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Good work and a nice coda to your time in MA!

I always liked that early AM pre-rush hour exit from a big city to go hunt or fish. Things are quiet and you feel as though you're off to do a secret thing that 99% of your urban compatriots can't relate to as you shed off layers of the city in the rear-view mirror.

Coming back to the evening rush always sucks though. Your secret thing doesn't feel quite as precious while watching thousands of tailights in traffic with all the other urban denizens when all you really want is a hot shower and to pull off any ticks you picked up in the woods.
 
That's wild.

I'll totally admit I was completely demoralized when I didn't find blood. Searching when there is no sign of a hit leaves you second guessing everything.

I was trying to talk myself into writing it off as a miss...
That's great follow up. It's so easy to just give up and call it a miss.

A photo homage to HUNT TALK MAN wherever he may be
View attachment 253945
A little bigger trunk than a 17 Y.O. Corolla? I wonder what those MA State Troopers do when they see blood dripping out the back.
 
Actually it's not until you smash the ever living crap out of your fingers by cutting through a branch way too big for hand shears
I accidently left my shears and a small folding saw in my pack on my mule deer hunt this year. I took them out so I wouldn't have to pack them around and promptly forgot them in the other guys truck when he dropped me off at my house. I had a new pair before the next weekend from Amazon. :)
 
I get as high as I can in a tree, sit all day, and wait on people to blunder through the woods and bump bucks to me in the thick stuff. You and I should hunt together. lol
But honestly though, I never see anyone in the parking lot in the AM but would love to coordinate with someone, wait till they get in their stand and then slowly still hunt pushing towards them.
 
But honestly though, I never see anyone in the parking lot in the AM but would love to coordinate with someone, wait till they get in their stand and then slowly still hunt pushing towards them.

My dad and I used to do that. We would be sitting there freezing and he would say "I'm going to do a push".
For some reason, I still had to sit there and freeze while he got to warm up. lol It did work a few times on some unlucky does.

It can be a VERY effective tactic for sure!
 
Enjoyed your story, way to not give up on the deer as buckshot often times won't leave much if any blood but at that range will kill them fine. Terrain is alot like NC so I know what you did to get close enough to kill one and Congrats they are not easy to sneak up on.
 
My dad and I used to do that. We would be sitting there freezing and he would say "I'm going to do a push".
For some reason, I still had to sit there and freeze while he got to warm up. lol It did work a few times on some unlucky does.

It can be a VERY effective tactic for sure!

This worked for my wife's first buck, a nice 2.5yr old 5x5! After sitting for a few hours, I looped around and pushed some nasty sumacs and two bucks dumped into the drainage in front of her.
 
Love the bloody buck in the trunk of a car with a Middlebury sticker in the back glass.

Great reminder to follow up the shot throughly. Especially when the deer looked hit.
 
I’m not sure how I missed this!!! I love it. That jungle looks absolutely miserable and the fact that you got a deer in it is awesome.
My only experience with buckshot was on the game deer hunter on PC and it didn’t impress even then.
Great story and congratulations!!
 
So where was the hit? Why no blood? Answers man!
I have seen a few animals taken with 00 buck. None have had much blood on the outside but the effect of nine to twelve 33 cal lead balls hitting the animal resulted in some pretty impressive internal damage.

@wllm, kudos for sticking with the search despite finding no blood.
 
Glad this came back up. Missed it the first time up. Well done. @wllm any chance you took a look at the lower jaw? The older ones usually shed earlier than the younger ones.
 
I missed this the first time around. Great write up, @wllm, and props on the persistence in finding that deer. I’m admittedly intimidated by the thick stuff, and I think it’s likely a pretty decent sized limitation in my repertoire as a well-rounded hunter. I’ve lived in western Oregon for almost 15 years, and have only hunted the coast once—I just hate not being able to see very far. But watching you adapt to your surroundings out there and find success in the swamps is inspiring to try some new things out. I’m looking forward to your reports from hunting the greenway behind the GM plant in Detroit.
 
Caribou Gear

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