I shot my first buck ever yesterday. It was a little yearling spike, nothing really to write home about as far as bucks go. I have taken a number of does, as I hunt mainly for the table, and with small kids at home, I don't have the time to invest to outsmart a wily trophy buck. I usually shoot the first legal adult deer I see. This was my fifth deer of the current season, so the freezer is pretty well stocked. But MCB Quantico's firearms season is bucks-only for the most part, so I found myself staring at a nice sized doe in the open, with two other deer lingering behind in heavy brush, waiting to see if they would emerge and if either of them had antlers. I caught a glimpse of a decent rack on one, so I figured I would wait them out. Finally the other deer came out of the brush and went over to sniff around the tail end of the doe. It was a spike buck. I could still see the larger buck through the brush; he did not present a clean shot, but I thought I would wait. Then the wind changed and gusted from behind me. All three deer froze and the two in the open stared hard straight in my direction. The buck in the brush disappeared deeper into cover. I figured I had better take the spike or go home empty handed.

I shot him broadside and he went straight down and did not move. Usually with my slug gun that means they are finished moving, so I did not give him much time to die. I just took a couple minutes to collect my stuff and then walked towards him. I could see him lying still in the open, exactly where I had shot him. I walked towards him, and danged if he didn't jump up and bound off into the brush like nothing had happened. I cursed myself for being impatient, sat down and thought about what to do next. Sunset was coming and it looked pretty thick where he had run off to. I spent about 10 minutes thinking about it and then decided I had better at least go look for blood before I lost the light. I walked over to where he had fallen and traced his path into the brush, and could not find a drop of blood anywhere. What's worse, I looked into the brush and realized it was thicker and thornier than I had imagined. It was basically a solid mass of heavy thorned briars with a warren of deer trails carved in it. I had no blood to follow but I knew exactly where the deer had entered. I also heard a brief bit of crashing in the briars and thought it was probably him. I pushed into the briar patch and forced my way about 30-40 feet into it, at which point I realized I had zero chance, without any actual sign to follow, of finding anything in this mess. I was in a fight for my life just to get back out of this stuff without ripping my clothes off. It was like trying to bulldoze a path through concertina wire. I started circling back towards the clearing, just following whatever path of least resistance would get me out of the thorns. Then about 10 feet in front of me, the spike buck sprang up out of the thorns, ran about 10 more feet away, and lay down again in plain sight. My shot was off; it missed the lungs and went through his liver, and he was hurt too badly to run any further. I put a finishing shot through his lungs and backed off a few minutes to let him expire in peace.

I ended up finding him less than 50 yards from where I shot him. I guess one lesson I learned is that I need to practice more and make cleaner lung shots with my slug gun. This shot was at about 100 yards, which is about as far as I take shots with my shotgun. But another thing I learned is that there are pros and cons to waiting a deer out after the shot before you track him. If that buck had died before I entered the brush, I could have passed within about 6 feet of him and never found him. The only reason I found him at all was that he moved and gave himself away. On the other hand, if he had been hurt less badly, I might have pushed him off and lost him for good. I guess what I would do next time when the deer drops in the open is give it a good half hour before I approach, even if it looks like it's finished, and maybe avoid having to go into the brush after it at all.

Ed

Congrats on your first buck. Are you sure it was a liver shot and not a gut shot? In my experince when I get liver shots which happens mainly in bow. Which I prefer a lung and liver bc they bleed out rapidly and alot of it. Makes tracking very easy. Last year during riffe I decided not to check my scope and seemed like every deer I shot was a slight gut. Not a ton of blood and they would lay down and then get up as I approach and run 20 yds and lay down. Would keep repeating till I finished them off. Come to find out my wife had dropped my riffle and forgot to tell me. So it was slightly off to the left. I have shot deer with my bow that sends there guts completly out of there stomach and they act the same exact way as you have described. You will hear alot of us on here talk about how even when we know where the deer come to a rest its still good to track bc you can always learn something. For example for every deer I have killed for the past few years I keep notes on every track. Color of blood, direction they ran, and actual damage done to the deer. When I get a deer home and instead of just gutting and start slicing away I dang near give them an autopsy haha. I keep track of what kind of damage it acgually done. This stuff comes handy when you shoot a big buck and become lost on what to do or even a doe. I have friends call me when they have lost a trail and I look through my notes and give the best advice possible. Every kill is a learning experince just like every hunt is. Especially this yr with the acorns. I have never witnessed this in my lifetime. So its good for my notes and a huge learning experience. Best of luck and shoot straight my friend.

Congrats Ed! 50 yard recovery sounds like a pretty good shot....don't be too hard on yourself. Sounds like you're having a great year!

armyguy, thanks for the tips. I harvested his liver and he had a hole straight through it. There was tons of internal bleeding that poured out when I opened him up, but unlike most of my 12-gauge slug shots I did not find any blood sign on the ground, even around the spot where I had seen him lying after he was hit. I was really discouraged and thought I had lost him for sure until I lucked out and flushed him in the briars.

It has been a good season for venison; the acorn shortage is forcing them out into the open to eat grass, and I've seen deer emerging from the woods to graze as early as noon. Heading out to hunt in the afternoons, I have often bumped deer off the fields because they were already out grazing before I got in my stand. At later hours, I have seen as many as 20 deer in a big field at one time. I have one more tag to fill and I'm debating whether to hold out for a trophy buck or just knock down another doe when it's available so I can close the books on deer season and concentrate on turkeys.

Good job and the persistence paid off..Nicely done

Congrats Ed - a good season continues for you.

Congrats!

Good job Ed. A trophy well earned. I think several lessons to be gleaned, one, approach a fallen deer as if he isn't dead. I always have a round in the chamber and am ready to fire. Liver shots are usually quite fatal, maybe should of waited another few minutes and he would have died in place. The only reason I can pass on these lessons is I have done it all wrong at one time or another.

Glad you stuck with it and found the deer. Many would of walked away. If the freezer is full, maybe you should wait for big buck. To me it is the process, not the product that makes hunting great! Sitting in a stand waiting and anticipating a yet unimagined adventure. Whatever you decide have fun!

Vic