The "downside" of One Shot
 

I hunt with my muzzleloader or bow most of the time; it's very rare that I'll actually use a centerfire rifle even during rifle season. I've lately learned that using your "one shot" can simply be a crap shoot!

Location A (2/day bag limit) - First time hunting there (either sex day), a doe walks in first thing and I let her pass by. A big fork horn follows shortly and I let him go too, nothing after that. No big deal, though I do love does.

Location B (1/day bag limit) - Day 1 of 2 (antlered only): It's supposed to hit 80 degrees that day in the mountains (temps are normally in the 30s-40s) and mature 4-pointer walks in so I shoot him at 15 yards. I figured with temps rapidly climbing they'd be locking down soon for the day so I'm glad I shot him. 4.5 years old, big body, I'm happy. Climb the mountain for a PM turkey hunt and at the top of the mountain, I spot a giant buck and am about to have a perfect 75-yard broadside shot that I CANNOT take. I see him clearly as he passes through the gap and weep as he meanders along. This is easily the biggest buck I have ever seen while hunting.

Location B (1/day bag limit) - Day 2 of 2 (either sex day): Make the grueling climb to the top of the mountain starting out at 3:30 am. Set up nearer to where I saw the big boy. Instead, doe after doe after doe…I passed SIXTEEN does (and had a VERY cool face-to-face experience with one, only 6' away facing me while I'm simply parked against a tree trunk…it was intense!). Big boy never showed up, so I took a doe that came in at twilight. Except, whoops..it was a 5-pt buck (could not see his antlers against the mountain side). So crap, I'm down to one buck tag…

Location A (2/day bag limit) - Second time hunting there (either sex day again) and a nice doe comes in first thing. I though to myself, "Self…I really need a nice doe for the freezer…I passed on a million does last time and it got me nowhere. Take her." 15-yards bang flop grunt. GRUNT??? Of course a few seconds later, an extremely awesome buck comes in after her (8 or 10 pt, huge heavy horns). I could not reload quickly enough since my movement would have given me away. I had the powder down and the bullet in the crown and he dashed away. I grunted to no avail. I seated the bullet and replaced the primer and a very nice 6-pt came in. I was so heartbroken by what had just happened that I let him walk, as he paled in comparison to the awesome buck I missed.

This last hunt happened today and all I can see are those horns. I'm not a horn hunter…I like to provide enough venison for our family to get a meal per week for the whole year. But dang…sometimes horns are nice!

take the horns any way you can, bro & don't turn down a good shot when you've got aim! have a great night

The only downside on all your hunts was shooting a buck thinking it was a Doe. Congratulations on all your other hunts. I'm getting itchy to shoot something soon as well.

Hey man, you've had some great days afield! I wish my hunting this year has been even close to that. Where in VA are you hunting?


As a side note, today was firearms opener. Where I hunt I didn't hear a single shot until 30mins after shooting light. ??? That is a first in my 35yrs of hunting. Didn't see any deer, and heard very little shooting compared to typical opening day. Weird. I did see a decent sized black bear.

The MK85 will have to wait for another day to bark. Well maybe I'll get lucky and it will be this evening. :)

Sounds like you had some great hunting so far and are filling the freezer just fine. As for a "Truly Big Buck" ... I know the feeling. One year here it was "does only season." And what walks in front of me but one of the nicest bucks I'd ever seen in the woods. I mean a real heart stopper. And as he walked out, I thought ... next year buddy. And you too know now, where he lives. You'll get him. Hang in there.

I'm a meat hunter, if its a mature or nice size deer and legal its gonna take a ride home with me. If I get a chance at a bigger antler buck vs less antlered I will try for the big boy, cause he has more meat on his bones.

Mike, I didn't go out this morning, but will be in a corn field this evening. Good luck maybe this is the day for you!!

One thing I like about the one shot of a muzzleloader or bow is it makes one tend to wait for the best possible shot in order to connect, at least that's the way it is for me.

Yeah good luck to you too Steve! Maybe this evening will be better around here.

When I go, I typically am holding out for a nice buck...I pass up all the small bucks. I usually shoot 2-3-4 does during the season (mostly in WV) while waiting for the nice buck to show. He usually doesn't...LOL, but I keep trying! :D

If it's brown and not a yearling, I'll shoot it. Not many chances where we hunt on state land. There's been too many years where I came home empty-handed.

I've had 3-4 occasions from 1975 when I started hunting with muzzleloaders to the present that I saw a huge buck that I could have killed if I had been using my bolt action...It happens, no big deal...Some of my most exciting hunts have been with the flintlock I made myself, shooting a big old doe with the balls I made as well...

It's about the hunt, the challenge and not the antlers to me, I see roasts, not antlers...

Over the years i've killed three really nice bucks and several decent bucks. One of my nice bucks was killed in 1965 in southern MD. It was scored in 1999 at 192 points. i will never kill another buck anywhere near that one so i don't even try.

Started hunting with a muzzleloader again in 1999 after a hiatus of 25 years. Since 1999 i have passed on several nice bucks. Last year i passed on a clean 35 yard shot: The buck scored 165-175 points. He was over one mile from the nearest road. Dragging it out would have been impossible, the woods was a tangle of tree limbs downed by an ice storm.

Do like the rich folks do in that instance. They rent a helicoper with a hook to retrieve the deer for you.

Actually they get on their I-Phone and call the private hunting preserve front office, seeking some hired labor to hook the deer to the preserve's golf cart. Then pay a kitchen staff butcher $50 to gut the deer.

You brought me luck Mike!! I killed a huge broken antler buck last evening, with the Rem '06, just about the same size as my 10 point on election day. This buck had one side broken off at hairline the other 3" up. I thought it was a big doe at first. He is a old deer, face shrunken in, but he is fat an corn fed. I have two doe tags left for next week. One more deer will about do it for me this year.

I'm getting about too old to get these old heavy deer out anymore...

Good deal Steve! Congrats! :D

I hate it when that happens though...buddy of mine killed a really nice sized buck at our place in WV a few years ago, both horns were shed (early) and he thought it was a doe. I'm sure it was a nice one based on the size of the holes in his head. Yours were broke...I hope you run into the one who busted him up!

I'm still at it, no luck yet. Have seen some does (not many) and just 2 small bucks. Just not much going on at my place. Somewhere they are stacked like cordwood I guess... no food here this fall other than browse. Hopefully it will pick up, still haven't seen any rubs or scrapes which is odd for mid Nov.

I would only be able to take his picture....my two buck tags are used for this year. My son is coming in this Sunday to hunt with me for next week so hopefully he will see a nice buck.

Do you have any food plots on your place? They were hitting this corn field hard till they cut the corn last week. I still see some ears that were left by the picker, so maybe next week it will still be good hunting for us.

Good luck Mike, it will happen!!

I want to hunt where the OP was hunting. Sounds like great action. Congrats on a good year.

You are right, have had some GREAT days afield and I'm not complaining a bit! It's just that the times I HAVE passed on does I have not gotten the big buck and the ONE time I didn't pass he was right behind her!!

I have hunted the following counties this season: Craig, Powhatan, Charles City, Goochland. I usually see the most deer in Goochland but I haven't seen ONE this season!

Yes, freezer is full already! Two doe tags and a buck tag left and I'm happy to be giving meat away this year.

Yes, my wife reminded me WHY I got into hunting in the first place…to put the most organic meat you can find on the dinner table with no middle man! I've only been doing it for about 6 years now and I was terrible at first…would go whole seasons with seeing only a few deer, then I got the hang of it. So while filling the freezer is the goal it's usually easily met now…so I don't mind a little indulgence in finding some nice horns. And I have now seen two AMAZING sets of horns (for my area) in a manner of days that I just couldn't take!

Horns are nice. But they ain't very tasty no matter how long you cook em! I've been hunting a long time. This is my 51st year. I've shot a couple nice buck but never a real bruiser. Oh, I've seen them. But I was usually archery hunting and they were out of range. I've got them on my game cameras too. A couple years ago I got a pic of one so big it made me almost gasp when I saw the pic. A whitetail about 25" wide, 10 solid log main frame points with stickers on both beams. I hunted all year for him and never saw him again. I hunt public land exclusively and word gets around. No one ever laid claim to shooting him. So I presume he is still around. But at my age, just being out is pleasure enough. I have a freezer full of bison and moose from previous hunts so I can be particular what I shoot. But the way I see it, if I have to work for a shot, be it a doe or any legal buck, its a trophy in my eye and I don't care what anyone thinks.

Goochland, as in Amelia?

Recently took a good look in our freezer and there isn't space to hold a whole deer. Need to eat some of that to make room, lest I'll be giving away more venison this year.

Seeing them is good, as you know they are there. I call that motivation.
Off Topic-some of us VA. hunters need to rendezvous at a central location and do some huntin' together.(Next year) Anyone game?

Do you have a good place to hunt east of BR? I would be willing to give it a try an meet some of you all. I hate wasting my east of BR tag...

I used to make that mistake. I leaned that if a buck is following a doe, don't let it go if you have a doe tag. Shoot her and the buck will still come in and stop by her and you shoot him. That is if he is what you want. Like I have said, I'm a meat hunter and I like the does for the sweet meat. The bucks are for bone hunting!!!