Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
03-26-2005, 08:32 PM
#21
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Central PA
Posts: 590
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
Negative. The largest racked buck I had was at ground zero... straight down at the base of my tree. My mistake on that moring hunt, looking the wrong while grunting a smaller buck into bow range. Figured the steps coming closer from my six would be just a doe... I was badly mistaken.
He walked away, straight away... a magnificent buck. Ranged him from 0 to 53 yards as he slipped over the ridge. A typical 12 pointer with all the bells and whistles. Super wide, heavy mass and ultra tall points. Simply beautiful. Letting an arrow go would have been just too risky... I never drew my bow and never saw him again.
He walked away, straight away... a magnificent buck. Ranged him from 0 to 53 yards as he slipped over the ridge. A typical 12 pointer with all the bells and whistles. Super wide, heavy mass and ultra tall points. Simply beautiful. Letting an arrow go would have been just too risky... I never drew my bow and never saw him again.
03-26-2005, 08:42 PM
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Central PA
Posts: 2,299
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
Nope
The biggest buck I had in bow range was a real nice 20-22" 8 pointer a few years ago. He came in from behind me running a doe. I drawed on him as he was coming off to my right side. The only problem was he went into some thick stuff not more than 20 yards. He stopped in there and started sniffing around and I couldn't hold the bow forever. I tried to let it down gracefully, but that didn't happen. He spotted me and whirled around and took off.
I still see that buck once in a while...on my wall. I finally got a crack at him in gun season and made a perfect heart shot on him.
The biggest buck I had in bow range was a real nice 20-22" 8 pointer a few years ago. He came in from behind me running a doe. I drawed on him as he was coming off to my right side. The only problem was he went into some thick stuff not more than 20 yards. He stopped in there and started sniffing around and I couldn't hold the bow forever. I tried to let it down gracefully, but that didn't happen. He spotted me and whirled around and took off.I still see that buck once in a while...on my wall. I finally got a crack at him in gun season and made a perfect heart shot on him.
03-27-2005, 06:35 AM
#23
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: VA
Posts: 687
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
about five years ago, home from the navy for a bowhunt in pa, I had my chance at a true monster. Had seen the biggest bucks of my life on this one property consistently and that is what led me to this one patch of woods, a giant 10 pt nontypical that I would say would score in the 180's. at the time at least, a state record. I was set up and had a hot yearling come by me on an atv trail. I heard a grunt, and just grabbed my bow and stood. he came down like he didn't have a care in the world. It wasn't the same buck I had seen earlier, but still the biggest I had ever had in range. he posed for me twice...once at a now known 30 yds and again at about 25. he was sooo big (about 230 live weight), that I missed judged him to be five to seven yards closer and pulled the release. shot right under him. he jumped and then walked straight away from me offering no follow up shot. I was so badly shaken afterward. I had no idea how big he was until afterwards because it happened all so fast. he was about a 150 class eight. I shot a real nice clean (albeit small) eight the next day from the same stand at five yards. it was the fourth day of my five day visit and I was happy with it. he appeared in peterson's bowhunting readers shots.
03-27-2005, 09:01 AM
#24
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 3,903
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
I would like to know if you took the biggest buck you ever had in bow range?
Explain what happened.... Clean kill, complete miss or a wounded animal.
Explain what happened.... Clean kill, complete miss or a wounded animal.
03-28-2005, 06:32 AM
#25
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 11,472
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
Ouch what a painful thread [:-]
No for me. 5 years ago I had a big 12 pointer that was only 8-10 yards from me at one point of the endeavour.[:@]
During peak rut and I decided to go sit in my "honey hole" stand that I've been avoiding, scouting from a distance and keeping my stinky butt out of there all season. I plopped a tinks69 scent bomb on a limb and climbed up my tree.
About an hour later I gaze behind me and at the top of a crest of a hill in a cut corn field is a monster 12 point rack sticking up. Coolest thing I've ever seen by the way. I couldn't see the deer at all, only the rack. Then the rack ducked back under the hill so I figured I'd slowly stand up and get ready.
Well about 10 minutes later he comes walking right to me!! He works his way in and is right behind me looking into the little cluster of woods I'm sitting in. The thing is only 10 yards behind me but I have absolutely 0 shot untill he ducks in and takes about 5 steps down the happy trail. Tough to explain the stand location, but it's a giant wall of bushy thickets that seperates me and the field.
He just hangs out there looking behind him every now and then and looking into the woods. I'm pleading for him to enter the woods. I'm up and have my bow ready, released clipped on and ready to go. My heart rate has gone back down to about 5000 beats per second by now so I have no nerves.
He finally makes his move and starts walking towards the happy trail. He takes about 3 steps in and I can make out his vitals, but there' really not much of a shot yet. In about 3 - 5 more yards he'll be wide open!! So I'm really pumped now. My bow is raised and I'm poised to draw at the perfect time. You know the thought just before the shot "awesome here we go" kind of mind set.
So apparently he knew that too or something. He sat there 5 steps away from a perfect shot for at least 10 minutes not moving. Standing there broadside with no way I could shoot at the biggest buck I've probably ever seen 20 yards away. Then he must have really figured out something was up. He started walking backwards the way he came. Never a good sign. He didn't bolt out of there or bust me, but he knew something weren't right. Wind was in my favor too.[:@] So he strolled off the way he came and I wept for 4 3/4 years until buckeybowhunter had to bring it up again lol.
Anyway that's my adventure with my monster big boy. close but no cigar.
p.s. the next 5 seasons there has been a little shooting lane to my right through the thickets from hell.
No for me. 5 years ago I had a big 12 pointer that was only 8-10 yards from me at one point of the endeavour.[:@]
During peak rut and I decided to go sit in my "honey hole" stand that I've been avoiding, scouting from a distance and keeping my stinky butt out of there all season. I plopped a tinks69 scent bomb on a limb and climbed up my tree.
About an hour later I gaze behind me and at the top of a crest of a hill in a cut corn field is a monster 12 point rack sticking up. Coolest thing I've ever seen by the way. I couldn't see the deer at all, only the rack. Then the rack ducked back under the hill so I figured I'd slowly stand up and get ready.
Well about 10 minutes later he comes walking right to me!! He works his way in and is right behind me looking into the little cluster of woods I'm sitting in. The thing is only 10 yards behind me but I have absolutely 0 shot untill he ducks in and takes about 5 steps down the happy trail. Tough to explain the stand location, but it's a giant wall of bushy thickets that seperates me and the field.
He just hangs out there looking behind him every now and then and looking into the woods. I'm pleading for him to enter the woods. I'm up and have my bow ready, released clipped on and ready to go. My heart rate has gone back down to about 5000 beats per second by now so I have no nerves.
He finally makes his move and starts walking towards the happy trail. He takes about 3 steps in and I can make out his vitals, but there' really not much of a shot yet. In about 3 - 5 more yards he'll be wide open!!
So I'm really pumped now. My bow is raised and I'm poised to draw at the perfect time. You know the thought just before the shot "awesome here we go" kind of mind set. So apparently he knew that too or something. He sat there 5 steps away from a perfect shot for at least 10 minutes not moving. Standing there broadside with no way I could shoot at the biggest buck I've probably ever seen 20 yards away. Then he must have really figured out something was up. He started walking backwards the way he came. Never a good sign. He didn't bolt out of there or bust me, but he knew something weren't right. Wind was in my favor too.[:@] So he strolled off the way he came and I wept for 4 3/4 years until buckeybowhunter had to bring it up again
lol. Anyway that's my adventure with my monster big boy. close but no cigar.
p.s. the next 5 seasons there has been a little shooting lane to my right through the thickets from hell.
03-28-2005, 01:52 PM
#26
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location:
Posts: 326
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
Ahhh, If only I had...
My biggest buck (148" 11 pt.) is about the 5th or 6th largest that I've had in range. The most painful of them was on the afternoon of 11/14/05. My buddy (Mike) and I were heading out to set up my old API in a 100-yard wide strip separating a long cut corn field and bean field. On our way there, about 1/2 mile from the destination I look up at the ridgeline to our left to see a MASSIVE buck skylining himself. I grabbed the video camera and got about 7 seconds of tape before he eased over the ridge out of sight toward Mike's stand.
Change of plans! We quickly laid out a strategy to execute a two man drive. I dropped Mike off down the road closer to his stand (located on a secluded strip of timber) and then drove back to the original sighting location. I gave Mike about 15 minutes to get into his stand and then proceeded to walk the ridgetop and cut into the strip toward him. I was just entering the treeline when the big brute and his girlfriend jumped up and ran toward Mike's general direction. When I reached his stand, Mike reported never seeing either deer. It was a longshot, but worth a try anyway.
Fastforward to 2:45PM. Mike stayed in his stand while I proceeded to set up my API. Bowless and clothed in blue jeans, T-shirt (I get too warm while setting up to keep the coat on) and baseball cap, I had just finished mounting the stand on the tree about 22 feet up when I heard a low guttural grunt from down the strip about 100 yards away. Slow footsteps followed, and then I saw a doe about 75 yards out and closing. In close pursuit was without a doubt the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof. I can say this with total confidence because I had the horrored pleasure of admiring him while he milled around for the next 10 minutes within 30 yards of my stand. He was a chocolate colored mainframe 10 pointer with a 23-24" inside spread, long spearlike tines and giant mass. I'd eat my shorts if he wouldn't have grossed over 180" typical. Unbelievable!
He slowly followed the doe out of sight, never to be seen again beside many a dream since then. I cried both tears of sorrow and of joy over that experience. I can only hope to have another opportunity at such an animal while carrying a bow. [&o]
My biggest buck (148" 11 pt.) is about the 5th or 6th largest that I've had in range. The most painful of them was on the afternoon of 11/14/05. My buddy (Mike) and I were heading out to set up my old API in a 100-yard wide strip separating a long cut corn field and bean field. On our way there, about 1/2 mile from the destination I look up at the ridgeline to our left to see a MASSIVE buck skylining himself. I grabbed the video camera and got about 7 seconds of tape before he eased over the ridge out of sight toward Mike's stand.
Change of plans! We quickly laid out a strategy to execute a two man drive. I dropped Mike off down the road closer to his stand (located on a secluded strip of timber) and then drove back to the original sighting location. I gave Mike about 15 minutes to get into his stand and then proceeded to walk the ridgetop and cut into the strip toward him. I was just entering the treeline when the big brute and his girlfriend jumped up and ran toward Mike's general direction. When I reached his stand, Mike reported never seeing either deer. It was a longshot, but worth a try anyway.
Fastforward to 2:45PM. Mike stayed in his stand while I proceeded to set up my API. Bowless and clothed in blue jeans, T-shirt (I get too warm while setting up to keep the coat on) and baseball cap, I had just finished mounting the stand on the tree about 22 feet up when I heard a low guttural grunt from down the strip about 100 yards away. Slow footsteps followed, and then I saw a doe about 75 yards out and closing. In close pursuit was without a doubt the biggest buck I've ever seen on the hoof. I can say this with total confidence because I had the horrored pleasure of admiring him while he milled around for the next 10 minutes within 30 yards of my stand. He was a chocolate colored mainframe 10 pointer with a 23-24" inside spread, long spearlike tines and giant mass. I'd eat my shorts if he wouldn't have grossed over 180" typical. Unbelievable!
He slowly followed the doe out of sight, never to be seen again beside many a dream since then. I cried both tears of sorrow and of joy over that experience. I can only hope to have another opportunity at such an animal while carrying a bow. [&o]
03-28-2005, 03:57 PM
#28
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 1,503
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
The biggest buck i ever had in range was about a 150'' ten pointer. He came in to work a scrape i was set up on, and i blew a cake shot at 15yards. I was just so excited i set it sailing right over his back. To make matters even worse, i was fortunate he didn't spook to bad- So i ended up getting a second chance about 20minutes later. Twang- 15 yrds right under his belly. I still want to cry about it everytime i sit in that stand. [
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03-28-2005, 05:20 PM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Indiana PA USA
Posts: 3,656
RE: Did you harvest the largest buck you had in range?
I ended up getting a shot at the biggest buck I have had in bow range! I hit him a little high and a little far back! I didn't find him that night or the next day and when I posted about it on here, I was ripped a new one! I did find that buck 3 days after the shot but I played it off as though he was still alive (I really didn't want to get blasted even more). I put a tag on his antlers and that is all I was able to salvage. Not the brightest memory, but I put more time in trying to find that buck than most people would have. He had actually only went about 250-300 yards but he crawled up under a rose bush and was nearly impossible to see. I had walked past him several times the morning after the shot and never saw him!
Anyways, here is a pic of his antlers! He has 12 scoreable points (even with a broken beam). His back tines are 11-1/2" and 11"!
Anyways, here is a pic of his antlers! He has 12 scoreable points (even with a broken beam). His back tines are 11-1/2" and 11"!