So what happens when the guy takes his entire vacation and hunts every day.....and doesn't get it done.
He's "failed"?
Sorry, guys. I put as much into this as most......and I was telling my wife, yesterday.....there's an element of "luck" involved. The difference between that buck that you might see once or twice a season being harvested ......or still out there.....can be determined by a sappling (no shot opportunity)......happenstance (happened to take 'your' trail, that morning)or 5 yards (out of your effective range).
I'm not taking anything away from anyone.....but there IS luck involved.
Scott....This is an informative post....and it makes us think twice about spouting "excuses". I'm all for accountability.
Let me ask you this.... You always say you want to take the biggest deer in your woods, if the buck you shot last year was the biggest deer in your woods last fall.... Why would this years have to be bigger? It should only have to be the biggest one currently available to hunt?
Good question. This is my personal preference. If I can't shoot the buck I'm after (the old bull)....or a larger racked buck than the one I shot last year.......I just personally don't think I'll shoot a buck. I don't see the point (again....MY personal preference). I could always see one, this Fall....and change my mind on the spot.....but I don't think so.
I never said or implied that I did not believe the buck you shot last year was the biggest one running around your hunting area. I would be foolish to say as I have no idea... I only asked how you knew it was the biggest.
I appreciate that. I guess I can only surmise that he was. I kept a trail cam up all Summer. I was in the woods a lot. I saw most of the bucks in my area on multiple occasions. I just never saw one any bigger. I talk to my neighbors a lot, too. A couple of them were telling me of a "big" deer. When I showed them the photo of him.....they all said he was the one. I'm being honest when I tell you.....people around here don't see large racked (not that mine was) bucks, too often. My wife saw her first one, last year (in the wild). She grew up 1/2 mile from where we live, now......and deer are abundant, here. The lack of antler MASS is what's missing, here. Our soil is not what yours is. The deer, here, don't get the nutrients they need to be able to grow massive racks. So.....a person could see a buck, here, and not even see the antlers. When a buck has enough head gear to be noticed from afar, here.....people take notice.
I can't say for "sure" he was the biggest. I guess that sounds pretty self-assured. But...I can truthfully say that ....if he wasn't.....I'd be surprised. I guess no one could make that statement with total confidence.
Point taken.