Fantastic stuff... Way to end the year on a high note. Congratulations to the 3 of you.

Ok abolt here you go….this morning’s story…………

So we get there this morning and start talking more about what happened and what they had found the night before. It turns out they had found some bone while tracking so I assumed we were gonna be dealing with a leg shot. We started tracking and both dogs were progressing the track pretty well. It wasn’t a wide open track but it was a pretty steady walk for most of the ways. We went past the 300 yard mark where they had lost blood and progressed the track on out to about 600 yards farther where I heard Otis go on bay out ahead of us.

The undergrowth was really thick in the area where the deer had bedded so we had to sneak in really close. Once I spotted Otis….I got down on my hands and knees and started scanning the undergrowth. Finally spotted the buck about 20 yards away but he was behind a lot of brush. I took aim at the cleanest looking hole and fired…..Boom!!!.....He took off with Otis hot on his arse. Otis has a much more excited, high pitched bark he lets out when the deer takes off like that. There they went…Yep!!! Yep!!! Yep!!! Yep!!!!......

We took off behind them!....About 100 yards away Otis bayed him up again. We eased in and this time I could see through an opening to the deer’s body…..Boom!!!!!.....but the deer took off again!!....Otis took off with him and they broke out into a small hayfield. I could hear him on bay again and when I got to the edge of the woodline I could see them squared off about 60-70 yards out in the field with the deer facing me. Otis cleared and fired again…..Boom!!!!.....but the deer took off again!!!!!

They just made inside the woodline and Otis stopped him a 4th time. I’m not even sneaking anymore at this point and I run into the bay with the deer facing right at me……Boom!!!!!!.....But on this shot he comes running right at me with his head plowing the ground and his back feet just giving it hell. He was damn near at point blank range coming at me when I pretty much just pointed the gun at him and……Boooom!!!!.....He slid to a stop about 5 ft in front of me. You wanna talk about an adrenaline rush…..Holy chit man.




When we found the buck, he looked like swiss cheese. I had hit him at least 4 of the 5 times….we never could decide for sure if it was 4 or 5…..with most of them being pretty solid hits but way too far back for where you would normally want to shoot them. I was just having to take what I had. It’s blows my mind the way the deer was able to keep running off. The funny thing after examining the shots was that there was only one leg hit that would have been the original hit. We finally determined that the hunter had blew his foot off the evening before. This deer was a sitting duck for the yotes fellas. I’ve said this before but if I can bay him up with a dog the size of Otis then the yotes definitely can too.




Here’s a pic that does his body size a little more justice. Look at the size of his neck. I’ve helped drag a good many of them over the years and I have no doubt that this one was 220+ lbs…I’m probably lowballing that…..He was a sho nuff grown man. That was the final shot in his neck you see.

See.....now that's what we've been waiting on. ha ha. Great job. Congrats on both the finds.

I like your philosophy of just getting additional lead in them once you get them bayed, regardless of shot selection. That will probably up your recovery rate substantially. At the end of the day, he's already hurt and the more you can hurt him, the better your chance of recovering him and not losing him to the water, property lines, highways, yotes, etc. I'm all about taking the best shot possible and being as humane as possible but in the end, I think it is about slowing him down enough to be able finish him.

You giving the dogs a break tomorrow or are you still open for business one final day?

You never know for sure how many chances you might have to put another round in him. He may break bay and be gone. We're open for business until the last minutes........but to be honest, I won't be disappointed if no one calls. I'm ready to call it a season and start planting trees.

Great stuff CNC. Thanks for sharing all your stories.

Cool stuff. Glad y'all got him.

An old SOOS?

Thanks fellas!


Timbercruiser........The landowner had a little history with this buck over the last couple years and said he thinks the SOOS is due to an old injury. He said he had seen him several times in the past and said that he always had a funny walk that favored the off side leg from the big spike.

Hellofa tracking story with a great ending.

This has been a fun thread to follow all year.

I've enjoyed the tales from CNC of Otis and Shelby.

Thanks Cuz and top cat… …It was awesome to be able to end the season that way. That's probably the most exciting track we've been on to date.

I know I’ve talked about this subject at least a half dozen times and I’ve probably come up with just about as many different gun choices for what would be ideal for me to carry tracking……..but I think THIS TIME I may finally know what gun I need…….The Marlin 1894 Guide Gun in 45-70…….From what I can tell, it’s basically my Marlin 30-30 I'm shooting now but with a lot more arse. You can shoot 300 gr bullets out of the 45-70 versus the 170 gr I'm using in the 30-30. I’m thinking that the extra knock down power may really help in these situations where I have less than ideal shots. Either my first or second shot yesterday hit that deer solid through the middle of its gut area and he just toted it off like he hadn’t even been hit. He was still squaring off with Otis and trying to charge at him when they were in the hayfield after taking one right through the body.

Hmmmm…..something to ponder over this summer.

Great way to end the season. I really enjoy following this thread. Thanks for taking the time to write the stories.


The 45/70 will do a number on an Alabama whitetail. One of the lever mfgrs makes a carbine with a 16.5 inch barrel. I think that would be awesome in some of the tight places you crawl in to.

Looking forward to next seasons tales.

Do any trackers use something like a 20 ga slug gun? Just seems like my turkey gun with a ff3 and a slug or some number 6 TSS from 60 yards and/or running would fold one up!

Thanks, I appreciate it.

From talking to some of the other trackers.....it sounds about like every gun in the world has been tried at one point in time. I guess everyone just settles with what they feel the most comfortable with. I'm really comfortable shooting a little lever action gun....I just think I would benefit from a little more knock down power than my 30-30 is giving me.

I’ve followed the thread since the beginning and it’s always entertaining and informative. I can’t believe it’s over!!!

I hear you. It’s kind of bittersweet. As much as I’m glad its over for a while, I’m still a sad to see it go.

Well fellas….. I guess that’s gonna be about all she wrote for this year’s tales. Thanks again for all the positive comments over the last few months. Hope to see some of y’all in May at this year’s tracking convention.