Who's had a buck hide up close?

[Brim]

Year before last I was winded by a group of deer, one was a 177inch mulie, and they all ran BUT....the big buck ran a hundred yards and laid down just at the edge, before he left the cover of the aspens. I circled downwind 1/2 mile and came in the back door....when he saw me I was 35 yards, but he just dropped his head and all I could see was the tips of his horns. Just as long as I did not make eye contact.....I walked to his side and at 15 yards I shot him.
Have you ever had a buck hide on you up close?

 

[rabjr]

Yes, Whitetails, several times over the years. As long as their head was hidden (behind a tree or something)and couldn't see me, I guess they thought I couldn't see them and would pass them by..

 

[BrownBear]

Jumped one at 10' from it's bed in low brush on a windy day. Rolled it on the dead run at 20' with my 58. Talk about "wing" shooting....

Now where's that Smilie button for the guy blowing smoke out the end of his pistol barrel? Yeah, I was proud of that shot! :applause:

 

[hanshi]

Yes. I was walking along a ridge after having gotten off my stand when he stepped out from behind a shrub where he'd been hiding. But instead of running he paused and looked at me. I dropped him in his footie prints. He was to my left about 12-15 yards away.

 

[biliff]

Have had mulies do just what you described. They can hold pretty tight.

Remember a bird hunt where three of us stopped near a stream with some Russian olives. Three guys, three dogs milling around for a good ten minutes before a nice buck broke cover and ran for it. Couldn't have been more than 20yds from the group.

 

[cottonmouth]

Back in the early 90`s, my brother and I had built us a couple of box stands as the timber on our place had just been through a selective cutting process. Good shooting lanes were now available.
One morning about 11:30 A.M., my brother came down to my blind to see if I had seen anything. The only thing I had seen was a covey of really young bobwhites that flew right by stand at an altitude of about 21/2 to 3 feet above the ground and lit in a fallen treetop right out from my blind. Well after I told him about the quail he suggested we walk right down from my stand to where a little creek was running to see if we could see any signs of deer crossing or any other activity. We had only walked less than 15 yards from my blind and we both stopped the side of a big oak tree and up jumps a big buck and a doe that were bedded just on the other side of the tree! Talk about a beautiful sight, it was "Poetry In Motion"!
The doe was leading as they sailed through the creek and soft dirt and you could see every muscle rippling on that bucks side and back!
And now for the rest of the story! Yep! You guessed it, both of us had layed our guns down on a log back at my stand!! And it would have been a "chip shot" on that buck as he was going through the creek, mud and soft sand.
Guess who always has gun with him now??

 

[S.Kenton]

About 10 yrs ago, on the opening day of Ohio M'ler season, I was able to sneak up on a nice 8 pt. I shot him at about 15 yrds...it's never happened since..and prolly never will again.. :v

 

[roundball]

Have you ever had a buck hide on you up close?

When we first moved to NC in the early 80's, I joined a local deer hunting club...it was mainly a dog hunting club, not my cup of tea and I was only with them for 2 years.
But one morning I witnessed the most clever thing from a buck...we "standers" had all gone down the line just before light to predetermined stands along the edge of a broom sage field & swamp.

Right at first light, deer hounds were turned loose on the other side of the lease, and a few minutes later I heard a ruckus coming my way...about 75yds away a half dozen deer were bearing down on me in full gallop and while the bulk of them continued on past into the swamp, I noticed a buck peel off to the side of the group, run into the edge of the 3 ft high broom sage field and immediately lay down out of sight.

I kept watching the spot, minutes later the deer hounds came past me hot on the trail of the main group, and in less than a minute, that buck got back up and retraced his steps back up the direction that the dogs had come from, holding his head/rack down low close to the ground.

He absolutely knew exactly what he was doing the whole time...fascinating to watch and made such an impression on me the event is as clear in my mind today as it was over 30 years ago...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Gosh lets see..., about 25 years ago I had a doe freight train me..., came out of some evergreens about 10' away and ran over me. I still have the scar on my right shin where she cut me with a hoof as she stepped on me. About 10 years ago I hunted hard all day, saw nothing. Got back to the car, unloaded, and stashed my gear, when a young buck stood up out of the hedge next to the car, and calmly walked away. Just a few years ago I walked up on a young 4-point..., he was on one side of a brushy tree line, me on the other, and we met at a small gap. We just stared at each other until I tried to move real slow to bring the rifle up, and that's when he decided to leave real fast. :grin:

LD

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Gosh lets see..., about 25 years ago I had a doe freight train me..., came out of some evergreens about 10' away and ran over me. I still have the scar on my right shin where she cut me with a hoof as she stepped on me. About 10 years ago I hunted hard all day, saw nothing. Got back to the car, unloaded, and stashed my gear, when a young buck stood up out of the hedge next to the car, and calmly walked away. Just a few years ago I walked up on a young 4-point..., he was on one side of a brushy tree line, me on the other, and we met at a small gap. We just stared at each other until I tried to move real slow to bring the rifle up, and that's when he decided to leave real fast. :grin:

LD

 

[Trench]

The deer I shot last year actually decided to close in on me and check me out. He got inside 20 yards, probably much closer, before I could get a shot off. I wonder if he would have walked right up to me and take whiff. :wink:

 

[Trench]

The deer I shot last year actually decided to close in on me and check me out. He got inside 20 yards, probably much closer, before I could get a shot off. I wonder if he would have walked right up to me and take whiff. :wink:

 

[rabjr]

Have you ever had a buck hide on you up close?

When we first moved to NC in the early 80's, I joined a local deer hunting club...it was mainly a dog hunting club, not my cup of tea and I was only with them for 2 years.
But one morning I witnessed the most clever thing from a buck...we "standers" had all gone down the line just before light to predetermined stands along the edge of a broom sage field & swamp.

Right at first light, deer hounds were turned loose on the other side of the lease, and a few minutes later I heard a ruckus coming my way...about 75yds away a half dozen deer were bearing down on me in full gallop and while the bulk of them continued on past into the swamp, I noticed a buck peel off to the side of the group, run into the edge of the 3 ft high broom sage field and immediately lay down out of sight.

I kept watching the spot, minutes later the deer hounds came past me hot on the trail of the main group, and in less than a minute, that buck got back up and retraced his steps back up the direction that the dogs had come from, holding his head/rack down low close to the ground.

He absolutely knew exactly what he was doing the whole time...fascinating to watch and made such an impression on me the event is as clear in my mind today as it was over 30 years ago...

This is why whenever the guys decided to do a little "push" up here I always stayed where the drivers went into the woods. Always requested to watch the back door. Seen more than one smart deer come back out right where the drivers went in and the drivers everytime would say they never saw the deer come by them. First time I hunted Maine in 91' I watched the back door and had a buck try to sneak by me at 50 yards 45 minutes after the drivers went in....I put my tag on him not long after that...

 

[rabjr]

Have you ever had a buck hide on you up close?

When we first moved to NC in the early 80's, I joined a local deer hunting club...it was mainly a dog hunting club, not my cup of tea and I was only with them for 2 years.
But one morning I witnessed the most clever thing from a buck...we "standers" had all gone down the line just before light to predetermined stands along the edge of a broom sage field & swamp.

Right at first light, deer hounds were turned loose on the other side of the lease, and a few minutes later I heard a ruckus coming my way...about 75yds away a half dozen deer were bearing down on me in full gallop and while the bulk of them continued on past into the swamp, I noticed a buck peel off to the side of the group, run into the edge of the 3 ft high broom sage field and immediately lay down out of sight.

I kept watching the spot, minutes later the deer hounds came past me hot on the trail of the main group, and in less than a minute, that buck got back up and retraced his steps back up the direction that the dogs had come from, holding his head/rack down low close to the ground.

He absolutely knew exactly what he was doing the whole time...fascinating to watch and made such an impression on me the event is as clear in my mind today as it was over 30 years ago...

This is why whenever the guys decided to do a little "push" up here I always stayed where the drivers went into the woods. Always requested to watch the back door. Seen more than one smart deer come back out right where the drivers went in and the drivers everytime would say they never saw the deer come by them. First time I hunted Maine in 91' I watched the back door and had a buck try to sneak by me at 50 yards 45 minutes after the drivers went in....I put my tag on him not long after that...

 

[TGJaeger]

The last year of the BIG CRP program I was hunting on my back forty with my little Brittany gripe. I shot a rooster and it coasted about 100 yards before it dropped. I got close and it came up again just ahead of the dog. I knocked it down and the little dog ran to get it. She stopped dead and backed up with the hair on her back rising. I thought she was just being goofy so I walked around her to get the bird -- cussing her all the while. A dark, almost chocolate colored whitetail with double drop points jumped up almost at my feet. Scared me silly. He ran a few yards and looked back then ran and jumped the fence. He ran up on the hill and watched me for several minutes before he circled back into the CRP. He was the most beautiful deer I have ever seen. He had stayed hidden in the grass while I shot at the pheasant, twice, before it went down almost on top of him. Then he froze while I fired the last shot at the rooster and stayed there even when the dog almost ran into him. When he finally jumped up I was less than 8-10 feet from him. No doubt that old boy had learned early on the value of staying hidden.

 

[TGJaeger]

The last year of the BIG CRP program I was hunting on my back forty with my little Brittany gripe. I shot a rooster and it coasted about 100 yards before it dropped. I got close and it came up again just ahead of the dog. I knocked it down and the little dog ran to get it. She stopped dead and backed up with the hair on her back rising. I thought she was just being goofy so I walked around her to get the bird -- cussing her all the while. A dark, almost chocolate colored whitetail with double drop points jumped up almost at my feet. Scared me silly. He ran a few yards and looked back then ran and jumped the fence. He ran up on the hill and watched me for several minutes before he circled back into the CRP. He was the most beautiful deer I have ever seen. He had stayed hidden in the grass while I shot at the pheasant, twice, before it went down almost on top of him. Then he froze while I fired the last shot at the rooster and stayed there even when the dog almost ran into him. When he finally jumped up I was less than 8-10 feet from him. No doubt that old boy had learned early on the value of staying hidden.

 

[izzyjoe]

i've never had one hide on me, but i've a few bolt from the brush when i was almost on top of them. i never can get a shot off, cause i'm not good at snapshot's with a rifle, and usally it's scares me, so by the time i realized what happend there gone.

 

[izzyjoe]

i've never had one hide on me, but i've a few bolt from the brush when i was almost on top of them. i never can get a shot off, cause i'm not good at snapshot's with a rifle, and usally it's scares me, so by the time i realized what happend there gone.

 

[VTdeerhunter]

Yup...after walking most of the morning I stopped to sit a spell in the middle of a big maple blow-down. I could see across a pretty big clear cut area that headed uphill and upwind of my spot. Out about 500 yards I saw a deer heading towards me, I watched as he got closer and put some nice horn's on him, a tall tined 7 pointer who's main beams almost touched in the front. When he got about 100 yards out he jerked his head back up the hill and froze. After a few minutes he just laid down where he was (amongst some small pine tree saplings not more that 18" tall) then he actually laid his chin down to the ground. A few seconds later another hunter cruised by the top of the ridge on his 4-wheeler. After the 4-wheeler was gone by, the deer stood up and continued feeding to about 20 yards where I put his head back on the ground for good. I made sure I didn't miss, got to get them smart ones out of the gene pool.... :rotf:

 

[VTdeerhunter]

Yup...after walking most of the morning I stopped to sit a spell in the middle of a big maple blow-down. I could see across a pretty big clear cut area that headed uphill and upwind of my spot. Out about 500 yards I saw a deer heading towards me, I watched as he got closer and put some nice horn's on him, a tall tined 7 pointer who's main beams almost touched in the front. When he got about 100 yards out he jerked his head back up the hill and froze. After a few minutes he just laid down where he was (amongst some small pine tree saplings not more that 18" tall) then he actually laid his chin down to the ground. A few seconds later another hunter cruised by the top of the ridge on his 4-wheeler. After the 4-wheeler was gone by, the deer stood up and continued feeding to about 20 yards where I put his head back on the ground for good. I made sure I didn't miss, got to get them smart ones out of the gene pool.... :rotf: