PoisonSnake's Surprise......

[hobiecat]

Congrats PS.

Was that bow or muzzleloader?

[PoisonSnake]

Rifle. That is the one that I lost 2 weeks back. I found him the last Saturday of ML season. I nearly puked cutting his head off.

[2BHNTN]

Very Nice. Congrats on your buck PS.

[hobiecat]

I assume he was still on the HFA? How far had he gone? How close from where you'd lost him? Was the shot as bad as you thought? I'm guessin the cape had a few "chew marks" on it (like maybe Bobcat?)?...

Oh hell, just tell the story!

[PoisonSnake]

He was on the HFA when I found him. But, when I last saw him he was on adjacent property. That is when I realized he was better than I had initially thought. As you guys know, the deer got up after I had initally shot him and he took off running. Then, I caught up with him and shot twice more at him. That is when I could see the right side of his rack and the spread. I saw another deer and took off up the hill again to no avail. I came back down and this deer got up right where I had walked/ran 5 minutes prior. He began walking away and I grunted to stop him. It was too brushy for a 4th shot so I didn't take it. I took my gun down and never saw him again. I had no clue which way he ran. So, I went to the top of the hill and saw a deer. I assumed it to be him. I then went and called the local agent and the landowner and got permission to search the next day. It had rained 3 or 4 inches and then it snowed 4 inches. So, I was just searching for deer. I found nothing at all. Where this deer was found was along a creek that runs through the HFA. I don't know if he had gotten in the creek upstream and washed down or if he had just gone the opposite of what I thought originally. Anyway, water in there was over waist deep where the creek was out of it's banks. So, we could look down in there, but there was no way to really find him down there. The creek itself was raging. So, I looked a couple of times from up on a bluff on the HFA down into that bottom, but I never saw anything. I hunted in there the first Sunday of ML season and that last Saturday morning. That afternoon, I decided to sit on the ground over next to the creek itself. I saw a rack sticking up and went down there. Man was it a mess. I can't even explain how nasty it was. I had to drag the carcass into the creek just to cut it off so I didn't puke. Then, a neighbor and I cut the rack off the head. He helped me look for the deer 2 weeks prior. He thinks it is the deer he missed the Friday of rifle season. I can tell you I was happy as can be to find him. I have made a very bold statement in that I am now going to try and go bow-only in MO from here on out. This left a very bad taste in my mouth. But, if I go to Canada, I may rifle hunt first.



Oh, and he was about 300 yards from where I last saw him.

[Limbshot]

Glad you found him. Congrats!

[RB]

That is a beauty PS. Congratulations on finding him.

[PoisonSnake]

I didn't bother even checking. The left shoulder was mangled by coyotes, so I may have hit him there the first shot. I couldn't tell anything after that. My second shot all I had was a shot back in the ribs. You can rest assured I didn't hit him the last shot, which was at the neck. I've been doing the big buck strut for 3 days now. I'll show the big buck strut to you guys one of these days. It is kindof like the thruster, only a bit more cool.

[hunting170]

Very nice buck, PS. That must be a load off your mind. Congrats.

btw...is that your 160? If not it`s awfully close.

[PoisonSnake]

I think if the left and right side matched, it would be very close. But, the left side is considerably smaller than the right. I'm guessing right at 140" give or take.

[hunting170]

It`ll go 140" without the brow tines and G-4s!

[lonepine]

good buck PS, glad you found him. time to get the bow

[PoisonSnake]

Well, I haven't taped it. I know it is gonna get good H measurements. The spread is a little over 18 inches, but that doesn't contribute much.

[Great White Hunter]

Won't score as much as mine.....no that I'm bragging or anything.

[counts]

I've seen better.