4 yr story has happy ending

[sugarcreekbrass]

This story begins back in the early fall of 2011. I had gotten some trail pics of a monster 10 pt. Finally on Nov. 15th I see the deer in person. He is cruising by, but I am able to get a shot off with the muzzle loader. He kicks and runs off into a thicket. I get down and find blood and then another 20 yds I bump him. I had no shot as he runs off. A friend went back a few hours later and we follow blood for a while then lose the trail. A couple other guys go look for me the next day but no luck. After I got off work, I go to check a big ravine and see him. He tries hobbling off so I run and try to circle around him. He never showed and I never saw him again. Fast forward... This past week while talking to another guy who hunts the same property we start talking about some of the bucks in the area. I was telling him my story about the buck I lost and he says I'm describing one he has hanging on his wall. "Do what!!!" He explains that while mushroom hunting following spring he found a skeleton of a big buck laying in a small stream. He took it home and had a European mount done. He said I was welcome to stop by to look at it. I had sent him the trail pics I had it and he sent a pick of the rack. We were both sure it was the buck I shot. I was finally able to check it out today and it was the one. After talking a while I ask how much it would cost for me to take it home. At this point I have no idea if he will be generous or a jerk and want to keep it. He told me he had $130 in the camo dip and just wanted his money back. I was more than excited. I couldn't get the money out fast enough. I am so thankful that this guy was so genuine and willing to part with the rack after 4 yrs. So, yes, there are still good guys out there. I was finally able to put a happy ending to this story. He is my biggest deer with a gross score in the mid 160s. Needless to say, this is one of the best days ever.

 

[Hookeye]

Glad you're happy.

IMHO it's not a trophy unless you recovered/tagged it.

Lost deer found too late..............should stay in the field.

Punishment for poor marksmanship.

 

[bocefus78]

^wow.

Op, glad it came back to you! I would get that guy a xmas gift. People like that are becoming hard to find nowadays.

 

[Hookeye]

No "wow".

IMHO ....

One must legally tag the deer to claim success.

Lost is lost. If one doesn't find it in a day or so, it becomes property of mother nature.
Find it after that.........leave it.

Not sure about time span legalities in finding a rack.

It is cool somebody else found and salvaged it. And the two parties involved were able to put an end to the story.

But IMHO the finder should have retained the rack, since he didn't shoot it.

Offering it up was indeed a noble gesture.

More noble would have been to decline.



Alas...........hunting is different things to different people.

 

[Clay]

Lol what was it my momma used to say about if you can't say anything nice. .....

Congrats to the OP! I'm glad you're happy! Good story! Thanks for sharing

 

[308jake]

Glad you're happy.

IMHO it's not a trophy unless you recovered/tagged it.

Lost deer found too late..............should stay in the field.

Punishment for poor marksmanship.

Did he ask for your opinion? The OP was posting so that we could all share in his "best" day. Then you had to come along all Debby Downer like raining on his parade. IMHO, you should keep your opinion to yourself unless it is asked for.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Glad you're happy.

IMHO it's not a trophy unless you recovered/tagged it.

Lost deer found too late..............should stay in the field.

Punishment for poor marksmanship.

Lol, Hookeye, you kill me, but I understand the sentiment.
OP congrats, but I don't think the guy would've been a jerk if he had declined your offer.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Did he ask for your opinion? The OP was posting so that we could all share in his "best" day. Then you had to come along all Debby Downer like raining on his parade. IMHO, you should keep your opinion to yourself unless it is asked for.

You new here or something?

 

[Woobie]

Cool story, OP. It's neat to see things come full circle like that.

 

[Hookeye]

One could play the "coyote game" to take more than one rack per season.
Not sure about time span/legalities of recovery.
Salvage is not sport.

 

[MRP2003]

Congrats. As long as everyone is happy and no laws were broken, then its a great story.

Understand Hookeye's point of view but sometimes its best to keep your opinions to yourself.

Have a friend who shot a monster, scored over 200. He shot is but could not find it that evening. Came back 3 days later to find yotes chewing on it. We still give him grief about finding a deer in the woods and claiming as his own even though he was the only one that hunts that area for a mile and the buck ended up just over a little hill 80 yards from his stand. Everyone knows it was the buck he shot but it still bothers him a little when we poke fun of him a little about it.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

Thanks for the comments and opinions. Just to clarify, I didn't shoot another buck as hookeye suggests that many do. I was so sick about not finding the buck I didn't even hunt much the rest of the season. Had I found it anytime during season I would have put my tag on it. Despite some opinions here, I am an honest and ethical person and hunter. If I wasn't then I would be a hypocritical hunter education instructor. But I don't need to defend that to anyone here. The Good Lord Almighty knows the truth and that's all that matters. Opinions are fine, good or bad, b/c they are opinions. I guess most of us here will never meet the expectations of others regardless of what we do!

 

[Goodcat]

What a cool story! Like a long lost friend. A different than most hunting story for sure!

 

[Fargo]

Very cool you got it back! The dude who found it must be a heck of a guy.

 

[natdscott]

...I am an honest and ethical person and hunter. ...But I don't need to defend that to anyone here. ...I guess most of us here will never meet the expectations of others regardless of what we do!

Boom.

-Nate

 

[Hookeye]

I do not know the legalities of rack salvage.
If in season I would expect a tag required.
No doubt some folks will shoot and lose a buck, pop another and then find the 1st one after deer season ends.
Would think that if a tag was burned on another deer, then the lost deer has to stay afield no matter what.
And I'm sure with lots of people wanting bigger antlers, some "buyer's remorse" happens.......some folks playing the system (should such a system exist).

My ethics state a lost deer stays lost. Even if located late........even if one considered it a tag punched and burned theirs as punishment.
One and done. No trophy status in salvage.

You find somebody else's deer............do what you want. That's just a "find".

I shot a scrub buck, from the ground, with recurve, public ground. Hit right behind the shoulder but clipped it and got about 7" of penetration.Deer ran into 100 acre CRP. Blood stopped 50 yards from CRP.

Looked 3 days, burned a lot of time and gas. Nothing.

Coyote hunted same area after a snow knocked down the CRP. Told bud we should look for the deer one last time.......snow was mostly burned off. Went to last blood spot (knew it from tree off the treeline). Cut down across fire trail and boom............saw the bones, and rack.

Did I spot and stalk and kill a buck on public ground by traditional gear?

Nope.

I made a good shot but lost the deer...........I FAILED. The shot was good, the deer died quickly........but I failed as a hunter to recover/tag my animal.

I FAILED.

No reward for that. In fact I think it should be permanent cause of upset.

But today we give ribbons for last place. Times have changed.

 

[Hookeye]

Do think if one makes a good shot on an animal, and somebody else takes it.....that they could with clear conscience pop another.
The deer was lost through no fault of their own.
Small parcel hunting, sometimes the neighbors are jerks.
Plus there can be trespassers.............lost a doe to two trespassers. Double lunged. Dead on my side of fence. Me with MZ and two creeps with shotguns.......I wasn't going to try to make them give me my deer. I was outgunned.
Stuff happens.
Lost and stolen are different.

 

[cschwanz]

Hookeye, we get it. You are a better hunter and bigger man than any of us. Quit crapping on this guy's thread.

OP, glad you got some closure on your buck. Sucks you lost him during the season but kinda cool to see a story come full circle.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Hookeye, we get it. You are a better hunter and bigger man than any of us. Quit crapping on this guy's thread.

OP, glad you got some closure on your buck. Sucks you lost him during the season but kinda cool to see a story come full circle.

He didn't imply any of that. He just illustrating an opinion that many hunters (at least the old school ones) have. He's comparatively tame to some other guys I know. My grandfather, who loved to drag me deer hunting (which I hate), would have used every four letter word in the book if he had lost that buck. And if he found it a season later, he would have he would have cursed some more, said a lot of "dagnabit" and "bullhockey" made me go get a hacksaw, and cut off the antlers.

 

[cschwanz]

He didn't imply any of that. He just illustrating an opinion that many hunters (at least the old school ones) have. He's comparatively tame to some other guys I know. My grandfather, who loved to drag me deer hunting (which I hate), would have used every four letter word in the book if he had lost that buck. And if he found it a season later, he would have he would have cursed some more, said a lot of "dagnabit" and "bullhockey" made me go get a hacksaw, and cut off the antlers.

It was a generalization of his posting history here, not just this thread.

And yea my dad would be the same way. I've seen him lose a couple deer when I was younger and it wasn't pretty when he finally had to give up. He certainly instilled in me a very severs drive to make sure I do my best not to waste anything if I can help it. Been lucky so far, but bad shots will happen eventually to everyone