He earned that name back on opening day of the '09 season. I let him walk as a 2 1/2yr old 7pt.

He walked by at seven yards and then hammered a scrape that was less than 20yds. away...
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15 minutes later he pushed a doe by me, I shot the doe. Then here he came by again at about 10yds....he got another free pass.

Everyone I showed the pix to told me I was nuts to pass him up around here. Never saw him again in '09...


Early this past fall, in September, this guy showed up on one of my trail cams under a few White Oaks...
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I immediately knew it was "Lucky" by the spacing between his tines, and he'd grown quite a bit as a 3 1/2yr. old.

Then again on a hot srape that was being hammered by several bucks. The same scrape that "Lucky" worked in the earlier pix from '09...
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If there was one buck I could have picked to kill around here, he definately would have been the one. He was close to home, where there isn't too many good bucks and I just felt like he was "the one".

I really felt confident I'd get a crack at him.

I hunted close by the scrape several times, only when conditions were perfect...never laid eyes on him, or any of the other bucks that were hitting the scrape.

As the season progressed, I moved further in the property and found a perfect ambush...ended up killing 3 does in this spot over the next month and a half.

I really felt with the amount of does I was seeing in the area, he'd be with them eventually.

Again, I saw several small bucks, tons of does, and never saw him once!

This area literally had as much sign as I've ever seen. The oaks had dropped their bounty, and the bucks made it very obvious they were spending some time in the area fattening up on acorns.

But the season ended without a sighting.

Then today...

Awesome story, WOW what a beautiful Buck,

Tease.
homebru

I was in the area at daybreak to listen for gobbling.

Didn't hear anything, so I went further in to check on my stand that I hadn't pulled yet.

Then scouted around for a better possible set-up.

I was about 100yds behind my stand looking to see why I saw so many deer up there during the season when I thought I heard a gobble...the first of the year!

I started to move closer to get a better fix on the birds. Heard them again, at least 2 gobblers, and started down the hollow toward them to see if I could see them.

I'd just come over a knob to hit a logging road and saw this...
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Before I even uncovered the antler, I knew "who" had dropped it...
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It was one side of "Lucky's" headgear...
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The spacing was again a dead give-away...
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The turkey's gobbled for a bit while I took some pix. Then quit after a bit. But I had better things going on now....I searched a while for the other side to no avail.

I had to get back to the house after about an hour of looking...
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I'll be back to try again for the other side...

Good to know he made it through the season, and hopefully through our pretty tough winter. We'll see in in late summer if he shows on a trail cam.

Today was a good day!

Great find! Good luck with the other side

Very nice Curt!  

There should be much anticipation come this fall.

Thanks for sharing.

Excellent Bro!! It is time this fall......

Cool.......With those leaves on it was it from this winter or last? Just curious to what you think!

Ron, Good eye!

It was in an area full of acorns and both the deer and turkeys had been moving the leaves around to find what was left of them. They'd almost covered this gem up!

Without a doubt his rack from last year bud.

He wasn't that big in '09...

I think it is exciting to see a buck grow up on camera.  Whether it was an intentional pass or a missed arrow it is very exciting to watch him grow bigger the next year.

Great find!  You tell a nice story and you definitely have a good buck to look forward to this fall.  I really like your camo outfit!

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

I think you and that buck have something in common.

"lucky"          

Great find Curt  

awesome story, i like your camo....what brand is it?

Thanx guys...the "history" with this buck is growing....

The clothing is KUIU...a TG sponsor
http://www.kuiu.com/

Check out the KUIU blog, I think you'll be impressed.

You can also do a search here on Trad gang, there's been several threads about KUIU.

In these pix I'm wearing proto-type Guide jacket, Guide hat, and Attack pant...awesome gear!

Very nice story.  Sweet dreams.

Very nice. I let a 7 pointer walk a couple of years ago. Had pics of him the next two yrs. Boy did he grow. No pics this past year & no word of anyone taking him. Hope he's still there.

Good luck on the other side.

Nice find, Curt.

Wow!A pass up that pays!If only more hunters were more patient... congrats Curt and thaks for sharing