I was driving to my stand location two years ago about an hour before daylight in the peak of the rut. I saw a couple deer coming into the club and they seemed to be moving good before daylight. I come around a curve and on the side of the main grade stands a wide 7 pt. about 80 yds down the road-Nice buck for the area. Keep in mind Florida doesn't have a tagging system and the buck is legal to shoot by club standards(2 pts on 1 side). I keep driving down towards him and he walks out in the middle of the road. I pull within 10-15 yds of the buck(still standing in the road looking blinded by the headlights at this point), get out with my camera and take a couple quick pics of the buck.
The buck is in poor quality body-wise(ribs showing alot)apparently running hot does for a long time. He is in really bad shape and I actually felt sorry for him. He walked towards me more and I rolled down the window and beeped the horn. He just turned his head toward my truck while walking toward it-he hit my grill guard and spooked, stepping back quickly to 10 yds away.
About this time another member of my club pulls up behind me and walks to my truck. I say to him to come look at this crazy buck. He says 'shoot him or I will' and goes back to his truck. I run out towards the buck and finally scare him off the road. I can tell the guy is a little pissed off that I ran the buck off the road, but just drives off without saying anything.
Question: Would you have shot the buck before legal shooting hours, knowing you wouldn't have been caught?
