Injured buck/trailing doe

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Chris_D
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Injured buck/trailing doe

Unread postby Chris_D » Thu Aug 15, 2019 3:30 am

I saw something last November that I’m wondering if anyone else has seen. It lends some credit to a hot doe finding the dominant buck. I had large mature buck chasing a doe around in the CRP that I was set up on. After several close calls with the buck I finally got what I felt was a good opportunity to shoot. Nevertheless I made a poor shot on a walking deer and hit him back and a little low. After I shot the buck and he ran off the doe stood around for a while and eventually left. I got some help and came back about 6 hours later. We blood trailed the buck straight to a bed on a bench about 300 yards from where he was shot. We bumped the buck out of the bed and the curious thing was the doe had tracked him down and was laying right beside him and they both got up of course and ran off. The doe had originally gone in a different direction but apparently either knew where to find him or came back and trailed him to his bed. I just thought it was unique. The buck crossed a road onto some private land and after two days of trying to get permission to track the deer into private land and being refused I had to give up on the buck. Has anyone else ever seen this before?


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Chris_D
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Re: Injured buck/trailing doe

Unread postby Chris_D » Thu Aug 15, 2019 4:05 am

Chris_D wrote:I saw something last November that I’m wondering if anyone else has seen. It lends some credit to a hot doe finding the dominant buck. I had large mature buck chasing a doe around in the CRP that I was set up on. After several close calls with the buck I finally got what I felt was a good opportunity to shoot. Nevertheless I made a poor shot on a walking deer and hit him back and a little low. After I shot the buck and he ran off, the doe stood around for a while and eventually left. I got some help and came back about 6 -7 hours later. We blood trailed the buck straight to a bed on a bench about 300 yards from where he was shot. We bumped the buck out of the bed and the curious thing was the doe had tracked him down and was laying right beside him and they both got up of course and ran off. The doe had originally gone in a different direction but apparently either knew where to find him or came back and trailed him to his bed. I just thought it was unique. The buck crossed a road onto some private land and after two days of trying to get permission to track the deer into private land and being refused I had to give up on the buck. Has anyone else ever seen this before?
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<DK>
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Re: Injured buck/trailing doe

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Aug 15, 2019 4:41 am

Thats a cool story!

I dont find it that odd actually.

1 - They are tough animals and if it was not a vital shot then he could have continued what he was doing.
2 - Hes a mature buck and knows where the doe bedding areas are.
3 - Does have some say in breeding. They can choose the buck they want and I have seen/heard does trailing a buck.

Dont let that shot stress you out though! It happens and they are tough. They can die from odd wounds and they can live on one lung. At least you got a shot and were in the game. I have some that haunt me as bad or worse from not even getting a shot off vs a not vital.

Get back out there and get ready for another chance. Keep your cams out all season this year and next, he could return.
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Chris_D
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Re: Injured buck/trailing doe

Unread postby Chris_D » Thu Aug 15, 2019 4:59 am

Thanks DK. I did end up killing a 140+ public land buck this year. So the season wasn’t a wash. I passed some pretty good public land bucks that I hope to take this year. I should have waited on the one I wounded but hindsight is always better. I just thought it was kinda cool that the doe found him and laid down with him. I do believe the shot was fatal and wish I had waited overnight to go look. It was kinda a long story but we thought the deer was liver hit due to some other blood in the field from another kill the day before that was on the same trail. We had bumped the deer before we realized he was not liver hit. If not for that we would have waited overnight.


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