A bowhunter on Reddit said he had been after an older 10-point buck for a while and finally got his chance on the last year of a lease he was about to give up. In his post, he said the shot looked perfect from the stand. He watched the buck run about 30 yards, crash into thick brush, and lie there without moving for at least half an hour. At that point, he was convinced the deer was dead.
He wrote that he climbed down, ran to the store for coffee and a bathroom break, then came back with a friend to drag the buck out. But when they reached the spot, the deer was gone. What they did find was blood everywhere, including what he called one of the best blood trails he had ever seen. Following it led them straight onto the neighboring property. He said he could actually see the buck lying there about 70 yards over the line, and this time there was no doubt it was dead.
That was when the whole thing turned from a successful morning into a problem. The hunter said he called the neighboring landowner, expecting it would be handled the way he had handled things in the past. According to the post, that same neighbor had twice had deer cross onto his property over the previous four years, and both times the Reddit poster had let him retrieve them. This time, though, the answer was no. The neighbor would not let him go get the deer unless he was physically present, and he was out of town until the next day.
The poster’s immediate concern was whether the venison would still be good if he had to wait overnight. He said temperatures were expected to stay mostly in the 30s, drop into the teens at night, and only briefly touch 41 degrees. He also worried about coyotes getting to the buck before he could. In the comments, people told him the cold would probably help preserve the meat, but many of them were a lot more worked up about the neighbor than the weather.
Some commenters told him flat-out to go get the deer anyway. Others said not to risk a trespassing charge or a hunting-license problem over one recovery, no matter how frustrating it was. One person shared a story about a similar standoff that escalated until a game warden got involved. Several advised the poster to document everything, including the blood trail, and call the local game warden before doing anything else. The thread quickly turned into a debate over how different states handle game recovery once an animal crosses onto private land.
The hunter said he took the cautious route. He replied that he did not want to risk anything with his license and called the local game warden, leaving a voicemail at first and then later speaking with him. He also said the blood trail was so heavy there should have been no real dispute about where the deer had been hit. In another comment, he explained that there was a cell camera right on the line, which made him even less willing to cross over and have it look like he was just wandering around on somebody else’s farm.
Eventually, the situation got sorted out. The original poster came back with an update saying, “Got your deer. Sometimes people suck,” and later explained what happened. He said the neighbor finally showed up that night and wanted to see where the shot had taken place so he could confirm the deer had not been poached on his side. The hunter showed him his saddle setup and sticks, then walked the blood trail right to the deer. After that, he was able to recover the buck.
Even with the deer recovered, the whole thing clearly changed how he viewed the neighbor. He wrote that they had known each other for about four years and had always been at least cordial, but he did not hide how irritated he was by the way it went down. He also said he was giving up the lease anyway because he had bought a farm and did not want to keep spending money on leases, but he planned to warn whoever took that property next so they would know what kind of situation they might be dealing with.
