Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Leaving a deer unattended in coyote/wolf country

Here's the first I agonized all night about. 2 miles up Graveyard Canyon in SE NM Sacremento Mts.

The day before I had walked the ridges in near freezing rain with waterlogged, heavy wool and had trouble drying my glasses and scope with wet toilet paper and underclothes trying to get the crosshairs on him.

I shot it my 270 wby mag across a canyon with oak brush. Tried to mark it, went down, crossing the steep canyon, climbed the other side and couldn't find him. I left my hat on a bush top and made the hellacious trip back across the canyon. Figured out where the buck went down, cleaned binocs again, found my hat on the bush, made the miserable trip again and found the buck about 40 yds from my hat, got my hat on my wet freezing head, gutted it, peed all over, etc and headed back down Graveyard two miles to my truck and then drove to the Circle Cross Ranch house totally exhausted.


Came back the next day on horses with the ranch Mgr and got my deer loaded. I was very happy to see the varmints had not messed it up.