Biggest whitetail you ever seen and didn’t get a shot at.

[just_jon]

12 point on the national bison range in Montana. He was bedded in tall grass 60 yards of the road, but his antlers gave him away. I have his picture, but not digitally.

 

[slas]

Don't have huge record setting bucks coming into my little 40 acre hunting area in OK.....but the biggest one I've seen there yet came in this year and playfully sparred with a smaller one on my last hunting day of doe season, of course.

 

[sp6x6]

Just jon, Ive photoed monster muleys there.

 

[The Badger]

While on a bowhunting trip to IL about 15 years back, I had one that stood out from anything I'd seen before or since. It was in October and the pre-rut hadn't picked up yet. I was about 40 yards in off a large cut cornfield one morning in a climbing stand. The buck was paralleling the field edge so slow and stood like statue at about 45 yards. Fully mature with such heavy mass and palmated main beams. No idea about score or points. Just WAY over the top big! Even by mid-west standards. One look through the binos and thought, oh boy, don't look at those horn's again, just breath. He stood there staring off into the field without twitching for what seemed like forever (probably 10+ minutes) then did a semi circle around my stand location and was gone. No response to a grunt call. I imagine, he may have passed my climber on the tree during the night and was avoiding it during the day. Never saw him again the rest of the trip and ate the tag. Was well worth it though for the memory.

 

[NW Hunter]

I was 12 years old and it was my very first weekend of blacktail deer hunting.
My dad had one rule...to have his permission to shoot.
We walked up a dirt road that climbed to the top of a ridge. It was about 7:30 am and the sun was rising off my right shoulder.
We stopped to glass the canyon below. I got bored and put the glasses down. The road made a hard 90 degree turn about 30 yards from us to the right.
I saw a shadow growing on the road at the bend.
A Giant 4 point blacktail walked into full view standing on MY road!
I said "Dad, there's one!".
He is still glassing the canyon and says "Where?"
I yanked the binos off his face and he gets POed!
He sees the buck who is staring at us and says "Shoot!".
I proceed to eject every round out of the top of my Winchester 94 lever action.
The buck dives off the road and down into the canyon.
By the time I reload and run the 30 yards, the buck is 250 yards and flying.
Dad's already shooting and I emptied my rifle. I don't think I was even aiming.
To this day, that buck from 50 years ago is the biggest blacktail buck my Dad or I have ever seen.
I nicknamed him Bambi's Dad.
Man, Buck Fever is crazy and awesome at the same time.

 

[Vol1975]

I was 12 years old and it was my very first weekend of blacktail deer hunting.
My dad had one rule...to have his permission to shoot.
We walked up a dirt road that climbed to the top of a ridge. It was about 7:30 am and the sun was rising off my right shoulder.
We stopped to glass the canyon below. I got bored and put the glasses down. The road made a hard 90 degree turn about 30 yards from us to the right.
I saw a shadow growing on the road at the bend.
A Giant 4 point blacktail walked into full view standing on MY road!
I said "Dad, there's one!".
He is still glassing the canyon and says "Where?"
I yanked the binos off his face and he gets POed!
He sees the buck who is staring at us and says "Shoot!".
I proceed to eject every round out of the top of my Winchester 94 lever action.
The buck dives off the road and down into the canyon.
By the time I reload and run the 30 yards, the buck is 250 yards and flying.
Dad's already shooting and I emptied my rifle. I don't think I was even aiming.
To this day, that buck from 50 years ago is the biggest blacktail buck my Dad or I have ever seen.
I nicknamed him Bambi's Dad.
Man, Buck Fever is crazy and awesome at the same time.

That is an awesome story with an awesome memory.
I have another one. 15 years ago I lived in south Georiga. I owned a small piece of property like a lot of people around those parts. Well a big garden into it and a group of 5 rack bucks varying in age started hanging around in early summer. They Hung around daily. One of these buck was a truly nice buck. For the south he was Approx a 20 inch deer that maybe scored 150 inch. Well me and the whole family watched these deer so much that they got use to us daily. I have video of my kids playing in the yard and these bucks walking out and eating in my garden. Those are some great videos and memories of my kids and those deer. Make a long story I didn't shoot any of those deer even though they ate every pepper plant I planted. I did let a teenage come in and hunt him. Kid made a lot of errors and the old buck became weary in hunting season. Any way throughout hunting season at the house the only thing I did was video. Truly great memories of that place and my kids.

 

[Buxndiverdux]

I saw a 190 typical whitey in Kansas that I glassed up bedded in a plum thicket. He was going to be extremely easy to stalk as he was in the most vulnerable spot you could imagine. I snuck back over the hill to get my guide, who was glassing the other side. Got my guide to look him over and he said, yep, it's definitely a world class typical and he is definitely in a great spot to get himself shot, if we had permission on that side of the fence. All that buck had to do was walk 100 yards and hop the fence and he was dead. Instead, he paralleled the fence for 500 yards and crossed a 2 track into another section we didn't have permission. The only 2 sections we couldn't hunt as far as you could see. Crazy.

Another time I stalked within 100 yards of a bedded muley buck in a crop field. He was just across the fence from me, but I didn't have permission in the field. I knew it would get hot out there eventually and he would come into the timber on my side to get some shade soon. He got up and walked within 15 yards of me, stopped and looked the other way several times, which would have given me plenty of time to draw, but he never crossed the fence. He was killed a few days later and scored 204".

 

[LVJ76]

What if you did shoot the deer of a lifetime and your best friend helped someone load it up in their truck and steel it, not knowing it was your deer...

You got to be kidding. Were you able to recover it?

 

[Bravo 4]

You got to be kidding. Were you able to recover it?

Nope, called the game & fish and offered up a reward to all the check stations within 50 miles. My friend told them he could ID it

 

[ctw]

This thread gives me nightmares. When I quit shaking and sweating and am able to get out of the fetal position, I will post another reply. ctw

 

[Pa Grizz]

I was watching Dallas and Eagles on Monday night football All of a sudden a truck came in my drive way side ways .It was my friend Larry.He was almost pulling out the door saying you have to see this. We drove up into a field up on the hill and some deer was eating.By the way we were spot lighting which was legal back then..There was a monster eight point there .Larry said that is not the one he saw.This deer way taken on the first day and dressed 225lbs All of a sudden another deer got up .He made the other look small.He was an 8 by 8 .About 30 inches wide and close to 2 feet high.His rack looked like someone with a saw cut his rack level.His brow tines were as long as the others He body was higher and wider than the 8 point.Never saw him again .but there is a story about a kid knocking down a monster and was never found

 

[bdyal1972]

I had to pass on what is a pretty good one up here, I sat one windy afternoon in a stand well hid up in a tree. I saw the top of a small hardwood shake violently up at the top and went on full alert. A buck walked out and started past me in a swale, I brought up my gun and shot him as he trotted past. I watched him fall and set there collecting my thoughts and preparing to climb down when a huge older buck walked out to the swale edge and looked all around. I watched him for 10 minutes or so and checked him in the scope, he was out past the ears and had impressive tine length. I called my hunting buddy and told him what I was sitting and looking at, he simply said shoot him and give someone the other deer. I couldn't, after 15 minutes I started to climb down knowing he would never get near the stand again and would disappear into the swamp. He did and it wasn't till right after season he was hit and killed by a car crossing the road. He scored 165 and change and was the best I've personally seen in the woods hunting. View attachment 172752We live with our decisions and I'm OK with mine, I simply don't break game laws even though some of my friends couldn't believe it. Here's a good one shot up here near where I hunt great mass. Dave

Eegads!

What a dream buck!

 

[bdyal1972]

1995? Heppner Oregon near Tupper Butte
First time of seeing him DOZENS of times.

Driving down zig zag logging road looking at end of 2 mile long peninsula ONLY 200 YARDS ACROSS canyon.

Sun to our back out in the open is a mulie with a neck and body so giant his head and face look small.

Sunning himself 200 yards from cover.

Strutting...

20# pieces of antlers like juniper logs on his head!!!

Front and rear quarters MASSIVELY over developed.

Looks like he is on steroids!

Walked like a big bruin....

On his head are antlers 30+ inches long well over 4" diameter bases.

White face

White dot patch on chest.

Field and stream cover boy.

Must have 20 to 30 points ON EACH ANTLER 2" to 8" long pointing EVERY DIRECTION!!!

BTW ITS NOON SECOND DAY OF ELK SEASON!!! ARRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

6-10 of us saw HIM MULTIPLE TIMES yearly during spring break, labor day, doe season, elk season (with 4-9 cow elk usually!!! Lol)

His sheds were all 4"-5" diameter bases, 32" to 34" longmain beams almost zero forward sweep...40-50 points heavy mass year to year

Twice saw big antlers among herd of cows under 100 yards, go prone. CONTROL BREATH, put out bipod, tie into sling, Release safety........

**** JUNIPER BUCK!!!!

RUNS WITH COW ELK

WEIGHS 400? LBS

SUNS HIMSELF IN THE OPEN DURING ELK SEASON...

ITS BEEN 20 YEARS...

WILL DIE THINKING ABOUT WATCHING HIM SLEEP AND CHEW CUD NOT 75 YARDS AWAY DURING DOE SEASON....

THAT BUCK KNEW THE SEASONS DATES CALENDER BETTER THAN ME...

SAW HIM MORE THAN ONCE FACE FLAT ON GROUND IN 3' YELLOW GRASS FLAT ON GROUND WATCHING PEOPLE WALK BY LESS THAN 50 YARDS AWAY...

AWE INSPIRING IN MY DREAMS EVEN TODAY...

 

[Calvin45]

Biggest deer (to my imagination) was one I did get a shot at and missed! 13 years old, first time seeing a big 4x4 buck WHILE HUNTING...or maybe a 5x5...or maybe it was a 7x7. In my memory it was huge, probably nothing special. I swear my hands had never shook that hard in my life before. Blew the shot I was so amped up on adrenaline. Relived that moment many times in my mind.