4-23-09

Jim Samis brought me an intriguing idea after watching our recent shed hunting show in which we found both Chad's buck and the big one I hit in November dead.  These deer were hit fairly solidly, just in the wrong place.  The shed hunters found the carcasses well away from where Chad and I hit those bucks.  The deer probably died directly from the arrow wounds.  However, Jim brings up an interesting possibility.  He mentioned that he has seen bucks that were hit and survived only to be taken out by other bucks while still in thier weakened condition as much as several days later.  He witnessed it happen recently. 

That got me to thinking and I quickly recalled a similar incident from my youth.  I was helping a guy blood trail a six pointer he had shot that morning.  In those days, around 1990, we basically made this stuff up as we went along.  We didn't know what we were doing half the time.  We decided it would be wise for Jeff (the hunter) to loop around the point and set up in a downed tree along the edge of the timber in the direction the buck was going in case he was still alive and we bumped him.

So Jeff looped ahead about 300 yards and we set off blood trailing in the fresh snow.  The buck wasn't bleeding much.  In fact, we spent most of our time trailing him by his tracks rather than by bright blood that should have shown up well in the white powder.  Obviously, he was not hit very hard.  When we finally got within sight of Jeff's tree, he came running up to us breathless with a big time story to tell.

"I was sitting in the blow down when a big ten pointer showed up below me in the ditch," he said.  "I was sure wishing I hadn't shot the small buck then.  Just about that time I spotted the six pointer coming around the side of the hill toward the ditch.  He must have been moving ahead of you.  The ten pointer saw him too and charged out of the ditch, hit the buck head-on and launched him 15 feet through the air.  He then ran over and gored him to death.  He was still standing over the six pointer when you guys started to come over the hill.  He saw you and ran off."

Sounded like a tall tale until we went over to investigate.  Sure enough, there lay the buck all torn up and you could see the story in the snow where he had indeed been knocked staggering to his doom at the antlers of the big old ten pointer.

If the six pointer had been healthy it is certain that he would have run at the first sight of the ten pointer and that would have been the end of the confrontation.  But he was weakened and slowed by his injury and that was all it took for the big buck to gain a quick advantage and rip him to shreds!

Nature is very cruel.  These animals don't have emotions of sympathy or compassion.  They simply react to the situation at hand and their instinct tells the dominant bucks (and those vying for dominance) that they should take out any competitor that will stand around long enough to let them.  It is the way of the woods.  I'm sure you have seen turkeys instantly rip into a fallen comarade as soon as he hits the ground.  Seemingly they were brothers one moment and then trying to kill each other the next - as soon as the slightest weakness appeared, the others pounced.  It is the same with deer in many ways.

I don't know how many bucks die at the antlers of other bucks because they were weakened by injuries from arrows or bullets, but it is certainly more than zero.  Something to at least ponder as you wile away this spring day waiting for next season.  That knowledge won't make you a better deer hunter, but it is at least interesting and gave me something to write about this morning.

Have a great day.