Best Buck story:

Do you have a story about an encounter or the about the most rewarding kill?

One of my greatest encounter was with a buck that I was waching, a beautiful 9-point. I moved in on this bucks living room and he played me like a fiddle. I would pick a spot and he would be on the opposite side of me and never come close. Then one morning he came in about 50 yards and bedded down with a bunch of does. We sat there together all day and never got a shot at him. Then the next day I shot a doe at first light and 15 minutes later here come the big 9 behind me, but he had 2 does with him and there was no getting him to come to me. I tried everything and off they went. I never did get to harvest this guy, but it was a great experience and it was awesome to be able to watch this magnificient aniamal.

Good story Jimmy...

My most rewarding buck was one I took two seasons ago. Not a monster by any means, but I took him on the last day of the late archery season. The season ended on a Sunday and I decided to go out for just a few hours before I had to be home around 9:30 to head to the morning church service.

I had missed a doe that come through when I rushed the shot and my arrow ended up hitting a branch. I was sitting there really bumming and was thinking to myself... God, if it is your will, just give me one moe shot on a deer. Well about 20 minutes later, I had the buck come through and I drilled him. It was a great feeling after the long season. I ended up giving the deer to my hunting buddy so he could fill his freezer and feed his family. The Lord blessed me that Sunday morning and even though that 6 pointer (would have been an 8 but its 2 front points were broken off) will not be on any magazine covers or trophy pages, it was a buck I will never forget.

I have 2 favorites.
I had hunted this spot for a couple years and never harvested anything from it. It's public land bordered by some private. It was the beginning of the rut and I was had deer coming by me pretty much all morning. One was a 130 class 10 that passed by at 65 yards(to far then but now he would be on the wall) and wouldn't come any closer. Finally at 11:00 I got down, packed up my climber and gear and started out. I got to the logging road and started heading to the truck when I heard a deer walking in the leaves. I dropped down to my knee and knocked an arrow, just in case. I couldn't see the deer but it sounded close enough for a shot so I slowly raised up at full draw. When I saw that it was a shooter he saw me and froze at about 40 yards. As soon as I started putting pressure on the release he had seen enough and was gone. I was pretty bummed but it was still a very good day with all the activity I had seen. The next morning was supposed to be rainy and cooler so I made plans with my father-in-law to try the same spot in the morning. I dropped him off at his spot and walked on in to mine. It took me a little longer to walk in this morning because I decided to carry my decoy as well, so I had my bow, my climber, decoy, and a pack with gore-tex insulated bibs and jacket. It was a perfect morning, foggy, drizzly and cool. I was only sitting there about 30 minutes when I saw a doe headed down the ridge to me and I caught movement behind her. I stood and got ready knowing it had to be a buck. I was right and it was the buck I had seen walking out the day before. As soon as I saw it was him I picked a spot and waited for him to get in range. The doe passed by at 12 yards looking at the decoy the whole time. He walked behind a tree at 20 and I drew my bow, when he stepped out I grunted with my mouth and locked him up. It was all I needed, I released the arrow and it hit him perfect. He took off like a rocket but didn't last long and expired 50 yards from where I shot him. It was my first public land buck and my biggest bow buck to date, still is. It doesn't matter where you hunt you just have to put in the time and never give up.

I was 14 years old and it was my second gun season with my pump shotgun. I had harvested a button buck the year before, my first deer. So to say I was excited about this season was an understatement. We hunt farm land broken up by hard woods and big hollers. So when gun season comes around our family and friends get together and put on deer drives. My brother and I are very much like my dad and love to be the drivers. We are the ones that everyone else depends on to get the deer going in the right direction. This drive was different, we needed another stander. So my brother and I flipped for it and you guessed it, I lost so I had to stand. My uncle and I were on a gas pipeline where to hollers funneled into one. He was on top and I was half way down. It was my first time to stand by myself so I wanted to prove myself if a deer did come out, so I was staying ready. I was only standing there maybe 20 minutes when I saw a deer running my way. At first I thought it was a doe but when it got a little closer I noticed it had some antlers on it, thinking at most a 6 point. He was running the whole way until he got to the pipe-line. Then he stopped and looked around for a second. Picking his path he was about 120 yards down and across the small creek. He came out on a trot and when he got to the middle I fired. I missed but it confused him so he stopped dead in his tracks(he must have heard the echo and wasn't sure where it came from so he stopped to look). I couldn't believe it but quickly pumped the gun and fired again. This shot was true and he dropped in his tracks. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. My uncle yelled down and asked what I was shooting at and I told him that I got a buck in the bottom. He congratulated me but told me to stay put til the drivers got to me. When I saw them I started down the hill. The bottom driver was a family friend, Dana, and he asked me if I got one. I told him yes and pointed to where it was laying. He asked me what it was and I told him it was a buck but not a very big one. He told me to wait there and he would drag it to the bottom and I could help from there. When he got to the deer he asked me how many points I thought it had and I told him maybe 6. He said well then this must not be your deer because its one of the biggest 10 points I have ever seen. I thought he was playing a joke on me so I said yeah right and didn't buy it. Then I saw the look on his face and knew something was up. I ran over and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him laying there. It was the buck of my dreams laying there, not to mention my first buck. He ended up being a clean 10 with 10 inch brows and 3 other tines over 12. His net score is 153 and I am still trying to top him

Wow... Great stories G and G. Really enjoyed both of them. Congrats on your success!

Dave and Tall Tine, I enjoyed y'alls stories as well. I think we all have a story about hunting, from deer to chipmunks that we will remember forever. I like to read other peoples experiences.

Good reads guys...

Thanks for sharing guys.

Well I guess I would have to say my 172" is my favotite.
Nov.2007,Was in Fulton cty Ill. We had been hunting HARD for 3 days,Seeing lot's of deer but not what I go to Ill for.A buddy (Don) of mine had been hunting this one farm and seeing good deer( 2 definite shooters) but just would'nt cross a revine in front of him and they would stay out about 65-70yds.So as we were eating dinner one night I said something about moving to another farm,He told me to go where he had been hunting and see if I could have any luck with them,He told me where they came from and all that stuff.
Morning of Nov 14th,We woke to a temp of about 27 degrees.I get to the farm and get everything but the camp sink in my packs,Prepared for the all day hunt. Get settled in before daylight.Right when it was getting enough light were you can see something moving,There was a deer coming right to the revine that don had told me about,But he had crossed it,Still about 45yds out,(I really don't like shooting that far)I give him a couple lite grunts to no prevail,He just kept going from my left to right and didn't pay no attention to the grunts,So i told myself,"Maybe this is a good sign" and set back to see what else happened.After about 30-35mins (7:30)I couldn't stand it,Got the horns,Buck growl,and can ready.Turned the can over a couple times,Then did a rattlin sequence followed by a growl and snort wheeze.It wasn't 2 mins and I saw him coming right back from where I had seen him last,Ears laid back and hair standing up on his back.I start telling myself to get ready for a 45yd shot,I'm watching him come in the same way he left and all of a sudden he turns and starts walking straight toward the stand,Knowing the wind direction I knew I had to take the shot before he got behind me,So at 7yds I give him the ole EEEHHH,Released the arrow and watched him bound off back out in front of me about 60yds,He was standing there looking around not knowing what had just happened,I'm thinking to myself there is "NO WAY I missed that deer" when all of a sudden he started that "WOBBLE" and ran around in circles and disappeared behind a big tree top that was on the ground,I couldn't see him so i continued to sit there with all kinds of crap running through my head. THANK GOD for safety belts,Cause when i saw him go down I got soo freakin tore up I couldn't even find the seat on my stand.After saying a few (ALOT) thank yous to man above and getting my senses back some what I decided to call the wife (mrs volway) cause I knew she would be on the way to taking our daughter to school.She answered and I told her (well I was trying to tell her)the story,And all she kept asking me was "Are you ok?" Guess she tell by my voice.Then I texted my buddy Don,He said he was on the way.Somehow I stayed in tree until he got there (You wanna talk about hard!) cause i really wanted to be able to share moment with him.After I climb down we found my arrow and walked to the tree top I saw him fall behind,When we walked around that top and I saw him laying there,There's just not words in this world that explain what was going through my mind.
We load him up and head back to camp,All Don kept saying is "You got you a booner there".After taking lots of pics and dressing him out we weighed him and did a green score,He field dressed 235lbs,"Green Scored 178". Well after I got the mount back I had him "offically" scored. He grossed 174" and net was 163". Has 11 scorable points with a 23 3/8" inside spread. I know I owe this all to good man above,But also to my buddy Don for telling me to go there.He told me later that he just had a feeling that something was gonna happen.
Hope everyone gets the chance if you haven't already to get to experince the roller coaster of emotions that ran through my body that day of Nov,14th.2007.GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL AND BE SAFE.


AIM SMALL MISS SMALL

Steve (volway)

Awesome story Steve and thanks for the pics. I really enjoyed it. Welcome to the WA team. Hopefully, you stay on a roll...

That is a great story! awesome

Whew! What a giant! I love that spread. Thanks for sharing.

That is freakin sweet. What a buck. I can't wait for IL this season. Congrats on a true bruiser and thanks for sharing the story. Great saying too by the way.

AIM SMALL, MISS SMALL!!!

awesome stories...I have a few that i will post when i can get a few moments to sit down and actually type...lol

Thanks guys and good luck to you all this coming season.






AIM SMALL~MISS SMALL

Great stories everyone

Hopefully we will all have another story to add this year

volway wrote:

Hopefully we will all have another story to add this year

Sure hope so...

Great stories guys, and WOW what a buck volway.