Kind of long but it was an awesome experience!
I went out Thursday afternoon even though it was really windy 20-30mph. I went to a new public area that just opened to hunting this year and decided because of the wind to do some stalking/scouting/hunting from the ground since I was getting out early in the afternoon and no other hunters were checked -in.
I was walking along the edge of a bluff over looking a swampy grassy area, the grass was 2-3ft tall, as I'm making my way along the bluff about 50ft above the swamp I see a deer bedded down about 50yds out from the bluff. I get a better view and it's a huge buck! I begin to plan my strategy for getting down the bluff and into position for a shot. The wind was totally in my favor blowing from the buck to the bluff. I scoot and belly crawl down this bluff and then through the tall grass and make it
over to where there is a small clump of trees and brush about 15yds from the buck. All the time I'm keeping an eye on his antlers sticking up from the grass. At this time I'm feeling very confident that I've got the upper hand on this hunt.
I get in position for the shot and hit the can call a couple of times and he doesn't move, wait a few minutes hit the call again nothing, wait a few more minutes he still doesn't move. Then there came a big gust of wind that made the grass blow around and I lost track of his antlers, once the wind stopped I looked for antlers and couldn't see anything. I'm thinking he just layed down more behind the grass so I come to full draw and standup behind the trees and then step out aiming at where he was laying and he's GONE I make a couple of calls with my mouth and walk closer to his bed he's nowhere to be found!!
There was a deep creek between us and a bluff to my right and if he would have stood up I would have seen him, I don't know how he escaped but he did and did it quickly!! From the time I spotted him unti lhe disappeared was about 40 minutes.
Although I didn't get him it was an incredible rush stalking up on him and a very hard lessoned learned. Next time I'll wait it out rather than trying to call him. He was a BIG 10pt about 20-22inches wide nice mass I would guess around 140-145 score.
I have relived it many times today trying to figure out how he did it!! I guess thats why he's so big!
This was also my first try at stalking so I guess I should be happy just getting that close.

they dont get that big for being stupid. keep on trying you will eventually have some luck with a big one. good luck

WOW. I'm wondering why you chose to hit the call when you already were within 15 yards of him? Were you hoping he would stand up? 15 yards is really close to try to call to a buck.

The armchair quarterback in me says you should have just waited it out. He would have stood up eventually and you could have nailed him then.A littlepatience and you might have had him.

At the time thats what I was thinking!

You don't know how many times today that I wished I would've waited and just stayed quiet! It was only 4:30pm I had over 2hrs of legal shooting time to wait!! I don't know what I was thinking. It was my first stalk and first encounter with a bedded deer, I just got a little anxious. It has been a very hard lesson but I learned ALOT!

I think you try what you think will work. If you would of waited him out the wind could of swirled and you would of been setting there thinking I should of tried something else! There is no right or wrong just trying and learning. Its to easy to second guess when it goes wrong but if you had set there till dark and he never got up then what? You did what you thought was right and that is great. Next time do what you think is right. Dont second guess because every hunt is different and exciting.

You were looking at sticks or something, the deer never existed. I have seen things from my stand I swear are deer bedded or antlers sticking up and so on. The sun shining in the woods creates illusions that look like things they aren't. If you hit the can and got ZERO reaction from 15 yards I bet there was no buck. On the other hand........
If you swear you saw a buck, you saw his head and eyes and ears, then maybe he did something I have only seen two times in my hunting career:A belly crawl. I have seen two different bucks evade hunters using this maneuver. They use it as a last ditch effort when they are caught in extremely close quarters with a predator that they think does not see them. It is a tactic to get a little distance between them and the predator because they feel that revealing their position is not a good idea at the moment. Maybe it goes back to when big cats were a major predator of deer and had the ability to pounce in such close proximity.

I don't think I could have counted 10pts and estimated 140class buck from looking at sticks. I watched this buck for several minutes from the bluff I was on before i ever started the stalk. As i stated I walked over to the bed he was in so with out a doubt there was a buck.
I've heard of deer doing the belly crawl and thats the only way I think he could have escaped without me seeing him.

Sounds like you became wiser from your experience and are on the right path for next time. I bet it is one you'll remember for the rest of your life...the big ones that get away tend to do that. The only other possiblity I can see from this armchair would to be eventually try to raise yourself up and shoot him where he lays (I realize it may have been to thick for that). I think waiting would have been best and even if the wind changed and the deer did smell you (but still did not know where exactly you were) he may stand and offer you a shot. The only other problem if it was me and I had to wait a long time, my big buck fever might have reached epileptic proportions

on even another note.....if for some reason you just could not resist calling in a situation like this, I think perhaps a buck grunt may have had a 1%+ better chance as he may be lured into thinking a big buck has come up on him and sees him. Still an unlikely scenario but not near as unlikely imho as a doe walking in and bleating at him (if that's what you meant by "the can", I assume)

That is what I was thinking too. Either way, it was a neat experience and I enjoyed reading it.