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ThermaCELL, Alpine Archery, Grim Reaper Broadheads, ATSKO, Heartland Wildlife Institute, Cass Creek Game Calls, Back Mountain Outdoor Products,Sticks N Limbs Camouflage, Leupold Optics and Primos/Double Bull Blinds.
I paced around the kitchen, waiting for enough daylight outside to take up the trail from last night. Robbie Cramer and John Askew joined me and we walked out to the flagging ribbon where the last blood was. We found some more.
The buck had changed directions and headed west, and down the hill. The trail was not a good one, smallsh drops on the leaves. The drops ran out.
I texted my buddy Bill Don Van Cleave, “Is Tater busy today?” Billy Don called me back right away. He could come and would leave asap. We pulled out and went back to the house to wait until he arrived.
Two hours later Billy Don and his Jack Russell expert tracking dog arrived. I showed Tater where I shot the buck.
Tater took up the trail right away and followed it right to where we lost it. Tater continued 50 yards to the bottom of the hill and stopped at the fence that separated my woods from the adjacent wheat field.
Tater went under the fence a few yards and came back. Then he turned east and continued along the fence. But this time Tater wasn’t zeroed in an a trail, instead he zig zaged along, more searching than tracking.
Billy Don brought Tater back to the last blood and we discussed what to do. Tater can do more than track, if the buck was laying anywhere within 100 yards of him he could smell him and would go right to him. We decided to work the hill in two passes. No buck.
The wheat field had been mowed this week and if he was in the field we could see him. We didn’t see anything. On the far side of the field there is a river and there are woods along it. We went there and had Tater check it out. Nothing.
We worked the hillside on the neighboring properties, a mile to the east and almost that to the west. Nothing.
Then we made several passes through the rest of my property. Again, nothing.
We searched for hours and eventually ran out of daylight. The next day I looked for hours with no results.
We had combed the area, and if he was there Tater would have smelled and found him. My hit had looked crummy, hardly any penetration, and the blood trail was sparse. We found the arrow on the ground and it had blood on the broadhead and a couple of inches up the shaft.
One thing both Billy Don and I believed, the Double Brow Tine buck was not in any of the places where Tater had looked.
But the last thing in the world I wanted to do was wound this unique buck. And I had.
I was sick about it.
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