Just small (legal) basket 6 & 8pts. Unfortunately, I just don't have many big bucks in the woods I hunt.
Not exactly sure how many but I've let a good number of 125 Inchers on by. Then there was the 130 Inch or so buck that I swore was an 8 point so I left my bow hanging In the tree when I saw him coming. Once he came by me broadside at 10 yards I saw the 3.5 Inch end forks that made him a ten point. I couldn't do nothing but watch, I was pissed!! Lesson learned from that year (1992) on, bow comes off my hanger regardless now what the deer Is. I thought this buck was the 8 pointer that I had let go twice this year. He was In that 125 Inch range.
A week after I shot the one in my picture I had a young 135-140+/- come in and hang out, it was all I could do not to take him.
One that was not legal where I was hunting. weather 3 pt to a side or 4 depending on which end of the state. A few spikes that's it.
Last year on my first night out I let a 135-140 8pointer go. It was my second night out early season. I have two on the wall that are mid-lower 30's so my wife upped my standards. He was really unique though and had little shovles on the ends of his main beams and he has mass all over. He was eating accorns at like 12 yards for 15min. God it still hurts!
I know some of you might find this funny......but I let an 85 or so inch, 2.5 year old "walk" this year and it was hard. It was the second largest buck I saw while hunting my main hunting grounds this year. An 85 inch buck on any given year would be a top 3 buck for what I see in the woods. (And I understand that by not seeing them, that my skill as a hunter is in play as well, and that I need to improve to see bigger bucks).
Funny how your mind works depending on what tree you are sitting in. I let this guy walk because earlier in the week I was at full draw on a deer that made him look small. I had a lot of fun that week and no regrets whatsoever. I tend to reflex into a "if I had it to do over again I would shoot him in a heartbeat" mode as more time passes since that day but the truth is I would have told you the same thing before I saw him (that I would never let a buck like that walk). I guess none of that matters because all I know FOR SURE is that in my stand on THAT day I enjoyed the encounter very much and had ZERO doubts about my choice.
So far only about a 125" 8 point. It was kind of a toss up between me letting him walk and him outsmarting me
This past October I let an 11 pt go that would gross high 150's to low 160's. I drew on him 3 different times as close as 4 yards but decided he was only 3 1/2 and let him go about his business. I got to watch him for nearly 30 minutes while he worked scrapes and rubs. I hope to find his sheds when the snow melts. He will be a stud this year or next and is on my short list.
I let a buck walk at 8 yards this past season in Iowa that my friend had been watching grow up on his farm. He really wanted this buck and had not seen him all season in the daylight. My friend ended up killing the big boy I let walk in late muzzleloader. It grossed 188 with 5 chipped and or broken tines.. We had figured him to go about 192 from the trail cams..so he was right there.. I had the opportunity to call this huge buck in and the buck in my avatar at the same time.. they both walked right by me ..I had no regrets shooting the smaller of the two bucks. Espeically since Jay ended up getting him.
