As of lately most of our posts have been technical,you know what I mean,this bow that bow ,What arrow or broadhead and on and on.Its time for some hunting storys.We all know what we've done the highs and lows etc. etc.For some of you new fellas and gals I dedicate my storys to you ,for what this great sport is all about and the fun so many of us have had.
So pullup a log gather around the fire here as I'm going to take you on two past trips I think you'll enjoy.
As trad archers our percentage of success runs probably 10-15%,so as you can see alot of deer get away as oppssed to hitting the ground.
Going back on my notes I can honestly recount over 50 big deer that have escaped my arrows.Yea I look up on the wall and admire the big fellas hanging there but this isn't about them.This is about the ones that are still out there doing what they do best frustrating bowhunters!
The first hunt took place only two seasons ago and is actually quite funny and the second,well I guess you'll just have to wait and see !LOL
The morning started out as it always does for me ,in the pitch dark.I just pulled my SUV to the side of the grid road and shut her down.My gear was all gathered and all was organized as I like it.I crossed the barb wire fence did some isometrics to loosen up.I pulled two judos from my quiver and let fly at a couple of stale patties(Never shoot fresh ones)Everything was right on.A good friend owns this vast pasture I was hunting and only myself and one other fella were ever allowed to hunt it.Hes not a bowhunter so Sept. and Oct. I've got the place to myself.A couple weeks previous during some pre-scouting I'd found 5 nice bucks in a group,4 were average but one was a dandy,probably 30' wide,deep forks and real heavy.I will just use the PY scoring system to give you an idea of how big he was.I figured around 185.An animal I would truly like to put a Zwickey thru.
I headed towards my familiar little brush pile and set up my spotting scope.I was overlooking a vast brush covered flat filled with buck brush,wild roses and lots of forbs and plants and figured they'd be out feeding ,and if they did what they normally do and slowly head towards the side canyons as it broke light I'd be in a great position.About 175 yards below me was a heavy tangle of brush where I figured they would bed.My first scan with my binculars showed 3 of the5 bucks feeding on the flat,but no big boy.1 1/2 hours later and full light still didn't show the big fella.I happened to look in the brush pile below me again and something didn't look right.The spooting scope showed it perfectly,one side of a massive rack,Ah the hunt was on! From my little brushpile a small cow trail ran right down to where the deer was,and with cover on both sides offered a perfect opportunity to get right on him.I put on my small water pack as thats alli would need and left everything else at the brushpile .I got onto the trail and slowly started working my way towards him.I could see the tops of his antlers the whole way Perfect! I could tste the liver already ,yea right I know better than that.Halfway to the deer he decides to get up,no big deal he doesn't have a clue I'm there.He turns around puts his head down and slowly starts walking straight at me,even better!At 50 yards he keeps coming ,head down ,straight at me .Damn I'm ready arrow on the string in in complete predator mode!.... yep he keeps coming.At 20 yards I'm praying he will move off our little trail and turn broadside.Nope,he keeps coming,head down and now 10 yards,you guessed it ,he keeps coming.Geez I can see him blink hes so close,you got it,he keeps coming.NOW a shrub or bush I don't look like and I know he'll bust me soon ,No he keeps coming .I'm sitting on the ground and I can shoot my little homemade 57" recurve no problem.Please turn! No he keeps coming In all honesty he is 2 feet ,yes 2 feet away.I can poke him with my arrow ,but hes face on and I refuse a low risk shot.He stops and slowly looks up .His eyes are half shut and hes totally relaxed,unlike me!All of a sudden he realizes what I am and his eyes open wide like saucers.They we are eye to eye at 2feet.I know I won't get the shot SO....as I'm looking at him and him at me I do the first thing that comes to mind ,I say in a normal voice "NICE RACK" He does a 360 faster than you can blink and he actually sprayed dirt on my jacket.The hunts done!LOL.As I walk back to my truck I'm smiling and actually laughed about the experience.We talk about getting close,Yea that was close, and people wonder why we bowhunt.I wouldn't have it anyother way.
I'll continue tommorrow with story 2,you won't want to miss this one.So all you bowhunters join in about those huge Bucks,Bulls or boars that got away.
I'd just been talking with SteveO and he told me to quite being so lazy and get these storys on here!LOL.
:campfire: :coffee:
2feet! Crazy. I guess there is such thing as to close to shoot.
in 2005 i was wanting to hunt elk on the oregon coast where i had grown up.i planned to hunt an area named 'horn creek'by all of the locals because of the unreal number of blacktail bucks that were in this big coastal hill area.having hunted this area my entire life i knew where the elk trails were and where the fern covered ridges that they routinely bedded on were.i left salem oregon on a friday morning,the second week of archery season and drove the seventy miles to the locked gate that only a few of us knew where the key was hidden under a rock.i drove up to the camping spot that i'd used so many times in the past.on the way in i swear i saw fifty deer in a two mile drive up the old logging roads.i was after elk though.i set up camp then put on my camo and shot a few rounds at my trusty deer target just to get the memory going in my muscles and to loosen up.i was shooting a black widow ma at the time.sixty five pounds at my 30" draw.i looked at my watch and headed out with my pack on and bow in hand.i trekked up horn creek for at least an hour until i spotted the old familiar fir tree that had fallen across the creek years before.i had gone in and used an axe to trim all the limbs off the top side to make a nice wide bridge for crossing horn creek.as far as i knew no one else ever used this area because of the thick salmon berry brush and sal-al brush that made crossing very difficult indeed.i often wondered just how many people had ever been where i was headed.the ridge i was climbing ended right at the creek so i started trudging up the elk trails that were like freeways going up to the top,zigzagging back and forth yet still plenty steep.i reached the top and stopped to listen for any sounds.hearing nothing i dug in my pack for my cowcall and after checking the wind i started along the ridge,walking quietly stopping every hundred yards or so to call a couple soft mews.i continued this method for at least an hour with no results.the ridge i was following goes slightly upwards for a couple of miles then drops off gently down to a large alder thicket where another smaller creek wound its way down to horn creek.i started following this creek using the sound to mask my movement in the dry forest floor.this also proved to be my undoing as i later found out.i knew exactly where this creek joined horn creek and knew i would have traveled around five miles by the time i got back to camp.as i worked my way downstream i suddenly caught the very strong scent of elk.i froze in my tracks looking all around for elk moving through the alders.i spotted a few cows feeding down the hill headed away from the creek,i was now hunting instead of looking.i started after them doing my best to not be seen or heard.elk are a pretty fast grazing animal,they seem to be in a hurry most of the time.i could barely keep up with them.i decided to risk it and speed way up to close the gap.i got to within maybe fifty yards of the rear cows when i saw a tree moving down the hill.tree huh...it was a huge bull.he looked to be at least a 7x7 and man was he big.very heavy thick rack complete with crowns on top.roosevelt bulls get some awesome mass to them and this big boy was the herdmaster.i lost all focus but what he was doing.he was not feeding but just herding his cows along meandering nowhere in particular.all of a sudden the entire forest exploded and elk were running past me and they were scared of something.the bull ran down to the right and headed back up towards the creek area.i knew this was my only chance to get close enough for a shot so i took off after him.knowing he was alone temporarily i started calling in a lost cow urgent type of call,he grunted a few times then mewed back at me.i knew it was him because of the heavy loud mews you hear from bulls compared to cows.i kept calling in a desperate tone and he kept talking right back to me.i was getting closer and closer then i spotted him by the creek thrashing on a small alder,spraying all over himself.i was within i'd say forty yds of him and he was not looking my direction at all.twenty more yards i told myself,i covered the ground as quiet as i could arrow nocked.i stopped,waiting for him to turn and give me a shot.well..somehow i had forgotten all about the rest of the herd and also the fact that cows come to lost cow calls also.i looked to my right when i heard at least three elk throwing alarm barks all over the place.of course you all know what happened next."STAMPEDE" all over again.i sat down defeated but wouldnt have had it any other way.i ended up arrowing a fat spike bull on the sixth day when i was ambush hunting a heavily used trail.heres a picture of my brothers world record archery bull taken a few miles from horn creek.
(http://images.imagelinky.com/1297409859.jpg) (http://images.imagelinky.com/1297409859.jpg)
Steve, what a thrill!this is better than a successful shot at 20 yards,love that.
Nice story,excellent spot Larry.
Larry,Love those Rosies,i can't imagine how big that bull would be.Stuff like that is why we do what we do!
:campfire:
Sure is nice to have company in the frustration department!
Don't be stingy with the pictures either.
Maybe one fall I won't draw any tags and I can come up there and flag you in to one of those bruisers.
It was before daylight on a windless September morning. I was huffing and puffing my way up a trail following Bear Creek in the Washakie wilderness of northwest Wyoming. This was the second day of what was to be a 10 day elk hunt, and I was brimming with confidence.
Ahead, there was a big park, and in times past, I had seen elk on its edges at first light. This was where my initial attention would be focused on this morning.
I tried not to shiver as I hiked; it was a typical cool morning at 9000 feet, and along with the excitement of the hunt and the temperature, I felt chilly. I pulled the bow a few times while walking, trying to loosen up so that I could be ready if an opportunity came along.
About 100 yards before I entered the park, I decided to bugle. First light was making it where I could make out shapes, and so I thought that if an elk answered, there should be enough light to take a shot. I had not taken the grunt tube from my lips when a bull screamed at me, and the sound came from directly ahead, maybe 150 yards away, which would put him uphill from me and probably in the open sagebrush area of the park. As my heart rate went up, I drew an arrow from my Catquiver and felt for the locator nock, putting the arrow on the string by feel, and started to slowly edge my way forward.
It took maybe 5 minutes to move that 100 or so yards, always looking up toward the hill ahead to see if there was any movement. The bull bugled another time during that few minutes, and the adrenalin was pumping. Just ahead was a steep slope that was about 50 feet high, and I knew that just beyond that the park leveled out, and that was where I thought the bull should be. As I planned my attack, I started to see cows moving on top of the slope, and then there was MR. elk, mingling with his cows. They were all somewhat backlighted by the early morning dawn, and the bull sported some very large and impressive antlers. He was at least a 6x6, maybe more, and very wide and tall. He was maybe 30 yards away, and straight up the hill. I was pumped, and he was the king of his domain.
The arrow was on the string, and I brought the recurve to full draw and let fly. There was a 'whack' sound, and the bull jumped sideways, but did not leave. Confused, I nocked another wooden 'bullet' and let fly again, this time seeing the white fletch go over his back. He stayed, and I loaded up yet again. Completely flustered, I launched another one over his back, and this time he got the picture and decided it was time to leave and take his cows with him, but not before standing in the middle of the park, maybe 100 yards from me, and bugling his head off.
Well, I had heard that 'whack', so I hit something on that first shot. I went up the hill to where he had been standing initially, and there, laying in plain sight, was a sliver of elk antler about 6 inches long. My first shot had been right where I was looking; right at his huge antlers, and the arrow shaved a momento of the hunt for me. It was to be the only bit of an elk that I would take home that year.
Since elk and I have a love/hate relationship, this story is not one of my favorites to tell, but it is typical of my elk hunting exploits over a bunch of years. This only goes to show that an instinctive shooter had better bear down and 'pick a spot', and preferably that spot should not be a bull's antlers.
It was 1984 in Elkhart County, Indiana. It was Tuesday, Election Day the first Tuesday in November. From my tree stand I could peer throught the leafless hardwoods across a 200-acre picked cornfield and see Michigan.
I was a private lands biologist at the time just a few years into a career I retired from in 2007. I had been working with farmers to improve their habitat in this, one of my eight counties, since early morning. As I had planned, when the last appointment was over I drove to my 1,100 acre hunting spot (yep it was the best I've ever had)parked the truck, and pulled some camo over my field uniform.
It was a bit more than a mile of walking along ditch roads that bisect two large marshes before entering the woods. Then I turn right on a dirt-lane that goes through the middle of a mature forest. I'm headed for one of my favorite stands..the crows nest. When I arrived at the tree I had to shinny up the adjacent tree, only slightly smaller than the tree my stand is in. Neither tree was larger than 10" in diameter. The "nest" was just a 3'x3' sheet of plywood placed between 4 limbs that all rise vertically from the tree. There's no way I could get in this stand today, I had to climb level to the stand and then extend my legs to the platform and squirm into the stand.
Once in the stand, with just about an hour and half before dark, I started watching the edge of a very nasty button-bush swamp where it meets my woods about 70 yards away. I can lean against one of the vertical limbs but I have to be careful moving because the limb will shake. Unlike most evenings I didn't see a single deer until about half-way into the sit. I've seen as many as 25-30 deer from this stand in BOW RANGE at times.
Then I saw deer shins mixed among the young maple saplings at the edge of the marsh. The deer was walking directly towards me. Then I saw his rack. My gosh! I had never seen this deer before. He had a very dark, grey rack. There were points everywhere! His rack was well beyond his ears, and a very symmetrical shape but for all the points. I didn't even think about counting them but I'm sure there were at least 10 typical points and at least that many various sizes of points going every which way. I had been a PY Measurer since 1979 and measured 75-100 deer per year as part of my job. I had never seen a non-typical like this. I won't hazard to report what I think it would have scored but he would have been the largest deer I would shoot at from then to now -- far bigger!
He "waddled" towards my stand. (I had bow-killed a 265# field dressed 9 point on this farm a couple years earlier-142PY before deductions.) He walked slowly without looking east or west, just aiming for the cornfield and the Does he expected to find there. My problem was 1). The crows nest was too low at 10' high. 2).The tree was small without lots of cover, and 3). he was walking right at the tree forcing me to guess what side he would walk on so I could position myself for the shot.
I guessed left which was right (correct). I didn't have to adjust much since I was a RH shooter in those days. I had the bow up with just a tad of pressure on the string. He was passing the tree at less than 10 yards. He stopped. I could see his eye-lashes and GIANT left-eye! as I refused to study that rack. I was afraid to draw. I just knew if I moved with him broadside he'd see the movement and be gone. So I let him pass hoping for a going away shot.
He went past me and I swiveled that direction. He stopped between 15-20 yards away to stare through towards the crops. There were saplings all around and between us. The only shot I had was to hit him just in front of the hip and angle to the opposite shoulder. I considered it for a few seconds and decided to pass. If I was a little right I'd hit his hip, a little left and I'd hit a sapling and who knows what would mayhem would result from that--nothing good! I hoped he would make a 90 degree left turn and walk broadside staying in the woods instead of going on to the crops -- I'd get a shot then.
He didn't. He walked directly from me and I never say him again. I was a wreck and started the second guessing that very second and those "what ifs" continue from time to every hunting seasson for me. I don't regret the decision not to shoot.
LOL,Bowwild and Centaur,GREAT storys,There sure are alot of " What Ifs" in hunting big animals.I wished I had Taperecorded all the conversations I"ve had with myself walking back to my truck! Then again this is a public site!LOL
Bowwild,
Thanks for sticking in a few paragraph breaks for "readablity". I fight with double vision from an illness, and I am having trouble making it through some of the other great stories!
Sorry for the couple of typos
"through" not "throught"
"what mayhem would"
"from time to time every hunting season"
Don't know why I don't proof-read better the first time?
I dont want to talk about it
WHAT IT MEANS (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=082173)
It happened a couple of year ago. Now my family knows I hunt hard from October 30 till Christmas, but Thanksgiving and the weekend following are my big time. But as things go my wife scheduled an event for that Saturday that was to last all day. So being the loving husband that I am and fearing the dog house which is small I might add, I gave up the day of hunting. As it happened we returned home at around 2:00-2:30. Being a perfect Kansas winter day 35 deg and sunny, no wind to speak of which means it's below 15 MPH, I decide to go on out to my stand and see what's hopping. I got into my stand at around 3:00, with the sunset at 4:30. Now I have to qualify that on this particular stand if I see a nice deer in a day it's a good day. It sits in a wood lot at the rear of the pasture back of my house, which made it good for days like this.
I had no more then pulled my bow up into the stand then in walks a little six point. He's moving like he's on fire, so no shoot there. But I've seen a deer, so good day. About 30 Min. later here comes a nice doe into the clearing, I look behind her and the brush along the creek is moving. Then I notice this huge rack above the brush not real wide, but tall and heavy. I'm looking trying to count points. I've never seen a deer this big before. He's coming in on the trail of the doe and will cross broad side at twelve yards. Suddenly his head comes up and he's looking straight at me. Now the wind is from him to me, and though my heart is beating a 100 miles an hour I'm pretty sure he can't hear it, so how did he bust me so fast. Just then I hear leaves crunching behind me. Slowly turning I look back behind my tree and there stands the second biggest buck I've ever seen, a ten point good mass, nice body. Now the first buck is a little upset at the appearance of this new suitor to the doe and he makes a beeline towards buck number two. This unfortunately puts him on the wrong side of my stand and he didn't give me enough time to turn to get a shot. Now these two are nose to nose and pushing and shoving. To that point I had never seen two big bucks really fight for a doe. It's a sight to see. They were out for blood.
Here stand two of the best deer of my life and they are behind my tree. I can lean out and see them but can't balance enough to get my bow out and shoot, plus their moving around. So I sit and watch. Just then I hear another sound off to my left, and about 35 yards out from my stand are two identical 8 point bucks. They are not in the class of the first two but no slouch. They were just standing there watching the fight. I figured later they were fight promoters looking to see which one they wanted to sponsor. Now at this point I've forgotten the doe that everyone was fighting over. Not a good thing to do. She had now worked her way down wind of my stand and I would imagine spotted me moving. One snort and the only one still left in that clearing was me. I had 5 nice bucks in the clearing in an hour and a half and never loosed an arrow. But man that day will always be one of my best in my memory.
Hey folks. please do me a favor.
When you are writing a long story. . and please continue to do so. . . break up the story into paragraphs (see Bow Wilds post) it is very difficult for me to follow and read the story when there is no break at all.
Thanks
ChuckC
Lab ,great story,its amazing one minute deer are all over and your positive you'll get a shot and then in the next second,Nothing ! unreal.
Chuck
Sorry, I went back and corrected. English as a second language, you know. Now if I could just figure out what my first language is I could do better with that I'm sure.
Okay,this happened about 20yrs ago but it seems like yesterday. I was hunting one morning in october on the very edge of a standing corn field. Just after first light,I notice a large rack floating through the tops of the corn to my right and out about 20yds from my stand. What was strange was the way the rack was moving violently up and down,almost like this buck was so heavy he's like sinking into the muddy field with each step. I grabbed my grunt tube since he's going away from me at a quartering angle and grunt a couple times. He imediately stops and his rack swings in my direction,it's at this time I realize this buck is not only huge,but he's the first nontypical I had ever seen from a tree stand. He stands faceing my direction for a few seconds and starts walking my way. I grab my bow and get ready and on he comes to the edge of the field where he hits a deer trail which runs directly beneath my tree. Now with him only about ten yards away I can see the reason his rack was bobing up and down so much in the corn field. This buck is holding his back right leg up and tight to his side not letting it come close to touching the ground. And right above the elbow joint there is a huge knot the size of a softball,probably been shot or gorred by an antler,who knows. Anyways on he comes,this buck is big and I'm already at the taxidermists shop sharing my story and gettin my ego stroked by my friends,lol. Well this buck stops directly under my tree and I'm lookin down at his back that looks three feet wide and is right there below me,I can spit on this dude he looks so close. So then I make one of the stupidists decisions I've ever made,and that of corse is to spine shoot him and drop him in his tracks. So I come to full draw,pick my spot and release my arrow at this nonexpecting world class nontypical. What happened next led to many sleepless nights for weeks and months after. It seemed to me that at the release of my arrow I heard a loud explosion and my arrow blew up with peices going every where! Of course this freaked the buck which ran from under my tree and ended up standing in some brush 30yds or so away. And now I could really see how huge he was,which very closely brought me to tears. I grunted at him several times but to no avail as he turned and limped out of my life forever,and like so many times never to be seen again. My first thought of my arrow was that It had been defective in some way causing it to shatter,this was an aluminum shaft. But on further investigation,I found that at full draw and bending over to shoot directly under my tree my arrow just happened to be precariously right next to my last tree step which I used to grab to pull myself into my tree stand. I guess my release must have been a lil sloppy causing the arrow to slam against the step and the rest as they say is history. Alas over the years the size of that rack has been burned into my brain and I am now convinced if I had waited for the buck to continue past my tree and offer me a good ethical broadside shot,I now would be very famous indeed,lol. Beleive me when I say,I have never and will never again pull that crazy stunt!
Guys!
Keep it coming! I am really enjoying this.
Thanks Ken
This happened about 15 years ago in Illinois. I had only hunted this property for a couple years and was starting to learn more about the property each year. I was seeing several large bucks since this and the surrounding properties were not bow hunted back then.
The day was Nov 5th at 2:00PM. Buck sign was really starting to show up everywhere. Too get to the part of the property I was going to hunt that evening you had to drive down a wooded lane for about 300 Yds with large mature white oak and red oak trees on both sides of the road. As you get toward the end of the lane the timber stops and the farmers' 2 acre yard and Machine shed appear. Thirty yards before you exit the wooded lane there was an Oak tree the size of your thigh that was just shredded and the tree next to it had a major scrape under it. While I exited the timbered lane something caught my eye in the side view mirror crossing the road. I took my foot from the gas pedal and my gaze went to the rear view mirror. I had seen several nice bucks but standing in the road was the biggest buck I had seen and he had a large drop tine hanging from one antler. While I gazing in the mirror, one of my front tires dropped down into the ditch alongside the lane. This caused me to veer sharply back onto the road.
The next day I arrived earlier and parked on the opposite side of the machine shed. I stood at the corner of the shed with binoculars and glassed the road. As if on cue exactly at 2:00 PM the buck steps from the timber onto the road. This buck was well over 250 pounds basic 10 pointer with an 8 to 9 inch drop tine on the right side.
I thought this is the easiest buck I have ever seen to pattern. I had an extra 18 ft ladder stand not being used that I planned to place 60 yds from the road on the trail the buck was leaving on. The next day after the morning hunt I set the ladder stand up into 2 red oak trees growing close together. I made certain to wear rubber boots and rubber gloves and not to disrupt the area any more than necessary.
That evening I arrived back at 12:30 with plans of climbing into the ladder stand. For some reason I decided to hunt a wooden stand I had helped build for the landowners wife during shotgun season. This stand was about 70 yds to the west of the ladder stand. I was constantly checking the trail behind me the ladder stand was on. At 1:55 PM I notice movement at the edge of the timber on the ladder stand trail. Sure enough it's the big boy. I am now thinking why the heck had I chose this stand. He is walking slowly with his nose to the ground as he gets about 30 yards from the ladder stand the brakes go on. The buck stares at the stand then slowly turns around and makes a big loop heading right towards me. He did not seem spooked but it was like, (that wasn't there yesterday).
I by now am thinking this might work out. I pick the recurve up and get ready. The buck steps onto an old logging road at 10 yds. He then turns quartering away watching back towards the ladder stand. At this time I am thinking who the heck is doing all the hammering I am hearing, and then I realized this was the biggest buck I had ever seen and the hammering noise was my heart pounding. Like others I am thinking my buddies are not going to believe this. As I pull the bow back and release the arrow flies over the bucks back by a foot or more. The bucks just flinches and takes a couple steps then turns again to look back at the ladder stand. I am now shaking and thinking there is no way I can get another arrow out for another shot. As I pull the second arrow back and try to relax somewhat my heart now slows to 200 beats and I am thinking aim low because he is even closer now. Sure enough I release and shave some long white hair from his belly.
I got down later and never found any speck of blood on the arrow or ground just about 6 white hairs. Never saw the deer any time after that anywhere. I forget lots of things as I age but that memory will stick with me forever.
OK hears my story. The year was 2000 and my first year to bow hunt Iowa. I grew up in SW Minnesota an area not knowen for big whiteails. Threw a friend at work I ended up in southern Iowa hunting a farm on the Ven Bruen-Jefferson county line. Meet the owner on the 29 of Oct. and he showed me around a bit and suggested I hang a stand in the timber ware 3 fence lines came together. Now being from MN. I had never hunted this type of land so I took his advice and put up a hang on stand and hunted that night with out seeing any deer and planning on returning the following week-end. During the week I talk to the owner and he tells me his son saw one of the biggest bucks he has ever seen he son is only 20 years old and I know how those big buck storys go. Sat AM I'm in my stand a full 30 munites befroe any light. Now 2 hours later I hear deer running and a buck grunting coming my way. In comes a buck in the 140 class range and I'm all hot having never seen a buck like this in my life as they get about 40 yards away down the other fence line I hear more grunting and up show an OMG buck. The kind every one but the Wenzel brothers dream about. So now I have 2 bucks with in 30 yards faceing each other and the hair on their necks standing straight up. What happened next I'm sure I will never see again. Those 2 bucks tore into each other and the leaves and fur was a flying. If you've never seen 2 mature bucks fight its a sight to behold and it went on for about 5 munites. In the mean time the doe had wondered in and was about 20 yards away from my stand and when the fight was over the big boy walked a bee line to the doe stopping less then 10 yards from my stand. Now to say I was shook is an under statement. When he stopped I was standing ready to shoot but I was so exceited in the proccess of pulling the bow back I managed to rattle the arrow of the shelf of the bow and the arrow falling straight to the ground. The buck turned and look athe arrow and took for chaseing the doe never to be seen by me again.
Now the bad part the owners son shot that buck during gun season. It scores 196 after deductions.
How lucky was I just to see a buck like that.
doug77
Bofish and Doug ,Great storys,Its amazing how much a person practices and you think you have everything down pat,then a big boy shows up and a fella completely falls to pieces!lOL
Steve , I more than fell apart that day, but you wouldn't belive how many time in a hunting sesason I am thankful for that day.
doug77
Doug your so right!I very seldom comeapart anymore as I've been around so many big deer ,BUT my next storys a little diffearant
LOL
Awesome stories everyone!!! Great idea for a thread Steve! These experiences are truly what it is all about. The fact that we are hunting with equipment that requires fairly close range shooting allows us to get more than our fair share of these kinds of encounters. Some end up with meat in the freezer and a taxidermy bill and some do not but all of them are incredible!
Like many of the above stories mine involves the biggest deer I have ever seen on the hoof. I am lucky to own 230 acres of mixed riverbreaks and cropground with a friend of mine. Most years we seem to have a fair number of does, fawns and small bucks residing in and around but very rarely is there a big buck residing on our ground.
I suppose it was 15 years ago give or take that I experienced the exception to this rule. Our property consists of about 100 acres of cropground "on top" surrounded by oak and cedar ravines. The cropground on top is divided by a ravine. I first noticed the buck when I jumped him when I was spring turkey hunting. He was in velvet and had not had long to develop but already had incredible brow tines.
As the year wore on, I learned that the big guy was living in the middle ravine with two other bucks. I had the opportunity to watch them on dozens of ocassions in the summer and late fall as they exited the middle ravine and fed in the hay field east of the ravine. In a normal year I would have been out of my mind about the second biggest buck who was a 5x5 that had to be in the 150's.
But the big boy was just unreal! He was a typical 6x6 that matched up perfectly. His brow tines had to be at least 10" and maybe taller. The rest of the tines were proportionately tall and well matched. The main beams stretched out wide and then curved back in.
By way of comparison this buck would have dwarfed the biggest deer I have shot with a bow which is this one.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/bohuntr77/ResizeofDscn0108-5.jpg)
I had watched these 3 bucks enter the hayfield at the same place all summer and early fall and I had a stand hung that would give me a 15 yard shot and was perfect for the prevailing wind. As often happens the closer it got to the bowhunting opener the less they showed up until they disappeared entirely. I am sure they had gone nocturnal but had no way to confirm this as this was before trail cameras were common.
I hunted all of October and the 1st part of November without seeing the big boy or any good bucks for that matter. It was the middle of November and snow was falling, it was cold as he## and the wind was blowing at least 30 mph. I
was in a tree stand down in one of the ravines trying not to freeze to death or get seasick from the constant swaying of the tree. All of the sudden I see a buck through some thick brush with its nose down trotting stiff legged like they do when they are real rutty and chasing a doe. I could not see the rack but I could see it had a huge body with a sway back and huge swollen neck. I let out a couple grunts on my grunt tube but due to the wind I could tell he could not hear me. I waited for about 5 minutes after he got out of sight hoping that he might end up coming back my way. Out of desperation I grabbed my rattling horns and really crashed them together hoping that he could hear it over the wind.
I have never had horn rattling produce such immediate results before or since! That big fella came charging in like he was on a string. He came to a skidding stop 15 yards from the base of my tree... perfect right? Nope, there were two things wrong. First, he was staring straight up into the tree and had me pegged. Second, I had not had enough time to put down the rattling horns and pick up my bow before he made his dramatic entrance. Yup, it was the big 6x6. There we sat in a stand off until he whirled awy and was never seen again.
I really believe that this would have been a 200"+ typical. I have a matched set of sheds from buck that I saw live on the hoof the day before he dropped that was measured by an official P&Y scorer that grossed 190" and netted 179" and that 6x6 was markedly bigger.
What an experience!!! As far as I know that deer died of old age as it is impossible to keep it quiet if a deer of that caliber is killed locally.
Sorry for the one big paragraph effect. In my draft it was paragraphed and still appears that way when I try to go back and edit it so not sure how to fix it?
Hey guys I figured out the paragraph deal and fixed it. Not to tough actually, but sometimes I am slow! :knothead:
bohuntr I have had the exact thing happen twice while rattling. Makes you almost want to throw the rattling antlers at them.
Oh boy have I got a story. The year after I killed this buck
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Mounts/95buck.jpg)
his identical twin was coming out into an alfalfa field every night before the season began. Well to make a long story short I sat up right by the trail he and his 8 point buddy was using on the third night of the season (due to bad winds). Hunkered in the 5' tall weeds about 15 yards from the trail I sat and waited. Sitting on a 5 gallon bucket the plan was to let the deer walk out into the field before I shot him. Well this night the monster and his buddy decided not to show on schedule. About 20 minutes before last shooting light I scoured the woods behind me with my binos without seeing either of them. So I stood up and put on my jacket and was readying my gear to leave when I sat back down and peered back to see them on their way in. They walked right out the trail behind me. I looked up and notices the 8 pointer about 50 yards out in the hay field. With no sight or sound of the big boy I just sat motionless. About 5 minutes passed and I finally see the big deer about 15 yards in front of me with his head buried in the knee high alfalfa. I stood and drew and released. My string ran down my puffy jacket sleeve and the arrow flew helplessly under the monsters belly. He trotted off never to be seen or heard of again. I swear he was identical to the one I had shot the year before. It all still gives me nightmares.
Tj,Great story,I wonder how many big bucks have been saved by "Floppy sleeves",Great stuff and NICE DEER !
I was hunting Kansas 3 seasons ago. We had a new piece of ground to hunt and I had hunted it one morning, missing a nice P&Y 8 point and then moving it because all the deer were funneling under one tree 150 yards away.
Next day I get into this tree thinking I'm going to do the whole day sit thing. I was in it maybe an hour and "snap" right underneath me was this really nice 150" 10 point. He walks away and at 12 steps stops, and kind of licks a branch to the side of the trail and away my arrow goes, only to hit a branch that'd I'd seen through!
argghhhh
I sit the rest of the morning, disgusted, and at 11 or so I figure walk 5 minutes back the truck, get a drink .... did that, come back, cut that branch off, added a tarsal gland to one side of the trail and pee on the other, back in the tree I go.
In that stand, I hung my catquiver on the backside, the swung into the tree, then got situated. Well I literally sat down, looked up and here comes this MONGO buck through the brush, onto the trail and I'm trying to reach around and get an arrow ... and I knock the fricking catquiver off and catch it with my off hand. I'm trying to get it hung back up and I'm watching this MONGO sniff where I cut the limb, the tarsal gland, the pee ...... he was a 5x5, stickers up to 5-6" long off his G2' and G3's, unreal mass .... 190" is my guess on what he'd have scored
I never loosed an arrow at him.
2 minutes earlier into that tree .... :(
Brad,you never loosed an arrow BUT you got to play the game!A memory forever.
QuoteOriginally posted by Steve Clandinin:
Tj,Great story,I wonder how many big bucks have been saved by "Floppy sleeves",Great stuff and NICE DEER !
Steve, I would be willing to bet quit a few. From that day now, I check and double check everything.
Holy crap TJ!!!
If I saw a buck like that I would probably forget what I was doing and just throw the whole bow at it.
I`m pretty good under pressure...but, DANG!!!
I know there are alot more stories of "monsters that got away", and with only three pages, apparently most of us don`t want to tell them. :D
Probably the biggest racked buck I have ever seen was walking along the edge of some thick stuff where cutovers meet big timber. It was a cold,still morning just before the breeding would start. I saw him and gave a couple soft grunts. He hesitated, looked my way and continued the way he was going. I did it once more...same thing, he just walked away. I could hear his footfalls for quite a while. I was in shock just by the sight of him.
An hour later, my empty stomach, and lack of deer got me to thinking about food. I KNEW I should stay, and I did, but it was a half hearted effort. My edge was gone,I was like a dull broadhead.
A slight noise close by to my left caused me to recklessly turn my head...and there HE was! He had caught my movement and had pegged me. He somehow slipped in to ten yards through leaves three inches deep and frozen crispy. He HAD paid attention to my grunts, and responded in HIS good time.
I can still see the width of those antlers compared to his huge body as he turned and jumped away.
When he ran off, I got a case of the shakes so bad, you all would have died laughing. :archer2:
I've got so many of these types of stories that I could talk away an entire night and probably a 12 pack! I've written about a couple close calls for TBM years ago.
For a guy who lives in Illinois, I don't have a ton of big bucks on my wall. Funny thing is this. I started to get better at getting in range of big bucks the same time I ditched my compound and starting hunting with a recurve. I think I hunted with a compound for maybe 2 seasons. Anyway, back then, I had ALOT of land to hunt, and had ample time to scout. I scouted relentlessly year round.
One year I had been watching a monster 5x5 all summer long. I took notes on where he came out of the woods, according to wind direction. I was trying to find a mistake he was making that I could capitalize on. Trouble is, I never saw him make a mistake. He always entered the field with the wind in his face. If the wind was blowing so that he could not enter the field with it in his face, he would not come out.
Like so often happens, just before bow season opened,he vanished. I was not too concerned. I figured he was feeding on acorns, and was likely still in the area. The season wore on, and I had not layed eyes on him.
A couple of days before gun season, I did a little quick scouting in an area I figured he could maybe be hiding out in. The place was an extremely thick spot high on top of a ridge. There was a trail that ran parallel to to ridge, and on the edge of the thicket.
I figured this would be a great way for a buck to scent check for does when the wind was right. To make the spot even sweeter, there was a giant scrape in the trail, and 12 yards from the scrape was a cedar tree. I just got that "feeling" about the spot. I quickly hung a stand in the cedar and got out of there. I was in the tree the next afternoon, and the rut was going strong. Bucks were running everywhere, and I even passed up 2 bucks already. Just before quitting time, I heard something behind me. I slowly looked, and here he came. He waltzed right into that scrape and started doing the licking branch thing. This was just too good to be true. This is the first big buck I had ever had in front of me...and my first season hunting with my recurve. I was shaking so bad that I could barely stand up. I finally snapped out of it and realized I had better make my move, or he was gonna be out of my life! I finally got stood up. He again reached up and worked the licking branch. Was was broadside at a whopping 12 yards. Chip shot! I slowly drew and I can still to this day picture the arrow going right under his heart! I mean how can you miss a shot at a 250lb. whitetail from 12 yards? He took off running, and I had tears in my eyes as darkness took over. I never saw him again.
I've got another story about missing the same huge buck twice in one season! Luckily for me, my shooting has greatly improved since then, and I am able to keep "buck fever" more under control!
Jon,Great stuff,what about that other story? Love to hear it.
I was living in Montana in 1980 and hunting the Highwood Mtns. Two weeks before I was sitting on the top of a mtn. peak and glassing the meadows below when about 3/4 miles away I see two dark objects on a side of a small pointy knoll. When I put the spotting scope on them I see two of the largest mulies I had ever laid eyes on with one easily pushing that 200 PY mark!
I marked the location and had to drive 6 miles around and through a stream several times to come out to the spot along an old service road. I climbed to the top of an adjacent ridge and could see the pointy knoll across a small valley about 400 yds away.
The next Saturday found me on the ridge before day break and just as the sun was coming up I see the two buck fedding around the point from left to right. I glassed the grass and saw that it was blowing from left to right also and a little Up so I bailed off the ridge and made my way about half way up the pointy knoll and waited for the buck to come around above me.
Suddenly I look to my left right at the same level I was kneeling on and there was the 200 incher feeding at 15 yds. completely unawares of my presence! He turned broadside and looked back behind him like saying "shoot me". I instinctively picked a spot, hit full draw and for no sane reason in the world thought, "I should hold a little higher", I did and shot right over his back! He bounded away and out of my life forever! I still have nightmares over that one.
Brett and Frank,Fantastic Storys !Man stuff like that sure gets the blood boiling.Frank,I've had that happen before,now I go with my first instinct and Ignore that damn little nagging devil called "Second Guess".
Another monster Illinois buck got the best of me many years ago. Twice! I first saw him in July. He was regularly feeding in a soybean field with 4 other bucks. All of the bucks were nice..120 inches or better, but the big 5x5 was huge. I got alot of video footage of him throught the summer.
Luckily for me...he was living in a patch of timber that was maybe forty acres that I knew very well. Inside this patch of timber, there were 3 and only 3 white oak trees all growing next to each other.
Like always, the deer vanished before season. A light when on in my head, and I decided to check on the 3 oak trees. Two of them were dropping huge white acorns, and the deer were pounding them.
There was a natural funnel leading from the area I figured the bucks were bedding to the oak trees. No brainer stand site. I hung a stand and waited for the wind to be so that the deer would be able to quarter into the wind while coming from the bedding area to the acorns. I figured this would be my best bet at getting a shot at him during the early season.
The right wind finally came only a week or so into the season. I got in the stand at 1:00 p.m. It was really hot...probably over 80 degrees. It was one of those days where I just knew something was gonna happen. But nothing did, untill just before the end of the day.
I glanced behind me and noticed on of the smaller bucks that made up the bachelor group milling around 50 or so yards away. As time went on, 4 of the 5 bucks appeared..including the big one.
They began making their way into the funnel I was hunting and I began to get nervous because I was playing a very fickle wind situation. One slight change of current, and they would all smell me.
Luck was on my side, and the first buck passed in range, and made it to the acorns and began to feed. The other bucks must have felt a sense or urgency in competing with the smaller buck for the limited acorns, and began to hurry their pace. All of them walked by me between 12 and 20 yards with the big boy bringing up the rear.
It was one of those too good to be true situations. The big one went by me and put his head down and began feeding on acorns. He was quartering away slightly at maybe 15 to 17 yards. There was a little limb parially covering his vitals, but it did not seem to be that big of a deal at the time. I figured I could make the shot. I was wrong. I drew and you guessed it..I hit that limb and the arrow sailed over his back!
I was so sure the buck would get away if I did not make a move, that I made a bad call in judgment. If I had waited just a little longer, he probably would have given me a better shot. But I was nervous with all of the other bucks so close, and I figured one of them would figure out the gig was up if I did not make my move.
I sent uncle Gene an email whinning to him about my misfortune. He emialed me back and said "Hey at least you got to go hunting today! I was unable to even get out hunting!" as well as some encouraging words of advice. This was probably 10 or 11 years ago.
Anway, the season went on and I did not see him again. Finally one day in mid-November, I was sitting in another tree about 75 yards from the first one, when I saw the big guy chasing a doe. He was all over her, I mean chasing her hard! She came running right too me and stopped directly under my tree. I had the bait. Just needed the big dude to make his move. She stood under me for 20 seconds or so and then started a slow trot to my left. This was all the big one could take, and he came past me at a slow trot also, as I drew my bow. Suddenly he stopped at maybe 15 yards again and was staring at the doe.
Now I knew I had him. No way he was getting away this time. Unbelievably, I shot an inch over his back! I was so upset with myself that I nearly threw my bow out of the tree. I simply could not accept the fact that I missed the same giant buck twice in the same season!
The worst part is that by this time I had taken 3 does, all with more difficult shots than what I had at this buck!
Now this is where it really gets interesting. On the very last day of the season, we had a rare snow cover on the ground in Southern Illinois. I hunted till nearly dark when I saw the big buck that I had missed twice already walk directly under another treestand I had setup nearby maybe 50 yards away. He was still standing under that stand when the last remaining light of the season faded out, while a light snow fell.
I searched for his shed antlers relentlessly but to no avail. I never saw that buck again.
:campfire: :coffee: