I was on stand in my favorite funnel between two doe bedding areas. At 4:15 pm, I saw a decent buck across the creek from me. At first I thought it was the big 8 pt I had seen earlier this season. See pic below.


As he made his way away from me, into some brush, I gave him 3 grunts on my grunt call. I pointed it to the side and behind me to try and make it seem like the call came from another direction. He was about 60 yards away and I didn't want him to pick me off in the tree. Well, he turned and crossed the creek and came past me at 14 yards. When he first crossed the creek at about 30 yards, I eyeballed him and decided to pass. This was not the big 8 I thought it was, This one grossed about 134". Not quite my goal for this year. Any time you pass on a net P&Y, it makes you feel a little insane. I do know that if I shoot the first 130s buck to come by, I won't get my 140 buck. It's that simple.

About 20 minutes later, I saw another 8 pt across the creek. At first I thought it was the same one, but as I watched him walk away from me, I noticed that his g-2 was at least 10". The first bucks g-2 was only 7" (g-3s were 8"). This second buck was the big one in the pic and he was getting away. I tried grunting at him a couple of times but he wasn't in the mood. I backed off the calling and will wait for another opportunity.

It was a great night for me. I like it when you can make a mature buck change course and come right to you! This was the second largest buck that I've passed on. Kind of tough. It's a gamble, I might eat tag soup, but that's the way it goes. There is a lot of season left. Hopefully things will work out.