Tracking injured muley

[FrontRangeDude]

Hey guys I'm new here. I'm on my first big game hunt ever. I'm hunting public land mule deer buck. I had a 65 yard shot approximately 12 minutes before legal shooting was over. It was a nice buck. I took a shot and when the smoke cleared I saw it limping away slowly with its head down. I reloaded and quickly moved towards it to get a follow up shot before shooting hours were over. It then jumped up 40 yards from original location and ran off, down hill and to the right. I took another shot and in hindsight I don't think I should have at a moving target. It's my first big game hunt and I was worried about it being injured and getting away. Anyways, it beds down a second time within eye shot of me. 80 yards at this point. I look at the time and there's 3 minutes of legal shooting and there's no way I can reload and shoot a third time. I just watch it and I can see him get up and slowly walk towards some trees (it was walking pretty slow). I just sit there for another 10 minutes and decide to back out and not bump it again. So I walk the opposite direction. I just got back to camp. It was clearly injured. I'm going back first thing in the morning and spending all day to look for it. Based off the description of the events, do you guys think it'll be in the same general area? Do you think it's a gut shot? And what's the best way to track this thing down? How should I go about it? What could I have changed besides aim better? I'm not sure I can even sleep tonight!

 

[turbobrick]

Where are you hunting? It might be worth checking out if there is a UBT member nearby who can help. I might look for blood and see if you can find him in the AM, if he was bedding that quickly he probably is dead now, you just need to find him. Sending good vibes your way, best of luck.

 

[ismith]

Go slow, mark the blood trail and good luck.

 

[FrontRangeDude]

Where are you hunting? It might be worth checking out if there is a UBT member nearby who can help. I might look for blood and see if you can find him in the AM, if he was bedding that quickly he probably is dead now, you just need to find him. Sending good vibes your way, best of luck.

I hope so. I'm trying to stay optimistic.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Sounds like a decent hit. I'm guessing he is gonna be piled up in the general area you last saw him. You made the right move backing out until morning.