First day, front row seat!
 

I went out dark and early on Friday and set the stand in the area I wanted to use that I also bow hunt. I hunt public ground, and have seen some awesome bucks in this area. Started out flashing the light at someone walking in after having been set up for 1/2 hour. At daylight I see another hunter about 200 yds to my left. I hunt a bedding area so usually it takes a little while to get things going. At about 7:30 I start seeing some does meandering in. Close to 8:00 things start getting stirred up. Does are running and I could hear grunting across the river about 250 yards away. It's amazing how you can hear when it's all quiet in the morning. At about 8:30 I finally spot the source of the mahem. He is a nice branch antlered buck that resembles a mule deer from a distance. I could see about 10 pts. through the binoculars. He is aggressively chasing does and other bucks and I watch all of this for about 1 1/2 hourbefore he finally swims the river onto my side. I had already decided to shoot him if the opportunity presents itself. After chasing a few does on my side, the doe he evidently was after heads my way. She comes through the willows at about 85 yds. and presents a broadside shot for about 10' before disappearing into the willows. I go through my mind that this will be the only shot if he follows her exact steps. Well, as I turn my attention back to him, he's at 400 yards and closing, I see in the background across the river a "huge" 12 pt. at about 600 yds. I have to make a decision now on whether to pass on this buck closing the distance and fast! The old adage "1 in hand is better than 2 in the bush" goes through my mind and I decide to shoot the buck closing in. I drop to 1 knee on the stand, turn the scope on my Mossberg up to 5x, and bring the gun to shoulder. As I see him on the other side of the willows, I release the safety and look through the scope. He follows the doe track step by step. As he comes into the clearing at 85 yds. he is head on. I wait for him to turn broadside, and as he does I gently squeeze until the unexpected "boom" echoes through the bottom. As I look up he is laying on the ground kicking as another small 6 pts. nonchalantly walks past his flailing body. I eject the shell and wait to make sure he doesn't stand up. After about 2 minutes I eject all shells and climb down. The Hornady SST entered through the left shoulder and exited through the opposite shoulder which anchored him. He has 15 scorable pts. and a beautiful rack that will look great on the wall. His body weight was only 142 lbs. which makes me wonder if he is only a 1 1/2 year old buck! The genetics are good in this area that I've hunted for 6 years, so I believe it could be possible. My son has a permit, so today we are off to find themonster that I saw yesterday. Nothing would please me more than to see him score on that brute! Sorry for the long story.

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

WOW, Thats a great buck and a story. Nicechoice on the decision you make! Also nice pic!
Congrats

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

Awesome buck, congrats. I see no way in heck that he is only 1 1/2. Way to go!

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

Here is another picture. Buckhunter, I agree, but for this area 142 lbs is aweful light for a 2 1/2 year old.

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

Good decision! You'd be sick know if you'd let that nice buck pass and the 12 point wouldn't have come by.

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

They loose a lot of body weight chasing and not eating. Great buck, I would have waited for the bigger one.

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

Thats a gorgeous deer, congrats!

RE: First day, front row seat!
 

That could explain the low body weight, he seemed to be very aggressive and no other buck wanted anything to do with him. All it took was a glance and a step in their direction and they were out of there. I noticed he was also gimpy as he was running. I figured maybe an arrow stuck him somewhere but after he was on the ground I noticed that one of his front legs had a split hoof. The hoof was actually coming off of the pad. I'm guessing another injury caused from the consant chasing. It was a great opportunity to watch him for about 1 1/2 hours before pulling the trigger. Kind of gives me a glimpse into his status in the herd. The big bruiser was in the area that he actually turned around and came across the river toward me. I'm sure that is where the intimidation stopped. I would guess that brute would field dress 200-250 lbs. Even at 600 yds.he was impressive in rack and body size. Maybe we'll get another look at him.