Well here's the story: Many trail cam pics this year and my oldest son and I had 3 bucks picked out to shoot. I moved to a ground blind, set it up earlier this week. Got in the blind at 4:30 Saturday evening to have deer pouring into my field starting at 4:45. I had a nice buck hang out for almost an hour (picked my bow up 3 different times to possibly shoot him but talked myself out of it each time (solid upper 130's). He ended up walking to the back of the field about 150 yrds away. Around 30 minutes left in the day a 150+ 9 point on our 3 buck list walks out and starts feeding the other way. The 10 from earlier starts coming back my way and the 9 finally turns and starts coming as well. I have like 6 bucks 15 to 30 yards in front of me. Meanwhile I'm still losing light (cloudy day and that's why the deer came out early). The 10 walks in and punks his way through the 6 bucks. I look out the window to the left and the 9 is 80 yards out. I pick up my rangefinder wait about 2 minutes, the 10 clears on through out of the way, 2 smaller bucks jump and move out of the way. I'm holdin the rangefinder to my eye when the buck walks in, I quickly count 3 tines on 1 side and 4 tines on the other ( I tell myself - your good the brow tines make him 9). I set the rangefinder down, draw back and when I draw back I see another buck on our list 50 yards straight out (I'm thinking the 9 came in so he stood back). My bow is back and last light is right there. I split the 20 and 30 yard pin for a 25 yrd shot and put 1 behind the shoulder. He only goes 30 yards and piles up. The field clears, I get out and walk over to find that it was another 9 that we have never seen. It now registers that the 2nd shooter on the list and the 9 were taking their time to come in probably right after dark. My season is done on a 125 inch buck. Not complaining other than I should have set back when it became such low light. My thinking busted my chops. Never think - make sure and if your not sure then sit back and watch. I clearly knew it was a target, a buck but unfortunately another 9 stepped in and I was mistaken. No pictures, I'm not going to lie - I was upset! What are the odds of another 9 stepping in, it could have been an 8 or a 10 and it would have went right into darkness. Dang it... It's still a bow kill and some meat. I'll still be out chasing some does. Next year will be different. I do get to bow hunt Kansas so a bigger buck will hopefully happen.
Congrats. That is like 6-7 more bucks than I saw all last season from the stand in my home county! Jealous! Would appreciate seeing some pics of the kill.
As listed at the bottom of my thread - I took no pictures. Looking back a day later, probably should have. This is the smallest buck I have shot in 10 yrs so I was upset at myself for making the wrong decision. Always Kansas this year and Next year will be a new year. That's bow hunting, but I plan on not having that scenario ever again (notice I said plan). Have a good season.
That's odd IMO, I wouldn't be bummed if I shot a 120" and I would have def took some pics. I take pics of all animals I take, but I guess that's just me. I'm blessed every time I get to take something with a bow and always like to share and document the memory with some photos. Not beating you up I just go about things differently I guess. Good luck the rest of the year.
NOT siding with either one. I would've taken pic's because our boys would've been tickled to death to have their pic taken with the deer. I too would've been personally bummed about the 125" deer. Agreed it is an accomplishment to take any deer with a bow. I'm just picky too. I've shot little bucks before and feel terrible about it. Little is, without a doubt, a personal definition when it comes to deer. I don't judge anyone on their opinion of a trophy. JMO
I take pictures - I didn't because it was a mistake. I went ahead and typed something to show that you must man up. I had 4 1/2 months to get it done and I took that away in less than 2 minutes of making the wrong decision. It happens and that is the only reason I typed it - to remind others to not do what I did the other evening. I know people don't have places to hunt, fortunately we do and I had no business shooting that buck. I'm over it and can't wait for next year. That sounds bad since it just opened a few weeks ago. If you shoot a young buck, it takes away the chances of a deer maturing and that's what upset me.... Size is in the eyes of the beholder, but we try to only shoot mature deer and that's why we have good deer. I will post some pics of some does. Can't wait to post my other sons buck when he scores. I'm hanging 2 sets to hunt next to him possibly filming or taking some outdoors photos.
It's honestly all good. Nothing taken the wrong way on any of the replies. I just thought this might help someone else this year. It's fixed on this end. This site helped me a ton this year, so hopefully I can add a few words here and there to help as well. I just hope I get a chance in Kansas. My head is back on straight now. No more bonehead moves for me (but, that's why it's called hunting, not killing)
I understand your situation. I did the same thing although the deer involved were smaller and it was a public area. Shot a 112" giant that I thought was 125-130. They actually all ran into a bunch when a vehicle came down the road. He stepped out and I shot with just a few minutes of legal shooting light left. I had only seen one buck with a rack so am not sure where he came from. I stopped looking at the rack once I decided to shoot and didn't realize my mistake until I found him. I had spent $560 on the tag and still had a week to hunt. I only felt bad that I killed a 2 year old buck that didn't get to mature. Good luck in Kansas.
