Ghosts from Years Past

[DanD]

The date was November 15, 2014. The first day of gun season in the southern tier, and a day I will never forget as long as I live. We had done several pushes that morning and were setting up for our final push before lunch. Crawling through red brush on the previous drive, I just wanted a break and volunteered to be a stander. We had an unusually large group that morning, and the prime standing locations were taken by older or younger hunters. I ended up standing in an area we call the “Dead Zone” where two hedge rows came together in a cut corn field. It used to be the prime spot for the drive; however, the deer had gotten wise to our strategy and avoided it all costs. I was more than ok with just sitting back and watching the action. The drive started as it normally did. Deer trying to escape out the side of the drive and running past standers in optimal locations. As the drive was coming to an end, one of the last pushers screamed on the radio “MONSTER”. No one knew where it was going only that it was in a disgusting tangle of red brush and thorns. Knowing he wasn’t too far from me, I readied and looked down the hedge row to my left expecting him to pop up in the most logical place if he was coming my way. All of the sudden I hear the sounds of brush hitting off antlers to my far right, and out pops a doe with Mr. Big right on her tail. They were only trotting so I knew I had a chance. Slightly caught off guard, I swung my 870 SPS SuperSlug and squeezed off shot one which fell short and covered his front right leg in mud. The doe takes off down the hedge row, but Mr. Big is utterly torn as what to do. Follow the hot doe or save his own bacon. He cuts off from the doe and starts to do a semi-circle around me to go back into where they just came from. Shot two, low again and behind as he starting to pick up speed. It was at this point, I realized he was much further than the 75 yards I thought he was. Shot 3, as he starting to get his motor if full gear, is behind him even though I’m leading him by nearly a half deer length, but closer to the right elevation. Shot 4 same thing, behind him. Chamber shot 5, and I prayed to God that this one hits. Squeeze it off, and he stumbles a little bit and slows down. He stops in the middle of the field with his arse facing me looking for where the doe went. I struggle to jam two more shells in the gun before he takes off straight away from me. Pulled the gun up, and knew he was way too far at this point, and I had no shot at vitals. I take off down the hedge row to try to push him back to other guys in the group and from going back into the thicket. I was too late as I saw his rack one last time before he disappeared into some hemlock trees. I walked back to the field in defeat only to find a glimmer of hope, a small patch of white hair from the fifth shot. No blood whatsoever as I followed his tracks the entire way through the field to where he went back into the thicket. Still in disbelief, I paced off the distance only to realize shots 2-5 were closer to 150 yards with shot 1 around 130. I was holding far too low on all my shots aiming for the lower third rather than trying to catch lungs in the middle third of him. A mistake, I have not repeated to this day on any deer.

To this day, I can still clearly hear the brush hitting his rack and remember the way he trotted out on that cut cornfield in all of his glory. That buck was killed the following year by a friend of a friend. He grossed in the mid 170s and netted right around 170 as a mainframe 12 point. I still question what would have been if I would have taken more time to settle on the first shot to properly gauge the distance and try to stop him…

Anyone else have ghosts from years past that still haunt them?

Edited July 23, 2019 by DanD

[TreeGuy]

Been there done that. My hope is to get another opportunity at the deer that was behind this tree.

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[moog5050]

Few years ago, first week of bow season, Phade texts me that I have a big 10pt coming down my trail.  I could see him winding his way towards me but the trail is literally right below the stand (narrow trail with a stream with brush on one side and heavy brush on the other).  I keep waiting for a decent shot and mind is racing as I don't see it happening.  Only hard quartering too offered so I stand and wait while he passes right under me.  I was not comfortable with the straight down shot either and as he keeps going I just watch his butt walking straight away until he hits my scent stream and bolts.    Beautiful buck.  I sat there thinking, what should I have done - I couldn't figure it out while it was slowly happening.  Nicest buck I never got a shot on and only 1yd away.  lol 

Came to the conclusion that there really was nothing I could have done other than take the quartering too shot or straight down shot - neither of which I liked.  Or maybe I should have found a different tree in the brush to sit - we didn't want to have to  enter that brush it was so thick with sharp spines. 

That buck survived another encounter with a different hunter later in gun season at 20yds when the hunter forgot to either remove the safety or cock the gun (don't recall). 

Not sure what happened as we never saw him after that season.  Good lesson for me on setting stands - don't be lazy and be sure you have a shot to where you expect the deer to be!

Edited July 23, 2019 by moog5050

[BigVal]

Good thread! I've had a few but my favorite memory was on black Friday of my first deer season. After a day of my dad and his friend trying to push deer to me with no luck, they put me in a stand for thr last hour of the day.

My dads friend went to the right of me towards a ravine when I saw a huge rack at (what I know now) was about 100 yards. I shook like a leaf for what seemed an eternity trying to scope the deer, before he was even to the point of being in front of me I called my dad literally 20 plus times just to tell him of the experience. 

Lol if it was today it would be a different story but even though it didn't happen the way it "could" have me and my dad still laugh about it every season. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

10 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

Few years ago, first week of bow season, Phade texts me that I have a big 10pt coming down my trail.  I could see him winding his way towards me but the trail is literally right below the stand (narrow trail with a stream with brush on one side and heavy brush on the other).  I keep waiting for a decent shot and mind is racing as I don't see it happening.  Only hard quartering too offered so I stand and wait while he passes right under me.  I was not comfortable with the straight down shot either and as he keeps going I just watch his butt walking straight away until he hits my scent stream and bolts.    Beautiful buck.  I sat there thinking, what should I have done - I couldn't figure it out while it was slowly happening.  Nicest buck I never got a shot on and only 1yd away.  lol 

Came to the conclusion that there really was nothing I could have done other than take the quartering too shot or straight down shot - neither of which I liked.  Or maybe I should have found a different tree in the brush to sit - we didn't want to have to  enter that brush it was so thick with sharp spines. 

That buck survived another encounter with a different hunter later in gun season at 20yds when the hunter forgot to either remove the safety or cock the gun (don't recall). 

Not sure what happened as we never saw him after that season.  Good lesson for me on setting stands - don't be lazy and be sure you have a shot to where you expect the deer to be!

You should have jumped down on his back...lol

[moog5050]

1 minute ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

You should have jumped down on his back...lol

I certainly could have Bob - no lie.  It was a bit surreal to watch it playing out, being so close, knowing where he is going and not being able to identify a possible shot.  That's the first thing I do when I see a target -- figure out where I plan to shoot it.  THERE WAS NO GOOD SHOT anywhere from that tree with a bow.  Comical really.

[Swamp_bucks]

4 years ago november 1st i believe.  Had perfect wind at my lease snuck into my favorite stand without bumping anything.   I could hear deer walking the ridge above me.   Just as it started getting light i could hear a deer pawing for what i thought was acorns.  It turned out to be a massive perfect 10 biggest deer i ever saw while hunting and he was working a scrape.  I can still see the siloutte of his horns in the sun as he used the licking branch.  Watched him for 20 mins working 4 scrapes before he started my way.  He came straight down the hill at me to within 15 yards.  All he had to do was continue another 5 yards for a broaside shot at 10yrds or take the trail to the right and have a 15 yrd shot.  But he did what big bucks do and walked back the way he came.  I had one shot window at 20yards but he was quatering to much and didnt feel comfortable.  Never saw him again but did see 4 other bucks that morning.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I have way to many ghosts to bore you all with my whining but one day sure stands out and it wasn't a real hunt. I had been watching 4 really good bucks across from my house all bow season. One was HUGE. I hunted them but never had anytime that they were even close to bow range. On the last Tuesday of shotgun I looked out the front window after I had gotten home from work and I see a lone doe walking down the hedge row, parallel to our road and out about 400 yards. Since I had been playing cat and mouse with these bucks all year I hadn't put any meat in the freezer and decided I'd grab my gun and go get in front of her.  I quickly dress lightly and grab a fist bull of sabots and my gun and head out.  She beat me to the hedge row intersection where i was trying to head her off. Since I could see so much of the fields she could have only walked straight away from the road on the intersecting hedge row. SO I start really hoofing it. The field is big and up ahead of me it dipped into a slough with tall grass and brush. An area that never gets farmed becasue it is too wet. But the big trees of the hedge row do run through it. There was about 4" of snow. As soon and I broke over that knob I see brown flashes in the brush and there was a herd in there. They busted into the meadow at about 80-90 yards and the 3 big bucks were right in the mix of the 5 does. For some reason the 3 bucks split off and that gave me the room I needed. I started shooting with my scoped  Mossburg 9200       1.....2....3....4...5 nothing and I could see each bullet hit the ground. If I loaded quickly I could get 1 maybe 2 more shots at them. I reached into my pocket and grabbed 2 shells. tipped the gun while I was watching them and dropped in a shell. I was about to hit the bolt release and I glanced  down at the brush line that was 20 yards away from me and there was a buck standing broadside.....in the open....and I am empty. I honestly believe he must have been standing there watching me shoot at the other ones. This was the biggest buck I have ever seen in the woods during the season and it was easily over 170 with trash sticking out everywhere.  What to do? it seemed like we stood there for an hour staring at each other. I flinched first and hit the bolt release to try to get on him before he bolted. he was faster than I was and he dove into the brush. I fully loaded as I saw his brown shadow headed through the brush. He came out on the very same path as the ones before...yup you guessed it.    1.......2.......3.....4......5....NOTHING. 

[Jeremy K]

1 hour ago, TreeGuy said:

Been there done that. My hope is to get another opportunity at the deer that was behind this tree.

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Still bummed out for you that day. However it did turn in to probably one of the funniest one liners i ever heard, when tacks asked you if you considered changing your name to deerguy

Edited July 23, 2019 by Jeremy K

[Skillet]

Awesome story and thread. I have a few that haunt me. Sometimes I wake up thinking of them. Or, I'll catch a whiff of fall on the air, and it will bring all those memories rushing into my head.

Deer missed, a few sadly wounded. Turkeys spooked. One squirrel in particular that I will never forget. Monster fish who got away.

As much as I wish those stories ended differently, a few have become some of my favorite memories.

I like to think those animals earned it. They were smarter and better than me on that day. I catch myself hoping they are still out there, though many of them are surely gone by now. The memories of the one that got away are sometimes so much more vivid than a successful harvest. 

In a way, those experiences can be better than a kill. After all, the only real trophies are the memories.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Skillet

[BizCT]

November 2000 in Texas. Hunting whitetails with my dad. 11 guys in camp. Us 2 and 9 guys from Georgia. The Georgia guys got 1 small 9pt combined.

Dad and I are in a box blind and see a giant come out in the afternoon 400-500 yards away but coming towards us. Sun was glistening off his rack. I never seen a buck like this before (and still haven’t since). Dad tells me to wait till he stops around 200yds. I got a good rest and shoot. Deer doesn’t move. Dad says reload and shoot again. I repeated this 3 more times. Dad can’t even tell if I’m missing high or low. Deer is looking wondering what’s going on. Dad shoots him and he drops right there. 131” 8pt. Turned out my gun couldn’t hit paper at 50yds- it must have gotten jarred. We checked them after the flight too. Every time I see that buck at my parents my house I think about how it could have been mine. Dad regrets not handing me his gun. He thought I was just having major buck fever.






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[stubborn1VT]

Was that with the famous Weatherby Biz?  Or was that the reason you bought the super awesome mega accurate Weatherby?

[moog5050]

7 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

November 2000 in Texas. Hunting whitetails with my dad. 11 guys in camp. Us 2 and 9 guys from Georgia. The Georgia guys got 1 small 9pt combined.

Dad and I are in a box blind and see a giant come out in the afternoon 400-500 yards away but coming towards us. Sun was glistening off his rack. I never seen a buck like this before (and still haven’t since). Dad tells me to wait till he stops around 200yds. I got a good rest and shoot. Deer doesn’t move. Dad says reload and shoot again. I repeated this 3 more times. Dad can’t even tell if I’m missing high or low. Deer is looking wondering what’s going on. Dad shoots him and he drops right there. 131” 8pt. Turned out my gun couldn’t hit paper at 50yds- it must have gotten jarred. We checked them after the flight too. Every time I see that buck at my parents my house I think about how it could have been mine. Dad regrets not handing me his gun. He thought I was just having major buck fever.






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what were you then about 7 years old?

[G-Man]

I dont know if you call it a ghost..  if I mess up and lose game it is only.after I have exhausted all resources available to me.. that being said. 3 years ago on Halloween I race home from work after delivering grapes to Welch's in dunkirk all day ( the smell permeates everything when they are collecting the harvest) so I call my friends  father ho told.me he just left " Dave's "stand and went to stand other side of the property.i said ok I'm going to daves stand then.

I wasnt in stand for 10 min when I hear noise behind me almost.like a squirrel but shuffling.  I look and it's a squirrel.. a few min later same.spot same.noise but squirrel had gone by me down the hill. I glance over my shoulder and it's a bear!! Coming right down logging road to my stand at my back above me.. I decided to wait for it to pass and take my shot.. I can hear it getting closer, soon its snuffing the ladder I climbed into the stand.. 

It finally walks out from under the platform and is 3 or 4 yards away i draw aim and release.. the bear stands up pulls the arrow out of the center of its chest and runs down the logging road...

I can see the blood 2 ft wide straight.down the road from my stand and the arrow laying where it flung it just off the roadway.. i call my.friend father and tell him i just shot a bear.. he calls me several names for getting it out of the. Stand he just left...  i tell him I'm gonna wait but it has to be dead the blood is eveywhere..

15.min go by and i hear same shuffling behind me again ..i look and it's a bear!!  I try to think how the bear i just shot got around me and is behind me again.. i then see it is smaller and is a different bear completely.. it walks off and after an hour after shoo8ng 1st bear I get out and track the bear I shot..

Well tracking really isnt the word for it I was just walking normal with 2 ft wide blood in front of me.. I go maybe 80 yards and suddenly to my left the bear get up and takes off down hill. I go back to the house and decide I'll wait a few more hours and call a couple of friends to help track. 

We track it find the bed it was in. Solid blood the size of a single bed.. then the down hill portion begins.. we track it 2 miles and it never stopped.i call in a dog the next day and we go another mile.. the handler tells me if I would of let it lay it would of died in its bed in a few hours. Bear have a lot more blood than deer and 1 lung would of suffocated but with adrenaline its other lung inflated and pushed all the blood internal out and it would live. Neighbor saw bear a week later crossing the county bridge holding up is left front leg.. . He said it.looked rough.. I still think why didnt I wait before i looked.. smh

[BizCT]

what were you then about 7 years old?

I was 16!


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[BizCT]

Was that with the famous Weatherby Biz?  Or was that the reason you bought the super awesome mega accurate Weatherby?

It was a very old weatherby .243win, that was later traded in for a wby 7mm mag


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