kmitz05

Your best buck on public land

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Everyone knows that a bow kill on public land is so much sweeter.

What is your best trophy taken on public land?

Mine was a 140" 8pt with a huge body, my uncle in law shot his biggest buck ever on public land. Good times.

dpv

Last year I took my first buck ever ( except for a button) on public land. 20 years of hunting...and I finally got a buck. A 3 point buck. in the predawn hour I stepped on 2 stump sitters in the swamp as I made my way to my chosen area on the swamps edge. I sat there for a couple hours and then saw the buck about 90 yards away. He was grazing at a creek's edge. I was carrying a 12 guage with 3 inch magnum 00 buckshot so all I could do was watch him. After a while, he showed some concern for the dogs that were running in the distance. He started walking paralel to the creek, then crossed it and came toward me and my 7 oclock position. When he got to about 45 yards I fired, he staggered and I shot again. he walked in a small circle and tumbled down. I watched him for a bit and he kept raising his head to try to get up. I gave him another round.....end of story. hardly lost any meat( I don't eat the rib meat.)

Paoutdoorsman

3 rounds of buckshot? I am so glad we're not allowed to use that here.

dpv

First round was low...hit the left leg. Second round was front quartering shot thru the chest plate and shoulder. .....that probly would have been enough but he raised his head a few times like he was gonna get up....so I gave him a last shot. that caught him in the neck and (I think ) also the shoulder and ribs. I hear people talk about buckshot being bad on here all the time. I prefer rifle hunting but around here folks drag a lot of meat out of the woods with buckshot.

7.62NATO

Called him in with the estrus bleat a couple of days after general firearms season started. About 90 yards with a Marlin 512 Slugmaster, open sights. You can't see the 9th tine from this angle, sorry! He was young, but nice and wide. I wonder how heavy those antlers would have gotten!!

ButchA

Hmmm... A nice looking 6 pointer during bow season in the George Washington Nat'l Forest in Virginia. I called him in with my Tru-Talker grunt tube. He came within 25 yards of my treestand, and never knew I was there. Thank God my Realtree Hardwoods AP camo blended in with the tree and the surroundings! I also wore a facemask and was in full camo from head to toe.

When the buck stopped to sniff the ground, I quickly went to full draw. He picked his head up and stared straight at me! I did the only thing I could think of... I closed my eyes (they say deer can see your eyes looking at them too... you know, eye-to-eye contact - and they take off at top speed). Anyway, I stayed there frozen at full draw, eyes closed, thinking that it's all over. I slowly opened one eye, just enough to see out of it. The buck was still there, sniffing the ground and nibbling on an acorn!

Bad news: I rushed the shot due to excitement. I hit the deer a little farther back then I wanted. The buck kicked out his hind legs, and then took off on me, deep into the brush. The 100gr Magnus Stinger and Beman ICS Hunter 340 arrow went right through the deer, and imbedded 5" into the ground. The arrow was covered in real dark blood with food particles and bile and other junk all over it. When I saw that, I was just sick with disgust... I knew I had gut shot him, hit his stomach, his liver, and most likely, his small intestine. I waited a while, and got down, but left my Summit Viper attached to the base of the tree to use as a reference when I paced off the distance to check the arrow. Since it was getting late in the afternoon, I called a buddy on his cell phone. We searched around and found only about a 5' blood trail - then nothing. Once the sun set, we left to give the deer time to lay down, go get a bite to eat, etc... We came back with flashlights and searched for the buck until 10:00pm and never found him...

Judging by the details to this story, you can still see that I am bothered by this. ...and that was 2 seasons ago!

Stonewall308

I've never shot a deer on public land. In fact, most of the public land I've been on doesn't look like it has many deer.

I finally joined a private club this year, and during bow season I saw deer every time I went hunting except for the full moon.

BOWHUNTERCOP

My best public land buck was a 101" 8 pointer taken in 2005 with the muzzleloader

maynerrd

this is my best public land buck

Chuck7

This 6 point I got last week in central FL
It was a trophy for me.{ -;