He agreed, and even gave me permission to hunt his land after talking with him a few minutes, but now, as he is incoherent, his nephew (his care-taker) will own the land as he's the last one in the broken family to be close to the ol' man.

Long story short, the nephew didn't put two and two together when his dog brought that deer leg - I did! I was the fool who suggested it could be mine after he described the area his dog had found it.

This situation will serve as a lesson to all of us who are ever in this situation, so I'll document my trials here.

After talking it over with several friends, when to call him back or if I should at all was the number one concern. Afterall, the guy said I could hunt the land after his uncle passes - you see, he never knew his uncle gave me the permission and unfortunately, his uncle isn't in the shape to speak, much less waste his breath on some guy (me) who wants to hunt. If I call the nephew, his name is John, will I annoy him to the point he's exhausted with dealing with me and ultimately I'll lose my possible priviliges?

Assuming he'll be annoyed with another phone call, even a month later, I've opted with the decision to write him. You can't hang up on a letter, as Dan put it, and it will give him time to ponder on it. I can also word it in such a way it won't accuse him of finding/keeping the rack, blah blah blah.

I'll let you know how this all plays out.

[WiBowhuntress]

Sounds like a tough position to be in Sam...I hope it all works out for you.

[forgehunter]

Boy Sam, you are in a tough spot! You don't want to do too much and jepordize your chances with future hunting opportunities...at some point you may have to just cut bait and move on...hope a letter does the trick for you! I can't imagine doing to someone else what he is doing to you ..

[Dabowhunter]

At this point you still don't know he found anything. But assuming he did find it I (if it were me) would offer the guy some type of reward for finding it. Let him know how much it means to you and find out what you could trade him for it.The deer is worth a lot more to you than him

[bucksnbows]

Reminds me of a buck I shot in 2009. Ended up with a gut shot, gave him 6 hours( I now know give them more) found a bed full of blood. The trail stopped at that bed. 3 of us did a grid search. Picked up a couple of drops going onto a neighbors property. We have been told we can track that property but must leave weapons behind.
That day..... Which was the day before michigans gun season I noticed the neighbor was actually at the property. So I thought it would be respectful to let him know we were going to track the buck . He tells me no because he only has two days to hunt and doesn't need us stomping around his property .
I was a bit shocked but what could I do.
So three days later I take a walk. I find a gut pile and drag marks to his drive. I'm guessing it was my buck because I hunted in an area the first two days of the season from sun up to sun down within 200 yards of his ground blind and he never took a shot.
Oh well ...... I never understood how one can take pride in a deer they did not kill or one they poached.

I know this is an old thread but that is what is great about this site...... Tons of info from years ago

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[ttsbuck]

Sam, in the letter I would ask him if he has had a chance to look for that deer yet. Let him know how important it is to you to find that buck if it in fact is dead. And if its worth it to you tell him you would be happy to pay a reward for it. I think in this case a letter is a good idea, he will read it and hopefully it will appeal to his sense of right and wrong.

[Ghost Hunter]

Some people do not share the passion as we share it. They just view it as a rack of horns to brag over.

[justdirtyfun]

Honesty is a priority for me and I hope your situation gets better. I found a large dead buck (150ish) on public and the rack is here with me but ANY inquiry about it is answered with the truth. But some folks are different.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Stanley]

Sam, did you ever get any closure with the guy?

[Sam Ubl]

Yuck, a sour memory for sure...

I ended up calling him instead of writing, opposite of what I had intended on doing. I remember talking to Dan on the phone about this after the hang-up, and I think at the time we agreed writing a letter might go further than mucking up the situation any more with another phone call; I called anyways. I think it was more of a need to know now feeling for me at the time that defeated the other option of writing and potentially never hearing back, it would have ate at me.

He answered the call and I began with, "It's Sam Ubl, the guy who lost the big buck last season. Please don't hang-up, I just want to know if you found the deer!" He answered amiably, "Yeah, we found it. Not much left to it, though." I replied, "Was it him? Was it a big buck?" His attitude changed dramatically from how he answered my first question when he said, "The head was gone. Someone must have been back there and taken it." I was left feeling pretty helpless at the time with nothing more to really say, but I had my doubts in his words based on his tone and the prequel to this part of the story.

The next season I gave up hunting the farm next door due to the farmers renting out the house to a man who offered hunting rights to several of his buddies. My taxidermist lives down the road from this spot, on the same street, in fact, so I have driven by a few times since then. Every time I pass I want to knock on the door and ask to see the rack that I imagine to be hanging in the garage or in his house, but I don't know if there's any truth to my conscience and don't want to be "that guy". For all I know, he might have let one of his buddies take it that was with him turkey hunting back there that weekend they apparently found it, who knows?

Overall, it's a story my buddies and I still trade around the campfire as a few of them spent hours in those woods on their hands and knees with me looking for that buck. I still recognize him as the biggest buck I've had in range of my bow to this day, he was a giant.

[Crazinamatese]

So, the guy says he found your buck, but the head was gone? How does he know it was a buck, or your buck if the head was gone? Sounds like he is holding back.