This summer my bro, nephew and myself hung a stand about 50 yards in the top finger on the left in the pic below (lower left) Here is a look from the stand, taken last evening I hung a cam and we got great activity there...one decent buck at night and tons of doe and fawns...one doe in particular with a brown sharp edged triangle on her head with a tiny bb .... I hunted there weeks ago and had that big old doe and a button buck walk behind me....another time didn't see anything .. after seeing nothing in my favorite spot yesterday morn, went to this spot yesterday evening and saw 5 deer...one doe feeding right to me ... some kid trapping comes walking thru the woods talking to his buddy and scares them off ... ff to tonight ... warm...saw nothing across the street this morning...did not even feel like being there, if I am going to be honest...sat in the finger stand... 5:15... looking down the finger toward my left...here comes nothing but rack ...I could not believe my eyes...tons of mass...wide well beyond his ears and at least 10 points...I am in disbelief this buck is walking towards me.... Now I have been deer hunting for 34 years and have NEVER seen a buck like this...ever...and he is walking towards me.....sllllllllloooooowwwwww....he walks left..tends a scrape...right..eats apples..walks left...messing with more branches, marking every one he sees....pisses in scrape...paws at it...finally he gets to what I guessed to be 30 yards... I have been holding bow and squared off for 30 minutes, watching the buck of a lifetime to present a shot....picturing the BBD thread and FB post...but most importantly calling my wife and telling her we have our wall hanger! He walks to the briers to the left and turns broadside as he goes to the next apple tree on the right...pulled back..too late to stop him...I told myself when he cuts back left, i am shooting...he cuts back left....I draw....MEHHH He stops, i put the pin mid body right behind leg and release.....the arrow hits him in the top of his back, leaving a tuft of hair sticking up ..he flinched down trotted off...I was crushed...still. am.... I get down to get my arrow which was buried 6 inched in the ground and it looked exactly as I thought it would...if you ran a backstrap on your arrow about half way ...the rest of the arrow clean until the white feather which must have rode in the cut area, has light red on the ridge of the feather. Upon talkin to Little Chief and reflecting on the whole scenario, I believe my glasses clouded the site picture as I can see the frame and middle of them ...this is the first year hunting with them on... I don't know....I am sick about it....my ONLY consolation right now is that he is alive and all I did was give him a small flesh wound.... I am taking the next two days.off from hunting ...
Wow. Tough break PT. Hang in there bro, maybe he'll show again. At least you know you did a bunch of things right to even get the chance.
Like I said in the Live thread PT, been there done that....and there's no if, ands, or buts about it...it sucks! But try to take the positives out of it if possible, stay strong and keep your head up. You....will.....KILL!
Very sorry to hear that PT. I wish I could tell you that the felling will pass over time but it wont. You will remember that hunt for the rest of your life. So don't wait until you are ok with what happened to get back in a tree. Take off those glasses and get back in the tree and KILL him this time, good luck my friend.
dang pt i know you have been hunting hard and you definatley deserve to kill a buck of a life time!!! but dont get to discouraged because this will eventually happen to all of us!! i wish you best of luck as you recover from this and hope you avenge this deer later on!!!
PT it is very tough for that to happen on a big one. I have blown some chances on big ones too. It made me feel like puking, pissing and ****ting all at the same time. The only other positive I can say is that your memory of missing will slowly become a good memory and a story you will not mind telling.
Tony, that buck was in there, chill as could be....meaning you were right about a big buck being in your area. He is there, you will see him again........and next time you will kill him. I will say this and leave it because I know it sucks right now....get back in the saddle asap. If the weather is right the next two days, go for it.
I've been there. And Tom's right, you'll never forget that hunt. Get back out there, you can't kill one from your couch.
I still replay my miss from last year every time I climb in that stand. As others have said, the disappointment will subside but the memory is forever etched. Learn from it and move on, if you were planning on hunting tomorrow I'd still go. Whether you're sitting in the tree or on the couch it's going to be running through your head. At least in a tree you just may have that shot at redemption. Good luck with it, everyone has been there and done that or eventually will.
Tony my heart sank reading that post as if it had been me. Truth isit happens to all of us at somepoint. Sounds like an amazing experience and a great hunt. Keep your head up and get back after him. This is your year PT! Get him bud.
Pt that sucks! I didpretty much the same thing tonight. I'm tore up myself. I was gonna sleep in tomm, but now I'm gonna hunt it out. Good luck and stay positive! That's what I'm TRYING to do...
