smokyghost

I can think of alot of close encounters with extremely high amounts of buck fever. one that ill never forget was about 5 yrs ago on some state land. I had hunted all morning in the rain, and about 11:00 I climbed down went to the truck and ate a sandwich. I decided to try and do a lil still hunting and get to know an area thatI was interested in a lil better. I started down a logging road or fire break that bordered a sanctuary that was off limits. I still hunted for a good hr. when all of a sudden this doe came busting out of the woods and had no idea I was even there. But she was in a hurry and kept going. I thought to myself, I didnt spook her, I wonder if shes being chased, And all of the suddenthere he was 20 yards in front of me standing there dripping wet with the darkest chocolate looking rack ive ever seen, real wide and tall. he look like he was wore right out huffing as the steam came out of his mouth. I was on the verge of a heart attack my blood was pumping so bad. it seemed like foreveras we stared each other down. when I went to draw on him he jumped clear over the lane and a brush pile that was there. I just watched him as he walked back towards the swamp. then I seen the doe pair back with him and they continued on. I never told anyone about it and I hunted there off and on thru out the season and never seen him again. MONSTER!!

BJR224

I too have only taken a few shots at running deer and have made them, except of course this one. I feel the same way, if the circumstances allow and you feel you can make the shot then take it.

wihunter32

buckfever was the cause of me missing a b&c buck this past fall bowhunting. it was a combination of misjudging the distance a bit and just having a difficult time holding completely still with the shot. i missed low and just scratched his stomach.

GobblerTX

Last year when I shot my first deer it was in the evening... I went backup to the houseand got the guys so we could go track it down because it would soon be dark and I didn't have any light on me out there...

We arrive to where we needed to be just before it became too darkand there was a huge-bodied deer, 8 or 10 points, about 75 yards infront of us with a couple of does... "Where's your gun?" they asked, so that they could shoot it... I had left it up at the house... My ex-girlfriend's 30.06 was in the truck tucked away, nothing in the clip or anything... that one got away because I didn't bring my gun with me...

Anyhoo, back to my first deer last year that I just mentioned, it's the one that 'almost' got away...

Had settled behind a log/stick blind about 80 yards from this game trail we had noticed over the summer... There's a feeder tucked into the brush about 200 yards from this blind out of view, but the bucks are not on it much, does like it more than they do for some reason or the other...

So I had been sitting there for about 2 hours and this deer with a pretty small 4-point rack but with a decent body pops out from right around the exit of that game-trail... I look him over and decide I'm taking him... I wait about 30 seconds after my decision to calm myself down, I tell myself one last time "take a breath, squeeze, don't pull" andI let her tip...

Didn't see him kick or anything, was lost in the recoil I guess, but after recovering the deer calmly runs straight to the fence, makes a beautiful leap over, runs up a brush line about 15 yards or so and darts into the brush, I listen for any type of fall and crash, but heard nothing... I thought I had missed him...

5 minutes later I pulled my head out of my hands and walked over to see if I could find some blood... looked for about 10 minutes and nothing... went back and buried my head in my hands for 5 more minutes... decided I'd just head back up to the house, but something told me to go look again...

Sure enough, about 10 yards past the exit of the game trail I found some blood, looked straight for the fence and went under... Walk to the brush line and starting walking up the line, found blood going into the brush around 15 yards up, noticed it would get dark soon and headed back...

He was about 20 yards into the brush, very thick stuff, but we got him...

Highlight of my life so far...

BJR224

Yeah, those deer can be wierd like that. Sometimes they run of looking like you didn't even touch'em when you really made a good shot.