Roundball mentioned in another thread that he had seen a dandy. That got me thinking of a few in my past.
What's the best deer you've seen that you couldn't get a shot at for whatever reason?
I have had two that come immediately to mind. Both while bow hunting, both would have been in easy gun range. :curse:
First one was as I popped out of a untillable hemlock swamp that is surrounded by cornfields. Always something good in there, but parts of that swamp are peat bog and will test your boot lacing job. The edges are wild rose, blackberry and thornapple and will test your skin. Hard to hunt, but there is open water in the center with wood duck and bunnies, just a wonderful spot.
I worked the edge, not seeing anything, and popped out onto the western edge after the short, steep slope up to the cornfield on that side. The field had been harvested and I had a good view. I spotted movement to my right and there, big as life, was an enormous buck, level with me on the field edge and facing the same way I was, like he came out to see what I was looking for. That, or thinking "is that clod finally clear of my woods?" Maybe 60 yards away. I've taken deer the hog dressed over 200# from that area. He was much bigger. The kind of rack you see on the opening of Buckmasters on CNN Sautrday morning. Only thing missing was the gold grail illuminated between his antlers. I'm guessing all of 12 points and symmetrical. He walked straight away at a slight angle across the field, just leaving me no possible shot and a poor angle to boot.
Fred Bear or Ben Pearson would have whistled and then nailed him at their "point on" distance (where the top of your arrow appears at full draw, mine is 65 yards, an ancient trick used heavily in field archery) but I was too flummuxed to even consider it. I'm no Fred Bear.
The second was the last time I hunted from a tree stand (yes, I did give it a few tries) at a small semi-Adirondack lake (Balsam Swamp) where we had bateaued into mostly unhunted territory on a small hill beside the inlet to the lake. The hill is surrounded by the lake on one side and acres of swamp all around.
I had a beautiful set-up, near the edge of the lake, and had been seeing squirrel, fox and turkeys the day prior. As I was scanning, just after daybreak, I spotted movement off to my right. (Always to my right when I'm bowhunting. That's the hardest angle to shoot because you have to swivel your waist and swing your left arm all the way around to your opposite side to draw the bow :curse: HOW DO THEY KNOW?)
Anyway, in through the little browse cover of a small clearing steps another of those deer like they build in Texas. Absoultely HUGE. The only deer I ever saw that was larger is the one in the lobby of L.L. Bean that went 320# live weight! This feller was all of 260# dressed I'm estimating. There he stood at maybe 50 yards. Might have been slightly farther. Hard to guess distance when your eyeballs are sticking out past the tip of your nose. "Just" a ten point rack, but the "busyness" at the crown bases might have counted as two dozen or so points if you go by the "big enough to hang your wedding ring from" test. There may have been a second tip on one side, inside the main beam, but in -line with it. I figure he was an older deer, but, Lordy, his rack was THICK! I can't imagine he wasn't still the dominant buck for that hill & swamp. I wanted him soo bad I think he heard my teeth grinding. He stopped, looked towards the lake (not at me and not where I had entered, but about where my partner had dropped me off when we paddled in an hour before sunrise - he took the bateau to his spot), and took two hops that put him at about 60 yards away. And then stood there motionless for what seemed 5 minutes. Then he walked off in the general direction he had been following. * sigh *
Oh, for a picture of either.
What's the best deer you've seen that you couldn't get a shot at for whatever reason?
I have had two that come immediately to mind. Both while bow hunting, both would have been in easy gun range. :curse:
First one was as I popped out of a untillable hemlock swamp that is surrounded by cornfields. Always something good in there, but parts of that swamp are peat bog and will test your boot lacing job. The edges are wild rose, blackberry and thornapple and will test your skin. Hard to hunt, but there is open water in the center with wood duck and bunnies, just a wonderful spot.
I worked the edge, not seeing anything, and popped out onto the western edge after the short, steep slope up to the cornfield on that side. The field had been harvested and I had a good view. I spotted movement to my right and there, big as life, was an enormous buck, level with me on the field edge and facing the same way I was, like he came out to see what I was looking for. That, or thinking "is that clod finally clear of my woods?" Maybe 60 yards away. I've taken deer the hog dressed over 200# from that area. He was much bigger. The kind of rack you see on the opening of Buckmasters on CNN Sautrday morning. Only thing missing was the gold grail illuminated between his antlers. I'm guessing all of 12 points and symmetrical. He walked straight away at a slight angle across the field, just leaving me no possible shot and a poor angle to boot.
Fred Bear or Ben Pearson would have whistled and then nailed him at their "point on" distance (where the top of your arrow appears at full draw, mine is 65 yards, an ancient trick used heavily in field archery) but I was too flummuxed to even consider it. I'm no Fred Bear.
The second was the last time I hunted from a tree stand (yes, I did give it a few tries) at a small semi-Adirondack lake (Balsam Swamp) where we had bateaued into mostly unhunted territory on a small hill beside the inlet to the lake. The hill is surrounded by the lake on one side and acres of swamp all around.
I had a beautiful set-up, near the edge of the lake, and had been seeing squirrel, fox and turkeys the day prior. As I was scanning, just after daybreak, I spotted movement off to my right. (Always to my right when I'm bowhunting. That's the hardest angle to shoot because you have to swivel your waist and swing your left arm all the way around to your opposite side to draw the bow :curse: HOW DO THEY KNOW?)
Anyway, in through the little browse cover of a small clearing steps another of those deer like they build in Texas. Absoultely HUGE. The only deer I ever saw that was larger is the one in the lobby of L.L. Bean that went 320# live weight! This feller was all of 260# dressed I'm estimating. There he stood at maybe 50 yards. Might have been slightly farther. Hard to guess distance when your eyeballs are sticking out past the tip of your nose. "Just" a ten point rack, but the "busyness" at the crown bases might have counted as two dozen or so points if you go by the "big enough to hang your wedding ring from" test. There may have been a second tip on one side, inside the main beam, but in -line with it. I figure he was an older deer, but, Lordy, his rack was THICK! I can't imagine he wasn't still the dominant buck for that hill & swamp. I wanted him soo bad I think he heard my teeth grinding. He stopped, looked towards the lake (not at me and not where I had entered, but about where my partner had dropped me off when we paddled in an hour before sunrise - he took the bateau to his spot), and took two hops that put him at about 60 yards away. And then stood there motionless for what seemed 5 minutes. Then he walked off in the general direction he had been following. * sigh *
Oh, for a picture of either.
....
