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Story in Harvest Thread.........

It finally happened and it wasn't a cartoon! I have been hunting a piece of state land since opening day and today I was going to take the stand down and move to another property for the rest of the week where I have a doe tag. I lowered my gun down. I turned to my left where the terrain drops precipitously down a series of ledges. I was about to grab my ladder when Insaw him walking 80 yards away parallel my position. I pulled the gun up as quickly as I could and squeezed off a shot. I knew he was hit because I saw him about 100 yards away walking slowly but no second shot opportunity. I thought I saw him bed down. Just then I saw another hunter walking towards me and he stopped on the ledge right where I last saw the buck. He stood there for a while before continuing his walk towards me. About 75 yards away he turned and walked away. I climbed down and went to the shot location and for as far as I could see there was a blood trail. I followed constant blood until I jumped him after 400 yards of tracking. I backed out and went to our cabin. Returned with some guys from camp and started over. We tracked him another 300 yards before finding him about 200 yards from the road on the other side of the property. Easiest mountain drag ever! All down hill. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Shot him at 10:47 a.m. 11/18 State land, 1/2 mile off road DEC Biologist aged him at 4 1/2 years old 100 yard shot. Shot in upper quadrant of heart, ran 50 yards.

I posted this in the live from the woods thread but wanted to put it in its proper place here. Let me start off by saying in my 21ish years of hunting I’ve never seen a buck this big alive in the woods. My biggest buck to date is a small racked 7 pointer. I was already having a pretty decent opening day. Saw a doe early then a spike around 12 and another small 4 pointer around 12:30-12:45. Things went quiet around 1pm. Around 2:30 I decided to have a pee then get out my lucky skittles and settle in for the last 2 hours of the day. Right around 3 I hear a few shots go off 200 or so yards away followed by very heavy crashing. I figured what ever the deer was is going down in some thick nasty stuff and I’d be helping drag out a deer after sunset. Just in case though I grabbed the gun stood up and waited. That’s when the surprise kicked in. This buck with a big rack comes smashing through the thicket with a broken rear leg. At this point a completely forget about the rack and settle the gun on the vitals and follow him waiting for him to hit my shooting lane. Now he’s not moving very fast because of the broken leg. He gets through my first shooting lane as I still follow him cross hairs on the vitals. He gets into my second lane and I squeeze the trigger. He folds up in 20 yards head facing away from me. That’s when I remembered Holy Crap! This dude had a rack on him and a big one! When I finally got down to check him out I was in complete shock! In fact I think I still am!

I was after this guy all bow season, but I only saw him on trailcam pics. About 9:30am on opening day, I saw a deer trotting ~300 yards to my right, head almost to the ground, and coming right at me!!! I put the scope on it and saw it was the big 8pt that I had been after all bow season! If he continued on the same path, he would have been 25 yards in front of me! I kept the crosshairs on his chest the best that I could and was ready, incase he decided to change direction! He was on a mission and kept closing the distance! At ~150 yards, he must have picked up the does scent that I saw there earlier, because he started to veer off into the thicket! BUT, between him trotting side to side and me not having a rock steady rest, (OK, and me shaking ) I just wasn't comfortable risking a shot! I knew the .300 Mag was fully capable, but I wasn't confident . Part of me was screaming SHOOT!!! But I was too afraid of missing, or worst yet wounding him, so I decided not to shoot!! He disappeared into the thicket and I had no idea if I would ever see him again! I was tormented by my decision, but in my heart, I knew it was the right thing to do. I was bumming, feeling like I may have blown my one and only opportunity at him. I tried giving some estrus bleats to get him to come in my direction, but nothing! I figured he probably picked up the doe's scent from earlier, and followed her out of the back of the thicket somewhere into the corn. About 5 min later, I looked into the thicket and could make out a deer walking. I sure hoped it was the big 8pt! It was so damn thick and I could just see enough of the rack to confirm it was him!! It looked like he was back tracking the doe from earlier! I scanned in front of him and found one hole about 75 yards in front of me that I figured would be my one and only opportunity for a shot! I put the crosshairs on that hole and waited for him to step into it!!! I kept peeking over the scope to keep an eye on him, so I knew when to expect him! As soon as I saw his shoulder in the scope, I squeezed the trigger! He took a couple jumps, but it was so thick that I had no idea if I hit him or not!? AHHHHH! To make matters worse, although it was only 75 yards away, a deep ditch/creek was between us that I needed chest waders to cross! I had to walk back to the truck to get my chest waders, walk back to the stand, put the waders on, and wade the creek (~4' deep!), before I would even know if I hit him or not!! Well, once I got over there, I saw blood splattered all over the fresh snow! I was so relieved!! He might have went 40 yards, but was piled up along the edge of the thicket! I was grateful to have killed the buck that I was after, but even more happy that I did it with my Dad's .300 Win Mag. That gun was his baby! I know he was smiling down...

Here's my story........Friday was a total mind blower with the 11" of snow we got in Ontario Country. Two of us spent 7-8 hours moving snow, gettin cars/trucks/boats stuck and unstuck. (the boat is still stuck and will have to wait till the ground is frozen) We put up a ladder stand that will have to be moved AGAIN as I made an honest mistake and discovered it early afternoon yesterday while perusing OnX, my bad. Oh and we had the Great swan roundup for my buddies PIA birds. Myself and another guest got them up to the barn and the one on my side made a break for it.......I cornered him into the side of the barn. The 11" of snow helped to slow the big SOB down. I tackled him and carried him into his cell (horse stall) where he/she will spend the 5-6 months with its partner. Saturday was a bust for me. I should have known better than to go where I went with the winds that were forecast, all I saw was one doe all day. I'd rather not even think about what a dumb move that was....... So today was a different story. I made it to my spot by 6:30 despite the terrible snow conditions. Around 6:55 I spotted a lone deer way out in a mowed field, probably 400 yards and heading parallel to my position. He disappeared for a hew minutes and I thought I'd never get a crack at him. I watched for him to appear at one of my two possible shooting lanes and he went to the better of the two......sunrise today was 7:07am, exact time I shot him. Approx. 150 yard shot, .243 with Barnes 80gr TTSX, 8pt and dressed weight of 198lbs. I let him lay for about an hour before gutting him in hopes of a crack at a good doe. I did see one but the shot was just a touch sketchy so I passed. I didn't need a rodeo....... I have one buddy who has a great sense of humor, he sent me this picture and I should have sent it to Bizzy, he'd get a kick out of it. The End

Opening day 9pt. First minute or two or legal light. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Allegany county 6 point. Hooray for me!

So buddy’s property I’ve been hunting was hit head on in auto accident two years ago. Lucky to be alive but paralyzed left arm and leg. A great deer n turkey hunter. Yesterday he shot a big mature 9 point in cherry creek. Self films all his hunts. That was great video as buck DRT. Today he texts me if I’ll gut a doe and help him out getting to house as he’s going to sit in the tower. Does kept hitting the plot of turnips and radishes 125-150 from tower. Then 2 scrub bucks , then what he thought was goiter but upon me glassing him from 200 yards opposite direction it was a mature buck with a nice half rack. Watched another ok buck get off his bed from golden rod. Minutes later 3 doe hit the plot and I get a text saying it’s time. I’m in my stand and one falls over then I hear the shot. DRT. I laughed out loud. Minutes later another shot rings off and I see a doe run 20 yards and snowplow. Minutes later shot heard and another 15 yard death run 3 down in ten minutes. I’m still sitting awaiting magic hour. Decent shooter hits plot and i text him no more as I first thought it was another doe. Glassed him and he’s nice. I can here my buddy grunting and buck looking his way , I grunt and buck immediately takes interest and moves 20 yards fast my way. I think this is going to happen. He makes a few bounds my way in golden rod and I lost him after seeing antlers above the top of field. At this point times dwindling on legal light. I climb down and proceed to tower and congratulate my friend. It was like an Easter egg hunt but pretty easy Accused him of ruining some perfectly good snow. So guess who gets to gut 3 deer. Me. But it’s the least I can do for free reign of his property. Buttout 2 worked well. Field dressed all 3 clean as a whistle in about 40-45 minutes. Loaded them in his side by side and he then says it’s his birthday. Shooting his 7mm08 off a rest and he’s sniper like. Maybe one of these days I’ll get something decent to shoot at but there’s 3 less big does out there. And finally ate something today. Was starved. Gear in washer as I was bloody mess. Next opportunity is Tuesday Wednesday thanksgiving for me. Daughter hunting Thursday too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Around 9 I had A big buck with a very dark rack step out. I waited Until he was in a shooting lane and pulled the trigger. He face planted and then got up and took off into some thick stuff. It looked like a good hit, so I went To see the spot where I shot Him. Found 6 places where he had fallen down and was bleeding heavy. Ended up tracking about 300 yards and decided to back out. Now I’m sitting at home driving myself nuts. My brother in law is going to come over in an hour or two and we will get back on the trail. Here’s a pic of one of the spots I found. I should Have backed out immediately but I didnt Think he would go far. I’m pretty sure this buck is one of the big 10s I’ve had around here. If it’s not him, it’s another big 8 I’ve seen. Those are the only 2 with really dark racks.

For 3 seasons my son's buddy has been Deer hunting on my place. The last 2 seasons we were covered up with does but only two bucks seen in that time and only one of those presented a shot. This year we are covered up with yearling bucks but Curtis' wife is expecting so he hasn't been able to get out much, just 1 morning hunt so far and my place doesn't usually produce before 10:00 AM. It is a great afternoon/evening producer though Today Curtis made it out for an evening hunt. About 3:30 I heard a shot. I wear noise canceling hearing enhancement ear plugs and although they enhance hearing woods noises, it is difficult to tell what direction a gunshot has come from. After some back & forth on the radios it was established that Curtis had dropped a buck in its tracks right in the middle of a horse trail. Nice fat spike that dressed 90#. Not bad for a 1st deer. For the last 2 years I have been coaching Curtis on shot placement, especially on quartering shots. Well, today he gets an A+ for shot placement on a 100 yd quartering slightly on shot from an elevated stand. The 140 gr .284 Nosler Ballistic Tip from my handload dumped him in his tracks. IMO a textbook perfect shot. I'm so proud and happy for him. Here is the view from where the deer stood looking back on the "Penthouse" stand. I'm really proud of Curtis.

6 pt in Moose River Plains Nov 10th. Spot stalked then tracked this guy in the snow for a few hundred yards before catching up to him on the second day of a three day hunt. Story is here.

Last update for the night. I got Permission from the landowner to continue the track. He has a large property and allows no hunting, so my buck should be safe from people in there. We pushed him a long way today and after watching him in the ravine, I really Think he’s gonna lay up and die if we leave him be. It’s gonna be a sleepless night, but I’ll be back after him in the morning.

Such a nice guy to drive an hour to help me out with the stuck ATV. Way above and beyond what anyone can ask. And he really didn’t know me that well. Thanks my friend. Hope I can repay the favor. And enjoyed the conversation. Hope we get a chance to catch up under better circumstances . Long story short, we picked up front end and pushed it over on to fresh reeds. Enough for me to drive out from there. Always amazed at the quality of the people I meet on this forum.

Went out on the porch for a smoke and with coffee in hand he came walking by 30yrds away. I put my smoke in the ash tray , set my coffee on the rail, sneak in and grab my 7mag , come back out and bawam. Bag me a 9pt big body stinky ruttin buck. Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk

My 14 year old son's first buck. Modest 6 pointer, but he was very happy. Shot with a Rem 700 .308 at about 75 yards at 8:45 a.m. yesterday. Short gun season for him.

So here goes my opening day story. I have jmp5008 drive me by road to the back end of my land to hunt the ridge top stand. I get in the stand at 5:45 and settle in. At around 6:30 about 15 min before legal I see a doe come running up the funnel between me at the neighbor. I know by which was she is headed she will be going right in front of his stand. I look the direction she came from and see another deer making its way up the hill. I’m pretty sure it’s a buck but it’s thick over there and I can’t make it out. Finally I get him in the scope and I can see antlers but can’t make them out. Ar’s in effect here. It’s now like 10 min to legal I’m following him in my scope he looks big but it’s thick and I can’t tell for sure. Between that and the time I let him walk. 2 min later I hear it. Boom the neighbor shoots twice. My heart sinks he was so close and the shot so loud I feel like I’m not going to see any more deer. About 45 min goes by and I’m scanning all directions. I notice a deer coming down the hill behind me. A small doe. I take a selfie with it and watch her walk away. As I turn back around I see another deer coming down the hill In front of me. Looks like a buck but I’m not sure. I get the scope on him, see the antlers with a obvious 3 points on one side. I settle the scope behind the shoulder and pull the trigger. The deer kicks and takes off running up the ridge but downhill from the neighbor. That’s when the texts start my buddies want to know what I shot. I answer that I’m not sure I hit him. That’s when@jmp5008 chimes in and says you got him I see it rolling down the hill!! I walk Down go recover the deer when the neighbor and his grandson show up. I ask if they got the one from earlier in the day. They said no we missed, but it was a very nice 8. I make a little small talk with them then start the long drag downhill thank god, to where I can get a quad in and get him back to the house Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shot this buck on my land in Cortland County on Saturday morning. Got in my stand @6:37am, and at 7 I see a big doe walking toward me. I'm getting my gun up, and I start to hear grunting, look back on the trail and this guy is following her grunting like crazy. Shot him at 7:05, and when I get up to him I'm amazed at the body size. Buck ended up having 19" inside spread, and field dressed at 207 pounds. This has been a tough season for me, as I had 104 hours in a tree stand this year and only shot 1 doe during bow season. Took me over an hour to get him to the closest logging trail 100 yards away, where I was going to try to get my 4 wheeler in. With over a foot of wet snow, I wasn't sure my 4 wheeler would make it, but it did. I'm a happy hunter right now! John

Taken Sunday, 11/18 around 8:45 am in 4f. My son was there with me and helped me track him which was very exciting!

Big doe down. Had her lined up in the scope, squeezed the trigger and "click". Round failed to discharge. Had to try and chamber another round without being heard or seen. 2nd times a charm.

Bleated this buck in this morning at 9:30 in unit 4A.

Definitely not a beer. I know beer

It was a very good day. Dressed weight 160 pounds. Been hunting deer 48 seasons now. This year hunting alone, dragging it out and hanging it in the shed by myself. I guess at 63 years old, I'm not that old after all.

Nothing in the morning had lunch got back in 230. While hoisting up pack I look over to see a doe sneaking through the brush to my north . More deer coming behind. See a big bodied deer bringing up the rear. Drop the pack and pulled the 480. As the deer got its closest it was covered up in brush no shot. Watched him nipping off buds . Till no clue how big the rack was.Didn't look good for a shot no shooting lanes over there. Scanned ahead and picked a spot where the brush thinned and waited. As he moved forward at about 60 yds I braced against the tree . Supporting shooting hand with weak hand I put the dot on the bucks neck then cocked the srh .Looking at the buck all I had was an opening the size of a softball on his neck. My grandfathers words came back to me " if you can see it you can hit it". I slowly squeezed the trigger. At the report the buck dropped in his tracks . The big 391grn hard cast hollowpoint crushed him. An hour drag to the truck was killer. But rewarding.

This scrappy 6-pointer offered me a broadside 100 yard, fast-walking shot at 10:00, which I "pushed". I think it missed him forward because he put on the brakes just as I heard the shot go off. He stopped behind a big tree in a swamp. My sister heard my second shot (from her house 300 yards away) 2 minutes later. It seemed a lot longer to me, before he took a few more steps from behind that tree. He was partly hidden by brush, and slightly quartering away, when I held slightly above his center of mass and fired that second shot. Had I not taken the first one (which I was 90 % sure I would make), I probably would not have taken the second one thru that brush. No matter, as that one rolled him onto his back. I could see two hoofs twitching straight up in the air for a little bit before they rolled back down. I cycled the last 12 gauge Honady SST into my Marlin 512's chamber and held the 4x scope's crosshairs on that dark spot in the brush until all movement stopped. Getting to him was tough because the water was higher than my boots. I found a couple of downed, snow-covered trees to balance on and made it over the deep spot. Wading thru the shallower water I finally found him and experienced a rarity (ground antler growth) when he began to pull his head up with his front legs. It seems that they usually look smaller when you walk up to them but not this time, this is probably the second largest racked buck I have ever killed. He would be by a long shot had he not broke off a couple points. My wife was thankful for that for now I can get away with a "free" euro, vs a $400 - $ 500 shoulder mount. I replaced the $3 sabot in my chamber with an off-brand odd-ball from my pocket and ended his suffering with a neck shot with that (another advantage of the euro mount). I did not want muddy swamp water in the carcass so I tried dragging him out with the guts still in. Clearly he was well north of 200 pounds so I did not get too far with that. I called my dad, who got hold of my brother and they arrived in about 20 minutes with a sled and ATV. We floated him over the deep spots with the sled. My brother was particularly impressed with the performance of the butt-out, when we got him to dry land. I named this one "Titus" because I had some history with him (he bested me with my crossbow last Sunday when he saw me moving my cider thermos (see 2nd photo) and never offered a shot. The Good Lord had other plans for him today. (Titus was the book on the two Bible pages that I read this morning before going hunting).

Hate to show it after seeing all the bucks. I hit her a bit forward and somehow on an angle, hit her shoulder hard. There was a lot of blood in her but lungs and heart was good. She went down where she was standing. Exciting! I seen 14 doe! The last group of doe walked around her checking her out, that was cool. She was big and fat! No paper here for me to enter in hunt contest

Same stand I single lunged that big 8 last Saturday. 7am, watched her for 5 minutes, was really hoping a big boy was with her. All I've had shots at all bow were yearling and fauns. Don't normally shoot a doe on opening day of gun, but I needed a win. 70 yards, double lung, broke the shoulder on the exit. She snow plowed, and went night nights. Big girl, head like a mule.

Shot what I thought was a doe with a long poke, turned out to be a spike. Different spot in the afternoon and had 4 doe come up and I shot the biggest, turns out she had a busted back leg and a wound on her face so I'm glad I picked her. Good day! Freezer is back on track after a humbling archery season. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Time for snacky snack. Leftover meatloaf on cheddar biscuits like Red Lobster has. One deer seen so far

That's a fancy blind

See this cal buck? A real dandy!

Celebratory candy and some tea for a big doe down.

Muwahahaha. Thought I knew where he was bedding and for once I was right.

Just got home. Tracked him for a mile and a half and caught up with him. Took a shot but didn’t connect. He crossed a road and headed into more thick shit. I coulnt Go anymore so we backed off. Gonna try getting ahold of the land owner and get after him in the morning. I got it a great look at him. It’s not the 8, it’s the big 10. I have No trail cam pics of him that I know Of but people around here know him. He’s in real bad shape. Could run a little but was hardly walking. Track showed him falling down every hundred feet or so. He’s still bleeding heavily. I cant Believe he’s not dead with how much blood loss there’s been.

Hope you took the tree stand with you. If not check it good before climbing back in.

Don't get the kind I seem to always buy, my right side gets cold, but the left hand NEVER gets cold

Got this fawn on Saturday. I hunted the morning at the property I usually rifle hunt and saw some doe, but the landowner doesn’t want doe to be shot this year on the property so they got a pass. Went to my grandparents property which I usually only bow hunt, but the neighbor who has an orchard now let’s me hunt it so I took a walk in the orchard. I knew the places they like to stay in the orchard so around 4:10 I snuck through the pear trees and saw a buck and 8 doe feeding under some apple trees. The buck came down to about 50 yards away and made a scrape and rub on some saplings at the tree line. The doe ranged 114-170 yards, so I took the 114 yard shot. It’s my farthest shot confirmed. The deer were so confused when I shot that I could have shot another one (have 2 more doe tags for this wmu), but I elected to pass because I had enough work with this one. I had a shot at one today as well, but I passed because I have some recent pics of a really nice 8 point so I was hoping he would come by. Hopefully I can get out Tuesday or Wednesday to take another doe in the morning and wait for a buck in the afternoon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The group is on fire!!! I haven’t heard the story yet but Tanya took her first deer and it was a dandy buck for sure. Mentored by Mike Edwards. Congrats Tanya, I hope the hunt was more than you hoped for. And an FYI. she did it with an ought 6

Ill never understand why a guy would ruin his own opening day along with yours, they could just move a couple hundred yards and hunt for crissakes

Maybe he was there for 37 years ,maybe he did have a blind in place . You were there first ,either he deals with it or leaves .

I did the same on a nice big buck last couple days of crossbow. Went a long time before dropping. The bigger ones always give the best drama, Good Luck with him.

I have a good pile at work lol, and when someone loses a righty, im instantly blamed haha

Honestly I would have just waited till she left and went and got it. I have no patience for people like that... I would also call police now every time one of her riders crossed onto your land Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paula AND cynthiaFU may not like this...or maybe just maybe they will be relieved! Welcome aboard...eat what Bionic recommends(caution-it’s a lot of green!) and drink what Turkeyfeather tells you to drink(beer especially) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bazaar if your there your there already its public land first come that day gets the spot . No reservations on state land No homesteading on public land.

Brother in law is on his way over. Gonna go get back on the track soon.

That’s such bullcrap. My land borders state land so I get not wanting people to cross the line. But I’ve had guys ask permission and I’ve even helped them drag and cut through to get to the road for easier passage (only for dragging). It’s just the sportsman’s thing to do. Why you would want a deer someone else killed is beyond me.

2:30 opening day