Another monster Illinois buck got the best of me many years ago. Twice! I first saw him in July. He was regularly feeding in a soybean field with 4 other bucks. All of the bucks were nice..120 inches or better, but the big 5x5 was huge. I got alot of video footage of him throught the summer.
Luckily for me...he was living in a patch of timber that was maybe forty acres that I knew very well. Inside this patch of timber, there were 3 and only 3 white oak trees all growing next to each other.
Like always, the deer vanished before season. A light when on in my head, and I decided to check on the 3 oak trees. Two of them were dropping huge white acorns, and the deer were pounding them.
There was a natural funnel leading from the area I figured the bucks were bedding to the oak trees. No brainer stand site. I hung a stand and waited for the wind to be so that the deer would be able to quarter into the wind while coming from the bedding area to the acorns. I figured this would be my best bet at getting a shot at him during the early season.
The right wind finally came only a week or so into the season. I got in the stand at 1:00 p.m. It was really hot...probably over 80 degrees. It was one of those days where I just knew something was gonna happen. But nothing did, untill just before the end of the day.
I glanced behind me and noticed on of the smaller bucks that made up the bachelor group milling around 50 or so yards away. As time went on, 4 of the 5 bucks appeared..including the big one.
They began making their way into the funnel I was hunting and I began to get nervous because I was playing a very fickle wind situation. One slight change of current, and they would all smell me.
Luck was on my side, and the first buck passed in range, and made it to the acorns and began to feed. The other bucks must have felt a sense or urgency in competing with the smaller buck for the limited acorns, and began to hurry their pace. All of them walked by me between 12 and 20 yards with the big boy bringing up the rear.
It was one of those too good to be true situations. The big one went by me and put his head down and began feeding on acorns. He was quartering away slightly at maybe 15 to 17 yards. There was a little limb parially covering his vitals, but it did not seem to be that big of a deal at the time. I figured I could make the shot. I was wrong. I drew and you guessed it..I hit that limb and the arrow sailed over his back!
I was so sure the buck would get away if I did not make a move, that I made a bad call in judgment. If I had waited just a little longer, he probably would have given me a better shot. But I was nervous with all of the other bucks so close, and I figured one of them would figure out the gig was up if I did not make my move.
I sent uncle Gene an email whinning to him about my misfortune. He emialed me back and said "Hey at least you got to go hunting today! I was unable to even get out hunting!" as well as some encouraging words of advice. This was probably 10 or 11 years ago.
Anway, the season went on and I did not see him again. Finally one day in mid-November, I was sitting in another tree about 75 yards from the first one, when I saw the big guy chasing a doe. He was all over her, I mean chasing her hard! She came running right too me and stopped directly under my tree. I had the bait. Just needed the big dude to make his move. She stood under me for 20 seconds or so and then started a slow trot to my left. This was all the big one could take, and he came past me at a slow trot also, as I drew my bow. Suddenly he stopped at maybe 15 yards again and was staring at the doe.
Now I knew I had him. No way he was getting away this time. Unbelievably, I shot an inch over his back! I was so upset with myself that I nearly threw my bow out of the tree. I simply could not accept the fact that I missed the same giant buck twice in the same season!
The worst part is that by this time I had taken 3 does, all with more difficult shots than what I had at this buck!
Now this is where it really gets interesting. On the very last day of the season, we had a rare snow cover on the ground in Southern Illinois. I hunted till nearly dark when I saw the big buck that I had missed twice already walk directly under another treestand I had setup nearby maybe 50 yards away. He was still standing under that stand when the last remaining light of the season faded out, while a light snow fell.
I searched for his shed antlers relentlessly but to no avail. I never saw that buck again.
Topic: Once Upon A Time- Monsters that got away ! (Read 845 times)
