Hunter: Jared Griffis
Points: 9 (5L, 4R)
County: Coweta
Season: 2016-2017
Hunt Story
I was watching three does feed on grass in a clearcut. After making a grunting sequence, my buck stepped out of the woods and made a beeline to the does. I bleated twice and got him to stop at about 150 yards. My first shot was low and missed. The buck never moved as I chambered another bullet and shot him behind the shoulder. The buck ran into the woods. An hour later, when searching the blood trail, all sign disappeared after 20 yards. I backed out and decided to wait until the morning. The next morning, I went back with a friend and searched again. We could not find anymore blood. I called a tracking dog owner and he came. We searched for another two hours and came up empty handed. I was distraught and depressed that the biggest buck I had ever shot could not be found. On the way to work after 5 hours of searching, I called Ken Parker of Hillock Kennels for the second time that day and asked if he could please help me after he got off work. Ken said he could so we met at 4 p.m. His dog started tracking about 4:15. We found three different bedding sites where the buck had tried to rest and stop the bleeding. Ken's dog got a little ways ahead of us while we looked at the third bed. When we caught up to his dog, we found him sitting by the best buck I have ever killed. My shot hit about 2 inches above the breastbone and evidently nicked the heart. We recovered my buck approximately 300 yards from where he was shot. It was a 24 hours of many mixed emotions. I thank God for blessing me with this opportunity and for granting me the blessing of recovering my buck.
