ll I guess I have put this one off long enough. My last deer hunt of 2009 was also my worst. One of the worst hunts I have had in a long time. So bad, it really tainted an otherwise awesome season for me. Other than repeat it to a few buddies, I really just haven't wanted to tell the story - but it's time to get it out of my system & move on to better things (turkey season)!
Saturday, Dec. 19th
After taking a few days off to recover from my Iowa trip, I decided to hit the woods again. I was really wanting to hunt an open stand - the skyscraper, where I had killed Freak in November, but it was raining so I chose to sit in my favorite shooting house which overlooks the same plot. I got settled in early & patiently waited for daylight. Action started out pretty slow, but then I spotted a spike and a few does behind me around 7:00. Even though I was focused on the deer behind me, I still tried to keep an eye out the front too. Then suddenly around 7:15, I was turning to check the front window & caught a glimpse of a big-bodied deer out of the corner of my eye.
I turned & got the binocs up in one fluid motion. What I saw shocked me - a big, old, mature buck with a huge rut-swelled neck attached to one of the largest clean 8 point racks I have ever seen on the hoof! He had walked up to the edge of the food plot, but instead of coming out into the field, he had turned & was following the fence directly away form me by the time I knew he was a shooter. At this time he was probably only 80 yards or so from me, but he was headed into some extremely thick cover. So I slid the front window open & quickly found him behind the cross-hairs of the Schmidt & Bender. The only problem was that I had NO shot - nothing but bits & pieces of deer and LOTS of brush in the scope. Finally, he moved in front of the only opening - about a 6" - 8" gap between 2 trees so I squeezed off a shot.
I thought he acted kind of odd at the shot. He didn't bolt & he sure didn't drop - he kind of jumped to the side, almost like he was flinching. I jacked another shell into the .300 Ultra Mag, but there was no way to get another shot off before he trotted out of sight. My gut feeling was that the outcome was not going to be good so I made myself sit tight for a few minutes before getting down to check for blood.
When I got to the spot where he had been standing, I could only find a handful of white hair - no blood. In my experience, white hair always = bad hit, so my heart sank a little further. After looking for a few more minutes, I eased over to the edge of the hill as quietly as possible. As soon as I peeked over, he bolted from cover less than 40 yards away. Yep, he was every bit as big as I thought! I turned around & ran around toward the point of the ridge, hoping I'd be able to pick him out as he entered the hardwoods from the thick brush.
Sure enough, I spotted him about 150 yards down the hill just as soon as I got back up to the edge. Believe it or not, he happened to stop about that time - the only problem was that he was once again behind some trees. Thinking he was already wounded, I put the scope on the only patch of deer hide I could find & squeezed off another round. I was shooting off-hand, and was just a little excited, but I felt steady & was surprisingly confident in my shot. But this time he did bolt at the shot, so once again my spirits sank.
I struck out down the hill to search for blood, but once again did not find a drop. So I did the only thing I knew to do - I started easing out the hillside in the direction he had run. I was hoping against hope to walk up on him dead, or at the very least to finally find some blood.
I had probably covered another 50 yards - moving as slowly & quietly as possible through the wet leaves - when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a deer... a BUCK! He was walking down the hill, about 50 yards out in front of me - in the same general direction as "my" buck had run. I lifted my gun & quickly found him in the scope. I only had a side view, but I saw several points so I thought "it's him!" & I shot.
I was kind of shocked when this time, the buck actually did what he was supposed to at the shot - he dropped! I rushed up to him, anxious to get my hands on that rack, and.... I almost dropped! I'm sure you have already guessed what had happened... I SHOT THE WRONG DEER! Instead of the massive 20" + mature buck I was expecting, I was staring down at a dink. :(( I had just killed one of the 2 1/2 year old 8 points I'd been watching all season. One of my deer that looked great from the side, but was only about 12" wide. In all my excitement & adrenaline rush from chasing the big deer, I just simply screwed up.
I know, I should have been pleased to be fortunate enough to fill my 3rd tag - a feat that many hunters would have loved to have accomplished this year. But honestly, I cannot remember a time in my nearly 30 years of deer hunting when I have been more disgusted with myself. Not only did I muff the shot on the biggest deer I had seen in Tennessee all season, but I also burned my last buck tag AND killed a beautiful young 8pt with great potential that I had already passed many times. Definitely NOT the way I wanted to end my year!
On my way back to the truck, I decided to stop and look at the spot where I had originally shot at the big deer. Not that I think I can't miss, but I was just dumbfounded by the morning's turn of events. This is what I found:
About a 6" tree that my bullet passed thru BEFORE striking the deer! Not sure how I missed that when I was first looking?? Apparently the bullet lost enough steam when passing thru the tree to be less than fatal when it finally did strike the deer. I guess that explained some of the morning's fiasco, but it sure didn't make me feel any better about it!
Oh, and I also found these while walking out:
Bigger rubs than anything we saw in Iowa. No doubt in my mind that they were made by the buck that I had just shot at - a definite bruiser! And no, finding these certainly didn't make me feel any better either!
I've tried to chalk this one up to a lesson learned. All in all, was still a great deer season - I just hate that it ended on such a sour note. I just keep telling myself that he wasn't hurt, he's still out there, and he'll be even bigger next year...



























