The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Have you ever shot & lost big game animal?

Wyoredman · October 12, 2012, 09:34 AM

I did lose a deer once. The only white tail I have ever shot.

We were horseback on a local mountain that is known to hold large Muleys when two very nice white tail bucks jump from the sage and begin running up the hill.

I bail off the horse, pull my .300 Win Mag from the scabbard, take aim squeeze, and the larger deer falls! Yeah! My first WT deer, and it is a nice one!

As I unload my rifle, and start to put it back in the scabbard, the deer begins sliding down the hill (very steep) head first. As I am getting back on the horse, the deer's antlers catch on a sagebrush, flip it around, and the deer jumps to it's feet and runs over the ridge!

I am dumbfounded! My friend and I race the horses to the spot where the buck went down. We find lots of blood and some hair were it had been sliding down the hill. We reached the top of the ridge just in time to see the buck jumping a fence on the next ridge over.

We trailed that deer for the next 4 hrs until it got dark. We came back the next morning and tracked it another two miles till it crossed onto a ranch we did not have permission to trespass on and we had to give up!

I was sick. I have never had a shot at another WT since. Those are some tough animals!

P.S. The rancher that had his land closed later told me he found a large WT dead in his hay medow the next spring. COuld it have been my buck?

October 12, 2012, 09:34 AM	#14
Wyoredman Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 1,350	I did lose a deer once. The only white tail I have ever shot. We were horseback on a local mountain that is known to hold large Muleys when two very nice white tail bucks jump from the sage and begin running up the hill. I bail off the horse, pull my .300 Win Mag from the scabbard, take aim squeeze, and the larger deer falls! Yeah! My first WT deer, and it is a nice one! As I unload my rifle, and start to put it back in the scabbard, the deer begins sliding down the hill (very steep) head first. As I am getting back on the horse, the deer's antlers catch on a sagebrush, flip it around, and the deer jumps to it's feet and runs over the ridge! I am dumbfounded! My friend and I race the horses to the spot where the buck went down. We find lots of blood and some hair were it had been sliding down the hill. We reached the top of the ridge just in time to see the buck jumping a fence on the next ridge over. We trailed that deer for the next 4 hrs until it got dark. We came back the next morning and tracked it another two miles till it crossed onto a ranch we did not have permission to trespass on and we had to give up! I was sick. I have never had a shot at another WT since. Those are some tough animals! P.S. The rancher that had his land closed later told me he found a large WT dead in his hay medow the next spring. COuld it have been my buck? __________________ Go Pokes! Go Rams!