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Bow hunting in WV

Started by WV Sawmiller, October 19, 2015, 10:55:55 PM

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WV Sawmiller

  After a real nice weekend hunting and fish with my oldest granddaughter I got up early this a.m. and took my bow to my stand. Was about 27 degrees but warmed up to mid 60s by afternoon. Beautiful Fall foliage in WV. Sitting in my stand reading old western when I heard deer coming so grabbed my bow when a big doe walked out about 20 yards away. Drew and shot from my chair and felt and sounded like a good hit but after reasonable wait I went to look and no arrow and no blood. looked all over several times but no luck.

   Started out crossing and re-crossing several trails and finally found fresh blood but lost the trail so went home for help. Left my bow and came back with Sampson my Rat Terrier on a lead. He was excited looking for chipmunks and squirrels. Seemed interested in the blood but kept looking for rodents. I finally found a spot then another until I hit the trail. Opposite  direction from where I thought she went. She had walked up to an old logging road and after a hundred yards or so Sampson finally picked up on the fact we were trailing blood so he strained on the leash and took off. I was happy to see blood where he was trailing so we speeded up. A couple hundred yard further we found her bedded down under a tree top. She got up and arrow still in her and ran but fell and could not get up so while Sampson bayed her I finished her off. She was not 50 yards from where I had parked my 4 wheeler.

   Down the hill and checked her in (I like this new electronic deer check in WV started this year!), then skinned her and largely boned her out. Will finish the hams and shoulders tomorrow I guess. She weighed 125 lbs live weight but if you'd asked me while I was struggling to get her up on ATV I'd have sworn she was an elk.  A fresh killed limp deer is harder to load than a sack full of Jello.

   I was real happy with Sampson. I need to get him in the woods more. He is a first rate Catfish dog and loves to bark at them but needs more work on furry critters.


 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

beenthere

WV S
Nice one, and good on the dog for helping. They sure have a way of tuning in on what the job is at hand.

Last night I took a nice doe too. Scale registered 130 120# and turned out to be a 2½ yr old (looks like we have the same scale).
Hit her high and in the spine.. Had to finish her with a knife.. flailing hooves and all. But used the loader bucket holding her down for the final event.  Rather get a better shot and not have to do it that way.
Didn't know if I could get to her with the tractor so had a rope along to lasso her and tie her to a tree. That worked for me once before, so thought it might have to be tried again.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

WV Sawmiller

Beenthere,

   Are you talking live weight on your deer or field dressed? I almost never field dress mine because I am so close to home and I find it much easier to skin when whole. In fact, I find it is easier to de-bone lots of the meat (brisket area, base of the neck which has been removed and such) before I even gut them.

   I bought my spring scales in Saudi in a local souk when I was working there. Got some real nice back to back meat hooks like the local butchers used I use if I have to hang one overnight.

   This is first deer I have had to track in a long time and was surprised she went that far and was still alive. I think the arrow may have hit a twig and hit her further back than I was aiming but it still quartered forward through the lungs. Normally the arrow passes completely through. I think the fact the arrow remained in her help slow some of the bleeding. The head had come out and broken off but the shaft was still in her.

   Anyway I was real proud of Sampson. He has real potential and is a real neat little buddy to pal around with.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

beenthere

WV
That was gutted weight... but typo and was 120#, not 130.

Picked up that scale at an auction... Has good heavy hooks on it for weighing deer.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

WV Sawmiller

BT,

   Looks like you have much bigger deer up there than we do here. I'd guess field dressing removed 30-40 lbs or more from live weight (depending on how many acorns, or seeing you are in Wisconsin, how much corn she had just eaten).

   I have an ancient German Shepherd who ate the entire liver, heart and lungs. On the last bite she studied it a long time to determine if she could choke it down. The old dog has no teeth, is half blind and can hardly walk so it is a pleasure to be able to feed her a special treat like that once in a  while. She will still periodically take a spell and roll around an old cut off locust log in the yard or carry around a 3' board and scrape the fence with it so there still a little quality of life there.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

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