While shed hunting this past weekend we came across the dead head of a buck we called (SOLO 8) which my dad (DADDIO) shot during the 2022 archery season. He felt like he made a good shot but the deer walked off slowly. One hour after the shot we attempted to recover his buck. With a spotty blood trail and some stomach matter the blood trail turned heavy and the woods was coated with blood and blood clots. After 60 yards we jumped the buck up and decided to back out just incase it was a one lung liver hit.
We picked back up on the buck that afternoon 6 hours after the shot. With high hopes we headed back in to look for the buck but 400 yards later he goy back up and walked away. With the deer moving very slowly but alert we decided to give him over night and come back in the morning.
The next morning we did not have any luck finding blood or the buck. With a heavy heart we quit the search but did try grid searching the next weekend. Nothing!
Fast forward to this past weekend we ended up finding the dead head of his buck in a area that is thick when the leaves are on but dead this time of year. The odd thing was the squirrels had not chewed the rack up really bad and the deer skeleton was still in the bedded position. What a lucky find and I could not way for dad to be reunited with his biggest archery buck to date!

The other great thing was I still had all the footage of the day we looked for him and was able to put it together in this video. 491 DAYS AFTER THE SHOT!

#pineylife #whatgetsyououtdoors #shedhunting #shedhunting2024 #deadhead