Trad Gang

title says it all, what was it?  the ONE most spectacular animal you saw last fall.  none of that "i have 3" business, just pic one.

mine was rather easy, it was on the muley hunt that I had so many pics of on here, yet I never got a pic of this guy.

I first saw him about an hour after id worked around one of the herds id been seeing in the general area I was hunting.  they weren't in a great spot that evening. anyway, I was working back their way to see if they were in a better spot when I saw "him"  he come out of a side canyon and simply started marching toward the herd. I could see several of the does but the terrain blocked a lot of the action. he never broke stride and even though I was a quarter mile away, I could see the purpose in his gait. I was moving in as fast as possible without being noticed in open country when he went out of sight and I herd the fight break out over the hill. i ran as fast as i could to cover distance, but the fight ended just before i was able to move through some buckbrush and get to where i could see the aftermath.  and that was when i finally got to study "him"...

i don't believe ive ever seen a bigger bodied deer.  he didn't have the highest scoring rack, as he wasn't overly wide and his forks were only so/so.  but he was HEAVY!  and, he was a warrior. blood ran down his face where one of the other buck's antlers had got him. he was battered and bruised, but he had the does and still looked as proud as when i was marching in.  there is no way in words i could ever paint a good enough pic of that buck, and yet for all of the actual pics i took on that hunt i didn't get one of him.  was too busy hunting and not busy enough sitting back and seeing the beauty of the situation.  i remember him though..


ok, your turn!  what was the number one animal you saw last fall?

I had a unusual year the grandest animal was mule deer does, whitetail does, one forky w/t, and zero elk.

I found a road killed skwerl that just HAD to have been on steroids.  His last utterances were " I'll be back. . " (sorry, Arnold, just teasing).  He was without doubt the biggest baddest fox skwerl I had ever seen.
ChuckC

I called in a beautiful Merriam's Turkey last spring.  He came in strutting, the sun was hitting him perfectly and he had the darkest black feathers with the whitest accents and his head was blood red and looked as big as a football.  I missed him.  Hope to see him again this spring.

It would have to be this guy

 (http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii51/rburtis1/8ba5328da291d6bc9a23a5ab9fe76822.jpg~original) (http://s261.photobucket.com/user/rburtis1/media/8ba5328da291d6bc9a23a5ab9fe76822.jpg.html)

I have to say the grandest animal I came across last season was a ruffed grouse. To say grouse are in my blood is an understatement, I truly love those birds and everything they represent in Pennsylvania. There was one in particular I flushed in October. It was one of those perfect, sun drenched fall days we all dream about, he flushed in an aspen patch, right next to an old stone wall, behind him you could see down a deep valley with two ridges rising beyond, the sun was just right that it shone through his wing and tail feathers, almost making him glow. I can still see that snapshot in my mind, clear as I can see the ice and snow outside right now.  We all have those moments, images of the world that stick with us forever.  When I'm too old to chase grouse, deer, trout and turkeys, I know I'll be sitting and replaying those images in my mind, and I have a feeling that ol ruff will be one of them.

For me, it was a deer we dubbed tall boy. Been hunting him for 3 years. Big body 8 pointer with the tallest rack I've seen in person of any deer. Wide too,may past his ears.

I had him come in during bow season and got to full draw on him. I was so calm as I usually check all emotion until the animal is down. He came in right behind my tree about 7 years through a bunch of brush. I didn't have a shot but he didn't bust me. He kept making his way along this small just inside the woodline. He cut in at 32 yards right by a tree. He stopped and sniffed and when he put his head down I went to full draw. He came around past that tree and i bleated at him but he didn't stop. I bleated louder and he kept going. Same pace but now all I could see was his butt.

I took it for granted he would stop. I think he gave me the finger as he strolled away.

In my neck of the woods huge bucks are a dime a dozen. It was November 7th, 35* and just starting to snow. Perfect cold day in the heat of the rut.
I was standing up in my stand, facing the ridge behind me. When I turned around and looked in the food plot, there he stood - about 40 yards away. I didn't even need to count the points to know he was a trophy.

Just as I grabbed my bow off the rack and started knocking an arrow he came trotting, nose to the ground, head on right at my tree. He was going to walk under me at 5 yards and turn broadside, a chip shot.

He got to about 20 yards and all of the sudden looked up right as I was reaching to turn my video camera on. The movement caught his eye and he slowly backed his way up and took a different trail right on the edge of the food plot just out of range and I never saw him again the rest of the season.

Awesome encounter but heartbreaking after all of the hard work that went into prepping for the season it was devastating to be that close on a huge mature buck.

My dad was actually about 80 yards away and watched the buck walk right up to me, but of course my radio was dead so I had no idea. He was at least a 140" buck and hands down the biggest buck I've ever seen on my little 30 acres of private land.

Alex

I didn't see anything that was grand. 1 st time in a long time i did not lay eyes on at least one mature whitetail buck.

Watched a wolf chasing geese around Prince of Wales. That was pretty cool.

I got to see a ton of buffalo in Nebraska and South Dakota last spring while on a mermaids turkey hunt. Truly awe inspiring animals!

 Goose smasher

QuoteOriginally posted by Goose smasher:
I got to see a ton of buffalo in Nebraska and South Dakota last spring while on a mermaids turkey hunt. Truly awe inspiring animals!

 Goose smasher

Now if I were hunting mermaids,... The buffalo, would pale in comparison!! Especially ones from Nebraska and the Dakotas.

QuoteOriginally posted by Matty:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by Goose smasher:
I got to see a ton of buffalo in Nebraska and South Dakota last spring while on a mermaids turkey hunt. Truly awe inspiring animals!

 Goose smasher

Now if I were hunting mermaids,... The buffalo, would pale in comparison!! Especially ones from Nebraska and the Dakotas.

I think I need to turn the "auto complete/correct" off on my cell phone too. It's going to get me slapped or arrested someday.

The grandest animal I saw last year was on the cover of a magazine. Other than that, I saw a couple of fork horn whitetails, a doe and some fawns. No turkeys; hardly anything except for squirrels and they were pretty average.

I'm hoping this year is going to be spectacularly successful.

Mine was on a lease in south Tx. It was a 5-6 year old 10 point whitetail. Roughly 19" spread and long heavy tines. Had him at 13 yrds faceing me with tension on my string. He looked up at me and he turned to leave. As he quartered away I came to full draw. The next 1/2 second was in super slow motion as the arrow flew perfectly straight and struck him dead in the shoulder 3" forward of where I was looking. My heart sank. We never found him. Got pics of him 2 weeks later and another guys son killed him 2 weeks after that with a rifle. I never told the story on here because I'm still not over it!  Worst part was they sent me pics of the deer. Now that's just cruel!! Lol

Three way tie in 2014:

In early-September I had come back from kayaking with my wife and was putting the boats away when I came around the corner of the house and a brute of a black bear, maybe 450 pounds, was standing in my yard between me and the driveway. He lumbered off slowly, stopped several times to look back at me, then stopped in the driveway and took a huge crap in the middle of the drive before moving into the woods. Smart aleck!

I was sitting in the middle of a stand of white oaks in SW Michigan in mid-October and was surrounded by deer . I shot a small buck the fourth time he came back for goodies and while waiting a reasonable amount of time before going after him, a monster 8 point with the body of a Shetland pony followed a doe under my stand and they fed there, inside 10 yards,  for 15 minutes. All I could do was watch.

That same evening, in a different stand on a different piece of property, a diving redtail hawk knocked a red squirrel off a branch and drove it into the ground directly below my stand.

Saw a full grown, well fed indigo snake.  Federally protected, endangered and lives in my yard.

Excluding a pretty good 6 point bull that I saw for fleeting seconds, it had to be this whitetail; Hard to tell in the picture, but he is a 5x5 with a couple of odd points to add to the fun. Hunted him most of the rut, and saw him numerous times, but never in range. The feeding deer is a mature doe, for size comparison. With luck, we will meet up next fall.
 (http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac67/peastes/IMG_0377_zpsf4f3f91a.jpg) (http://s886.photobucket.com/user/peastes/media/IMG_0377_zpsf4f3f91a.jpg.html)

I played tag with a 180 typical last year. It was killed by a kid that drove his pickup within 50 yards of someone else's tree stand and shot it after a 15 minute sit. Go figure, I guess it is always better to be lucky than good.

Mine was on a bowhunt the evening before rifle season in Dorchester Co, MD for Sika deer. I was on the ground backed up to a very thick greenbriar thicket and a stag bugled right in front of me very close and it made my hair stand up. I could hear him breath but couldn't see him. Dark came and he never showed however my hunting partner saw him come out of my woods onto the road and he was a magnificent 6 pt. stag. Putting two and two together he had snuck behind the greenbriar thicket within 20 yards of me downwind and I never saw or heard him. Point is I didn't see him but my partner did.

A dove.

My grandfather went into a home for Alzheimer's and I inherited his 20g, his .22, his hunting knife, and a few other things. The following weekend I took papaws 20g squirrel hunting in remembrance of him but there were no squirrels to be seen. However there were lots of dove and my best friend said he hadn't ever eaten dove and asked if it was good to eat. So, we started dove hunting. As this was the first animal taken with a new to me family gun, it was a very special animal for me. I'll always remember it. I know it isn't an archery kill, but it brought back a ton of memories and getting to share that hunt and kill with my best friend made it a fantastic day in the field.

 Photo removed.  I appologize for posting a photo of a weapon other than trad bow.  Thanks for the heads up.

Thick chested, heavy horned whitetail. Probably had 8-10" brows. I was on the ground, he stayed across a fence a 20 yards through the trees. Think I'd call him an 'onion buck'.

Had a good antelope buck come into a stand on the Spearhead ranch last September but he must have seen me move and within 10 seconds   :notworthy:   was out of there!!   :banghead:

On the PBS Georgia Hog Hunt in February....I was able to come within 15 yards of a legitimate 300# boar that is totally wild and living on very secluded island.  It was a standoff as he was slightly quarting towards me behind a tuff of river cane over his shoulder and vitals...and I was kneeling in pluff mud with a 40# pack on my back...longbow at hand with tension on the string...and breathing hard from adrenaline.  He turns and walkes straight away from me at a brisk walk....100yds to other side of clearing and proceeds on his way.  I track him for two more hours with no luck....    Come to find out from locals he is a bit of a legend....and has killed a couple catch dogs and they say he has 6" tusks.  Did not get close enough to measure but I do know he was at least twice as large as the one I shot last year at 168#.  A true, legitimate mature huge red furred boar...     Almost felt like seeing a Yeti.  Even without blood on the ground or pork in my freezer from him....to be that close to such a wiley and majestic animal that is the king of his domain....was an honor.

For me this year it was a bobcat that came within a yards of me. This bobcat is one of the biggest and best coloration of any have seen.

My nemisis for 2 years, hopefully this will be the year. A real good one for coastal SC.  (http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab241/katman111/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-10/CB3EF0EB-7F3B-4453-A012-B07D2DAFE807.jpg) (http://s868.photobucket.com/user/katman111/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-10/CB3EF0EB-7F3B-4453-A012-B07D2DAFE807.jpg.html)
 (http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab241/katman111/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-10/ABAC2B0E-05A7-4C7C-92EF-FB82C490DDD2.jpg) (http://s868.photobucket.com/user/katman111/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-10/ABAC2B0E-05A7-4C7C-92EF-FB82C490DDD2.jpg.html)

A Colorado Shiras Moose at 35 yards in September.  No tag.  Mature bull after dark.  I could only see him as a head on silhouette.  He decided I wasn't worth his time and sauntered off to my left and beyond, croaking with every step.
homebru

Southern Zone NY, bow only suburb 50 miles outside NYC public land. I had a very nice 10 pointer walk right to me. His basketball hoop rack stuck out beyond his extended ears. I first saw him at 80+ yards out from my natural ground blind, a fallen dead pine crossing a rock wall.  He changed direction and walked to within 40 yards broadside and checked the wind. He then proceed to walk directly to me as if he was on a string with not so much as a sapling in between us. He stopped at 3 yards and crossed behind a large tree. I shifted my butt on my Torges seat for a possible shot and he turned inside out. I was eating a PB and honey sandwich at the time
I first saw him. Threw it to the ground to get my draw hand on the string. To this day I am totally convinced he smelled and was attracted to the peanut butter.

Probably this guy. A 10'+ brown bear with a 28 1/2" skull.

He got hit by an SUV and I think he made it further than the then destroyed SUV did. What a waste.
I bumped a big one in the brush at the headwaters of the same drainage a few years ago and I have to
wonder if its the same bear.

Pics aren't great as it was wet all around and I was only wearing sneaks.
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 (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh271/chinook907/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsy53xi9sz.jpg) (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/chinook907/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsy53xi9sz.jpg.html)
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Check out the length of the right front leg and claws at the end of it, relative to the guy in blue.

 (http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh271/chinook907/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsoad3kij2.jpg) (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/chinook907/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsoad3kij2.jpg.html)

After applying...unsuccessfully for 42 years for an Oregon bighorn sheep tag, I went up to northeast Oregon in December and got to shoot some bighorns with with my camera. This fella was pretty special....

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/treekiller/Wildlife%20Photos/DSC_2963copy_zps931f9425.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/treekiller/media/Wildlife%20Photos/DSC_2963copy_zps931f9425.jpg.html)

I shared a bit earlier this year about a mature buck that came crashing into rattling horns.  He came bounding across the crest of a hill, but as soon as he laid eyes on my decoy, he locked up - at about 35 yards, quartering to.  He then preceded to carry on a staring contest with my decoy for a couple of minutes.  

Finally, he had enough and went trotting away.

I saw a typical 10pt whitetail on the farm that I hunt. He was a perfect 10pt with white antlers. Hopefully  he made it through the winter. He should be a bruiser next year.

While I seen some decent WV whitetailed bucks... the grandest animal would have to be the 6x elk that I bugled in for my son.

He was tall and wide... but a little thin up top. When he bugled from 50 yards away... it felt like he made the trees sway!

Losing weight and getting ready for September 2015

No question.  This guy.  Like a Clydesdale with antlers he ambled across my property just before Christmas - taking his time.  My first clue was when my lab squeaked out a 'dad, help!!!' bark.  After putting the dog inside I took this picture through my binoculars.

 (http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e341/Jack_Breeding/Moose2_zpsyydhek4c.jpg)

AJ

I thought I was coming down with a cold a couple days before our deer season opened last year. On opening day, I didn't feel right and had a little cough. I hunted with a cough drop in my mouth every minute and didn't see a thing. By the second day I had a fever and my cough was getting to the point that it was gonna make hunting tough. I didn't hunt that morning, but I tanked up on cold medicine and went out and sat in one of my brush blinds at 1:00 that afternoon and tried not to cough. Just before dark, I had a yearling doe come through. I made a judgement call, and shot her. It turned out that I made a good choice. I ended up with a case of pneumonia that took three courses of different antibiotics and most of the season to get rid of. So... That was the grandest animal I saw last year. Great pictures and stories, thanks.

Bob

Awesome pic Tree killer!     :campfire:

Mine was a grey fox. I had him at 10yds right in front of me but could not shoot him because the landowner had told us not to shoot his foxes!

I've seen a few over the years, but never had one in shooting range before.

Bisch

Bob, sorry that you were sick through the season..there was some nasty stuff going around last fall. But your post reminded me that maybe the best answer is that the grandest animal I saw last season is the one whose body feeds my family this winter, and you certainly got that one.

I saw 2 125ish bucks, both within range, no shot. Pretty grand for NJ. But the grandest time I had last fall, and they're all pretty grand anymore, was the evening I stood on a small wildtrout stream and watched a mink trolling for browns.

(http://i.imgur.com/GZk42gp.jpg?1)
 (http://i.imgur.com/dox5IsT.jpg)  (http://i.imgur.com/DSh7jUb.jpg)

QuoteOriginally posted by mangonboat:
Bob, sorry that you were sick through the season..there was some nasty stuff going around last fall. But your post reminded me that maybe the best answer is that the grandest animal I saw last season is the one whose body feeds my family this winter, and you certainly got that one.

Thanks mangnonboat, and you do make a very good point.  ;)  


Bob

This lasts year I saw more bucks with good racks than in all the prior 20 years.  Yet, everyone had a reason that I could not shoot him.  I did take 2 smaller ones so there is meat in the freezer.
I did get to stare at a TEN point buck for at least a 1/2 hr as he fed near my stand entirely undisturbed by me: I had just shot my buck (small) for the season that morning.  Dang. Never saw one before on the hoof and didn't even know that they were in the vicinity.

Best buck I saw all season, too bad it was on my way home instead of from my stand!!

 (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b147/fireman_3311/BD96F4B6-C080-46E1-9F5E-6F7E391582C4_zpspn1m7hhc.jpg) (http://s18.photobucket.com/user/fireman_3311/media/BD96F4B6-C080-46E1-9F5E-6F7E391582C4_zpspn1m7hhc.jpg.html)

Tree killer, that's truly magnificent!

While mule deer hunting in Wyoming got close to a 6x6 elk....never been that close to one before. What majestic creatures!

Tree Killer, that is a real old warrior. Great picture.

the 6x6 elk that i shot in Montana - beautiful 330 class elk.  First one for me and absolutely majestic!!!!

not the massive animals you guys saw but just as impressive to me. so, the grandest animals I laid eyes on last year....

1st. a BIG bobcat chasing a fox squirrel. amazing to watch and very entertaining until the squirrel went up a tree and the cat lunged for him hitting a barbed wire strand full speed. sorta shook him for a bit. never saw him again.

2nd. 2 coyotes paired up on a hunting mission on my farm. one black and the other brintle colored. even though I trap, call and shoot every one I can they are an awesome animal. they normally only make one mistake in their life and it's usually the one that kills them.

Ron, that ram is amazing! I can only dream about sending a shaft through one.

My buddy and I have been after this dude for three years now. We each have had some encounters with him on a few occasions. I am happy to say my buddy killed him this past November finally.

(http://i59.tinypic.com/o03yf8.jpg)

My "grandest animal" for last year is easy. It was the black bear that came and sat down less than 10 feet away from me, on my right side while I was ground hunting bears. He sat directly downwind of me, and decided not to give me a chance to slip an arrow between his ribs. Nevertheless, as soon as he was out of sight, I had to sit down again because the adrenaline rush that he gave me had replaced my legs with jello. I don't know how much he weighed, but I know that his head was the same height as mine while I was sitting on my Walmart stool.

He's gonna be the tippy-top of my list for quite a while!

John and I were in Alaska back in September and watched a 70+ bull out about 6 miles away.  He was around the area for 3 days and every time you saw him it was a real WOW moment.

Too far to go after but great to see.

Mike

not last year but this was pretty cool

 (http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii51/rburtis1/IMG_1115.jpg~original) (http://s261.photobucket.com/user/rburtis1/media/IMG_1115.jpg.html)

I had a 150" class 10 point pass me out of range in early October. At fifty yards, the mass of his beams were the most noticeable feature of his rack. Great mass.
I saw him a second time in early November as he followed a doe about seventy-five yards away from me. With nothing to lose, I tried to "wheeze" him away from her. He stared in my direction, but the doe didn't care for it and trotted back the way they came from, taking him with her. Never saw him again, but he was a great buck for our heavily-hunted public ground.

(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/Dylans2014buck.jpg)
This was the largest buck I laid eyes on last year and my 14 year old son was the one lucky enough to get the 20 yard shot with his new compound.  It was his second buck he ever took in as many years bowhunting; to say he was estatic was an understatement.  It was around 2" larger than any buck I have taken, so he now has official bragging rights around the house!    :clapper:   I was able to hear the shot (I was down the hill from him 40 yds)and see this big beast fleeing the scene.  When I walked up to my son he was shaking tremendously and almost in tears with excitement....what an incredible morning he and I will never forget.  AWESOME!!!

quote:

---

Originally posted by Longbow917:
 (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/Dylans2014buck.jpg)
This was the largest buck I laid eyes on last year and my 14 year old son was the one lucky enough to get the 20 yard shot with his new compound.  It was his second buck he ever took in as many years bowhunting; to say he was estatic was an understatement.  It was around 2" larger than any buck I have taken, so he now has official bragging rights around the house!     :thumbsup:

Bob