Great story!

You deserve to get him!......He'll come around again...this time he'll give you shot!

GOOD LUCK MAN!!! I HOPE YOU GET HIM!

Nice job bro, very very commendable.

I had something similar happen right after I started bowhunting. It was mid-December, and I got in my stand about 2:00. Within 5 minutes, I saw a group of does about 150 yards away looking right at me. I thought, "no way they can see me, i've never been spotted that far away before." About that time, I heard something running through the woods behind me. Here comes a doe, a good 8 point buck (probably 120-130 class)... and this beast of a buck. He was the biggest bodied deer I have ever seen. He dwarfed theother buck in every aspect. He had at least 12 points, long tines, and it looked like his rack was 2 feet wide. Every time the 8 point would get close, the bruiser would charge him, then come back to the doe. This was all within about 20 yards of my stand. So, Iam shaking like a leaf at this point..... The doe steps out in an opening and pees on the ground about 15 yards from my stand. I try to get an arrow ready, and I drop it..... it falls and hits several limbs on the way down... none of the three even look in my direction. So, I grab another arrow, but there is a smalltree between me and the big buck. I draw, expecting him to walk out there where the doe peed on the ground. He never does... he walks straight away, and I never have a good shot. I grunted and rattled at him, but there was no way he was leaving that doe. I've replayed that moment a thousand times in my head, thinking "what if"... i might have been able to get an arrow through there....... Still one of my best deer hunting memories ever, and I didn't even take a shot. About 10 years later, I get another shot at a once in a lifetime buck, and I capitalize on it. Karma?

Good deal, Cougs. The buck I took on Tuesday.......I had come into me last year after Thanksgiving.....and not offer me an ethical shot.....even though he was 3-4 yds, once, and 0 yds, once. I didn't shoot.....and you see how THAT worked out!

Not syaing it WILL work out like that for you....but it CAN!

I wouldn't have said a thing if you HAD shot him. Only you know your abilities. Joe Brooks says he will shoot as long as he knows he can place his arrow into the vitals of a mature buck (from WHATEVER angle or shot offered). Joe has a few of these on the wall.....so I won't argue with him.

Neat encounter, though.....NO DOUBT!

Great decision Coug.....you will be rewarded one way or another....keep after him !!!!

Nice story....What scent were you using???

Kabler Farms Doe in Heat.

Cougars09
May the deer gods smile upon you and bestow their graces for your fortitude! Well done.

-fsh

Good decision, but if that's the toughest choice you've had to make I want your life.