rangerstud620

I' ve been after my dream buck, a monster 10 point since last year. I had him at 35 yds last year but he offered no shot. I hadn' t seen him this year until today. He was the 3rd in a group of 4 bucks that came by 30 yds from my stand. Ever since last year, it' s been a constant thought in my head of what I would do if I had a marginal shot at this buck. Well I had a marginal shot today...and passed it up. There were a couple branches between me and him and I decided not to risk wounding him. So, I watched the buck of my dreams walk away. He was a 5x5, very heavy beams, at least 20 inches inside spread. He was definetely close to a 160" buck. And he had to make a rub as he walked away, just to torture me some more.

Rifle season opened today. Much to my dismay, about 5 minutes after this brute walked by me, a rifle hunter was fortunate enough to harvest this deer.[:' (] Man, talk about disappointing. Knowing that this buck walked out of my dreams and onto someone else' s wall is going to haunt me for awhile. Especially since I could have made the shot had I been hunting with a rifle. But, I guess that' s bowhunting. Fortunately, there are many more bucks in the woods.

tnichols

Man you did the right thing......sometimes doing the right thing is hard, but you have a clear concious and you will sleep well at night. Just think if you wounded the deer and he went off and died. At least he was killed cleanly and suffered no pain. What goes around comes around. I bet your next deer will bigger than him! Good Luck!

jerry606

You did the right thing. Eventually you' ll be rewarded for it.

5 shot

I feel for you. It' s our Muzzle loader season. I have been bowhunting, but with the 80 degree temps I decided to break out the muzzle loader yesterday. I had check the zero early in the week to make sure everything was ok. I had seen a nice buck on Monday of this week, just out of bow range. I missed a doe Saturday with the bow, and was a little frustrated. Well a big heavy tall 6 point appears off in the distance. Not " huge" but real heavy mass and tall Ivory antlers. I shooter for sure. It' s a longer shot, but with a good rest I know I can make it. Click goes the saftey and the sights are in place, boom the cloud of smoke rises, I can' t see anything. I wait an hour get down and go look. NOTHING! No blood, No hair, NOTHING! what happend. I go back to the house and shoot, the gun for some reason was shooting 8 to 9 inches high? I must have shot right over him!![:' (][:@]With the miss on Saturday and then yesterday I am not feeling all that good myself. I do know how you feel, sometimes we gamble and it pays off, sometimes not. I have found that by doing the right thing, it' s not always easy, but if you would have made a bad hit, it' s likely no one would enjoy that buck, at least now you allowed someone else to be happy, that counts for something. God works in funny ways, and he may have something bigger in mind for you? Then again this could be one of those " lessons" we all hate

DaveH

I know how you feel too. A couple years ago, I passed a 17 yard shot on a HUGE 9 point in the woods in front of my house because he was quartering towards me. He was killed by a gun hunter and discovered WEEKS later by a farmer friend of mine. By the time I got to see the remains, someone (not the farmer) had sawed off the rack. See, it couda been worse.

huntnma

all i have to say is GOD BLESS YOU.......you poor man, but you know you did the right hting and God will reward ya' s

jerseyhunter

So what happened? Why was it off?

rangerstud620

5 shot is definetly right in saying " God works in funny ways." I thought redemption was in order this right away this morning. About 15 minutes after daylight, I see a deer coming towards me. I could see it was just a small basket rack 6 pt. Then I see movement behind him...it' s a huge 8 pt!!!. He would easily score over 140, probably closer to 150. I' d never seen this buck before. The wind direction was perfect, he had no clue I was there, but he turned and headed harmlessly to the south.

The closest he ever got was 40 yds, and never presented a shot.[:' (] These are public land bucks, so I know my chances at getting one this big one are probably numbered. I' m headed out tomorrow again and hopefully I will have some good news to share, along with some pics of course

JeramyK

Hang in there. You' ll get your chance. There are definately other (bigger) bucks out there.

rangerstud620

Well, no luck with ol' Mr. Whitetail today. As I was packing up my stand this morning though, another hunter came walking by me. We started talking and it turns out he is the one who shot the monster 10 pt on Friday. He had it scored and it went 165. WOW!![] For public land, that is a true brute. He was still excited about that deer, and rightfully so. I' m not sure if there is a bigger one down there yet, but there certainly are some other dandy bucks running around that I would be more than happy to get a shot at.