Sam's last adventure of 2025

[sabmgb]

Well back about a week before Christmas I get a call at 9pm. It a friend that has lost a deer and wondering if I'd bring Sam to help the next day. Of course I said yes, he was busy in the morning1 so we made plans for me to pick him up at his house at noon and head out for the hour drive to the bush. So it is 18 hours after he lost it, keep this in mind.

He was hunting in a tree stand in the corner of a L shaped bush on inside of L. He shots Doe about hour before dark it runs into bush. NO SNOW, to help track. He waits till almost dark and starts tracking it. It goes to end of bush and starts to circle back in the middle of the bean field he can see it standing in middle of field than it lays down so he sits down to wait. A buck comes out of bush goes up to the Doe and smells it. Coyotes start to hollow and the doe gets up and takes off but to dark to see much. He tracks it for several hundred yards in field than no more blood, marks to spot. Now Sam and I are on scene, go to where he marked the spot, says there was a big pile of blood there now can barely see any. He know it went in general direction of the other leg of bush about middle. Sam no real excited but does go in that direction so I follow and buddy stays on his quad to make the spot. About 100yds later Sam stops and smells a little more than what she was so I have a look and there is a very small amount of blood. We carry on for another 100yds or so and she finds another spot of blood. the spots are lining up with a trail in the bush about 200yds ahead of us. No more blood but she keeps going in direction of the trail entrance. She goes in for 30yds and another trail branches off away from the corner and she takes that. Now there all kinds of fresh coyote scat and Sam starts to mark them. I think this is where she lost the deer trail and started on the coyotes. We went to end of bush on signs of deer so I go into field which is now cut corn and head back to where I went in no signs. We looks around the other way for an hour and nothing. So were give up, I'm walking the line between the bean and corn fields back to truck. I spot something in cornfield way out, go have a look and it is the deer. A really big Doe that the coyotes have opened her up and all the meat on the ribs and ripped the insides out. there is a broken tip of a rib. We roll her over to see where she was hit. Perfect shot if on the ground but from tree stand to low. I figure the bolt got one lung and out the bottom of other side.

I think it hard to blame Sam for losing the track being that old and all the coyote scat around

end of season for both of us

[icehicker]

that is one sweet dog you have well trained and loyal
thanks for sharing

[longfish]

Loved the read....Thx Sab

Arnie

[Fishnhunt]

Great read…. Gotta say I was cheering for Sam through the whole thing. I think the most important thing is she got you a lot further down the trail the deer took which is probably why you were able to find it.
Either way its a great effort on everyone’s part to recover. Awesome job!