First off ...........CONGRATS.............thats a darn nice buck in my opinion !!

Secondly...........THANKS...........i WAS considering hunting on public ground at a local lake for gun season this year................it would have been my first time hunting on public ground for deer during the gun season...........after hearing what you went through with the crowds and the IDIOTS i think i will stay put on the PRIVATE farms that i always hunt on. I was considering hunting on the public land because i had seen a big buck twice while squirrel hunting with my son out there but i had heard the horror stories from other guys about how stupid some guys can be on the public ground...........im sure glad i read your post it will save me the frustration of dealing with the IDIOTS !!! THANKS AGAIN and CONGRATS on a nice buck

Nice buck! congrats. I feel ya on the whole staeland thing! buutt durring bow season staeland isnt that bad.

i also walk back as far as i can about 1 and a 1/2 miles but people have lease land around some of it and the lake is right there so some come by boat. but i rarely see any one but its bow only all season long. thats why i like it during gun season.


nice buck but just wondering why the doe wasnt yours you put the kill shot on it doesnt really matter both of you were happy, just wondering why you didnt take it home.

I drug a buck 75 yards through the woods by myself and it just about broke me. Had to take 2 or 3 breaks. No way I could drag a 200 lbs. deer for 2 miles.

To clarify, my experience was only bad on opening day, and I would likely have a similar experience on any Saturday (Sunday hunting is not permitted in VA). When I went back the following Wednesday, the only gunshots I heard were mere pulses in the distance (completely unlike Saturday).

buck-i, I didn't take the doe because she was a faun and not worth the trouble IMO (and I didn't want to waste a tag on her). Had he not come around, of course I would have taken her. I was so pissed though that my hands were shaking for 10 minutes afterward. Pissed at the guy's idiocy, but also pissed that I had to shoot her after I had decided to let her go. It's not every day you have a deer making eye contact with you from 10 feet and not be the least bit alarmed. It was kinda a special moment. I know that might sound crazy to most of you. For me, though I thoroughly enjoy hunting, I have a love/hate relationship with the kill itself.

If you have kids steal their plastic sled. Im only five foot four AND 118 JUST PULLED A BIG DOE 600 YARDS BY MYSELF. had to take a couple short breathers but the sled helps tremendously try it.

Congrats on the buck! certainly a nice one. And unfortunate about the troubles of state land but there are always so many guys in the woods on saturdays. Now you learned it might just be best to stay out of there until week days. But congrats again

as i am reading your story i was worried that maybe a similar situation with the doe would exist, but glad you got a nice deer, especially for your first one!!!

congrats on the buck thats why i hunt privet land because of the idiots on state land .

I think he is a great buck! Congrats!