No shot Sherlock!!

[Staghunter]

Well I started off my Saturday morning sitting in one of my favorite stands. Until I heard twigs snapping behind me and got ready for a shot. Good thing I didn't!!! At 8:45am of all times another hunter that I have given permission to out of the goodness in my heart decided he would go walking around the bush right past my stand! Needless to say I was estatic and very pleased with him.....NOT!! Anyway, after all the hoopla I decided to take a walkabout myself since nothing was going to come past that stand. As I walked up a trail I noticed fresh tracks in the snow. Really fresh buck tracks!! The wind was right so I went into stalking mood walking very slow and stopping and glancing every 100 yards or so. After about 45 mins of this I got into a very thick cedar swamp and felt I was getting a little to close to a well known bedding area and I really didn't want to go any further but I knew in my heart the buck was close. I walked another 150 yards and found fresh droppings and a scrap. A few more steps and I saw RACK!!! Instantly I squated down in the snow and become the best foliage I could. First I tried a bleat can. I could see the rack moving left to right but not towards me. Then I hammered the grunt tube and look out!! Big boy came just a running in grunting all the way like this, "grrr grrr grrrrr grk grk grk grrrr"! I have never seen a buck do this.....AWESOME!!! He knew exactly where the sound came from and ran right up to me not 20 yards away. Only problem was he stood behind a cedar bush all laden with snow. TWENTY YARDS AWAY!!! I had about a 15" shooting lane if he would just take 5 more steps to my left and that's all I had. After what seemed like forever (but more like 5 mins) he moved just the wrong way!!! He went straight up a ridge and when I could finally see him in all his glory he was 80 yards away! Twelve point typical, wide as they come and gleeming white!! Easy a 150 class deer if not higher!! I have not seen this buck before all season so I am thinking he must have shown up from another property looking for late does. Anyway! I tried everything to bring him back. Grunts,bleats you name it. He would stop and look around from his birds eye view and just keep walking up the ridge until he disappeared. Well that's it!! So now three days later that I have stopped crying like a little girl I thought I would share this with all of you and hopefully get a little sympathy (. Goodluck to all SH.

[R.J.]

Cool encounter ! .... That's part of the rush , just getting out and seeing stuff like that !

[VixChix]

Those are the experiences that make the best memories!

[ecoaster]

Heart stopping for sure!

[FJB]

Way cool! Too bad they dont always do what we want them to.

[Daniele]

That is an awesome story
i am sure you wanted him badly, but this is why most of us keep going back, the hunt is not the kill, the encounter is yours alone,of course you will go back and think about this on the quiet days in your stand for years to come.
Happy for you,
Daniele.

[Staghunter]

Thanks for taking the time to post replys all! And for sure alot of the magic of hunting is being there and seeing what non-hunters never get to see the way we do! Well, the season is still on and hopefully I will get another crack at this bruiser. If not, good for him for giving me the slip. How can you not respect these animals! And, it's true that if we saw deer like him and shot deer like him everytime we went out the sport would get pretty boring pretty quick! Thanks again SH

[Fox]

So close, there is a big boy floating around my hunting area as well, but he is not predictable at all, would be nice to get a nice look at him.

[ecoaster]

Very exciting! I can't wait for some soft snow to fall. Put the stalk on and try to sneak in on em.