Well, I had not anticipated this at all. I ended up with a doe in the freezer and my pond scored two deer for the season. I ran out of time to get this posted earlier so here is the story.

While cutting up my buck late one afternoon I heard the dogs barking so I looked out the window expecting to see someone had pulled up to the house but there was no vehicle to be seen. I went back to work on the meat and again, dogs barking. This time I went out on the porch. I finally saw my terrier was out at the pond barking at something. I went and got my binos. The position of the sun set at this time of the year is pretty much over my pond when standing on the porch so it is hard to see. I finally made out that there was a deer swimming around in the pond. WTF!

I watched it for a few minutes and quickly could tell there was something wrong with it so I made the assumption someone shot it and it got away. I called the dog off and it got out of the pond and onto the bank. Sho-nuff I could see a big wound on the point of one shoulder and neck on the side facing me. It was chore time so I went to get my stock fed and put up for the evening and then got the tractor and my 10/22 and drove out there. The doe was now lying down on the berm and I stopped about 35 yards away and put a single shot in the head behind the ear.

In examining the doe I could tell right away this was not a fresh wound. She had been shot and was probably hiding in my woods out there and came out when thirst got to her and probably fever from the wound. I decided to process her and hoped the meat would not be sour. I called in my landowner tag in and hauled her up to my shop building and gutted and skinned in the dark. Her gut was empty which told me she had been wounded more than one day ago. I have 'new' neighbors that own a property on my west border. The guys on my south and east sides don't hunt does. Anyway, the point of the left shoulder was destroyed and also part of the neck. The humerus bone completely shattered. There was no puss in the wounds and no smell to the carcass at all but that quarter was discarded for dog food. I put the doe up in my fridge to age a bit and then got it put up in the freezer before leaving to visit family for Thanksgiving week. I grilled the heart and there was no off taste so I am assuming the rest will be okay to eat.

So two deer for me this season. I don't hunt the does here as deer numbers are not enormous in my area. The people next door never came looking for their wounded deer. That makes me sad. I sure hope they were not just shooting everything they saw and being so careless. I know wounding happens but most people do look for their deer. Never saw anyone tracking over there at all. Hope the meat will be good.

It's hard to tell on the photos but there are two wounds, in the shoulder and the neck. I am not sure which was the entry/exit. Very poor shot IMO.

Hi Ann:
Main thing is you put her out of misery.
Good for you and the dogs.

Hopefully the meat is still good too so it don't
all go to waste.

Might be time to have a visit next door about things in general and shooting does etc.

Thanks for sharing,

George

Good job Ann,

Many years ago I used my non-resident antelope tag to put a wounded yearling antelope buck down. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

I hate waste for sure. If the meat turns out yucky I will feed my dogs well.

quote:

Might be time to have a visit next door about things in general and shooting does etc.

I have noticed that most people who only have some small parcel of land to just hunt on (they do not live out here)- they are not as concerned over the impact of relentless harvest.

Just because you have 20-30 acres and set several hunters on it that have 3 or more tags doesn't make sense for the future years for good harvest. There's no crop ag out here so deer numbers are not what they are in corn and bean country. The previous owners of this parcel did the same thing. Shot everything they saw. If it didn't DRT they never looked for it and just kept on hunting and shooting all.

I wish I could have bought that property when it was up for sale.