Big Whitetail Buck I targeted for 3 Seasons

[Harvest the Land]

I've been targeting this buck for 3 years. First discovered an area a giant buck was hanging out in, in 2017, where I came across big buck tracks and some of the largest piles of buck scat I'd ever seen. So I set up a camera and a blind about 100 yards away from it, on the edge of an opening in the timber where there were good trails throughout. Lots of blowdown everywhere so sitting still in a blind was my best shot. Wasn't quite sure what I was looking for until I did get him on camera a few times that year:


https://youtu.be/_ReuaGWZG5w

A week later:


https://youtu.be/uMdsUN83iIU

And another week later:


https://youtu.be/CLQpoHlaa0I

From that fall on I would have dreams of this buck frequently, and was constantly thinking of if I was setup in the right spot to get a shot at him. Praying for him to show up in daylight in 2018. I went hard for him, spending as many days as I could in the blind, but no dice. I did get him on camera again, almost on the exact same day and time as the year before, and I also got him another camera in another spot I hunt a couple km's away as the crow flies:


https://youtu.be/nPFA4wrQO4o

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7971&stc=1

So last fall I dedicated a good chunk of my entire hunting season to sitting for this stud of a buck. In the off season I brought in my chainsaw and cleared the game trails that had tons of blow down, cleared a bunch of limbs for more shooting lanes, a few more cameras - just trying to figure out where the f_ck he was hanging out in daylight hours. And I once again I found his scat and tracks nearby my blind, but another season went by without seeing him in daylight.

Last weekend while bear hunting, I decided I would swing by my spot and check the cameras (hadn't checked them since last October) and was planning on moving my blind to a different elevation spot where I was hoping he was hanging out in daylight hours. I was delighted to see him on camera for a 3rd fall in a row and he was as healthy as ever and sporting his biggest rack yet:


https://youtu.be/_swS0S7H5KI

And about a week later:


https://youtu.be/etTMdSTqHBM

So after I checked the cameras I made my way to my blind to take it down and figure out this summer where to re-locate it. I get about 20 yards within my blind, walking along the treeline of this small opening where I'm setup, and I come across a giant pile of deer hair that was the outline of a carcass and if you wouldn't believe it, his rack is sitting right on the edge of the pile of hair! It was gnawed on a bit and still had a bit of flesh/tissue inside the skull and was in excellent shape. It looked like the hair had been plucked out and there were ZERO other bones or remnants of the his carcus anywhere except maybe a small part of the pelvis. Everything was eaten and which makes me thing a big cougar somehow must have managed to take this big guy down (this masher buck seemed to be in prime shape of his life too). About 200 yards from the kill site down a narrow deactivated grown over quad trail I found the biggest cougar scat i'd ever seen and it was just tightly twisted up hair (exact same colour as the buck), like the diameter of the lower half of a beer bottle - frigging huge shit!

Anyway, it was pretty cool to chase this guy for 3 years, never see him in daylight, but still get to see how and where it ended for him - 20 yards from where the blind was setup. I was so close. Will post close up pics of his rack in the next post

[Harvest the Land]

This was in region 3 on public land - a fairly highly pressured area too. He evaded so many hunters - super smart and must have learned early on to only travel at night. If anyone else saw this guy in daylight or has him on camera, please chime in.

Unfortunately this site is still a nightmare process to post pictures. Everything I try to up load from my computer is too big of a file, and the same with every link I copy and paste from IMGUR isn't working either. Moderators gotta fix that shit and make it easier to post pictures on here

Moral of the story: Region 3 hunters - there's some big whitetails on public land in your region. They will keep you up at night and good luck seeing them in daylight. Cheers

[Harvest the Land]

Think i'm getting somewhere:

https://i.imgur.com/G7RnMCL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/reWMoNf.jpg

[Harvest the Land]

https://i.imgur.com/ESFz9zs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FDhwbED.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/X0szuIQ.jpg

[Harvest the Land]

https://i.imgur.com/QcM3uhV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/o0BEGHv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Vfh5HSK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kAO2kFt.jpg

[338win mag]

That's a story to tell the grandkids! ..funny how things work out sometimes.

[Harvest the Land]

You betcha buddy - couldn't friggin believe it. That's why we hunt - cause we all experience crazy ass scenarios like this (well maybe not quite like this, but you get my point. The crazy shit we experience out there is addictive as f_ck)

[Rayne]

That buck was a stud!!! So much junk on that rack.

[lovemywinchester]

I know that buck. A few buddies will be pissed.

[Piperdown]

What a great character buck he was, well his genes should still be alive in that area it would be real interesting if you see some up and comers like him. I too have been watching a nice whitetail where my cabin is, could have shot him 2 years ago and again last year but i passed as i had enough meat in the freezer. This is the first time i have been able to watch a buck grow and mature and i find it addicting. Please keep us informed if you see his offspring and thanks for posting :)

[BeerMan]

Glad you figured out the pics. Impressive Buck! It's cool that you could still see the outline of the carcass.

[HarryToolips]

WOW he was a hog, thanks for posting...damn shame a cougar got him....it is amazing how well they can survive in a highly pressured area...

[Redthies]

Great story. Too bad about the ending, but that’s life in the woods...

What route did you go for posting photos?

[WhiteTailAB]

Pretty damn cool story! Bitter sweet but at least you got to take him home one way or another.

[Everett]

That is one hell of a buck

[Husky7mm]

Thats a pretty cool story about an amazing buck. Had a few good ones go that why for me too but never found the racks. Thanks for sharing. In a few years you can chase his sons or brothers.

[lovemywinchester]

https://i.imgur.com/CX2i9oMl.jpg

[triggerhappy]

Damn, that is a gorgeous buck. Crazy you ended up finding his skull with the antlers. You may not have got the kill, but at least you have something to remember the chase.

[walks with deer]

goregous buck...

clearly very nocturnal..

the good news is when you know where a hammer of a whitetail lived you will know where another one will live..lol.

[IronNoggin]

Excellent tale! One hell of a fine Whitetail right there!
And he well displayed what it requires to stay out of someone's freezer!
Sham the big kitty got him, but a hell of a find collecting his headgear!
That will bring back fond memories whenever you gaze upon it hanging on the wall!

Cheers!
Nog

[Dash]

Oh wow! What an amazing buck and very cool story! The ending definitely isn't the preferred outcome but at least you know and aren't chasing a ghost next year!

[boilerroom]

Thanks for sharing such a great story and pics! So cool he ended up where you could find him and close the saga.

[RyoTHC]

I know that buck. A few buddies will be pissed.


funny enough I doubt there are many drop time white tails in this area so I’m pretty confident I also saw this buck, tried to set up on him and he was gone like a ghost.. mind you I had no trail cameras and was just meandering through on foot...

sucks I didn’t get him but I’m positive he fathered lots of babies haha

[walks with deer]

funny enough I doubt there are many drop time white tails in this area so I’m pretty confident I also saw this buck, tried to set up on him and he was gone like a ghost.. mind you I had no trail cameras and was just meandering through on foot...

sucks I didn’t get him but I’m positive he fathered lots of babies haha

maybe not that big but i know where there are some beautiful drop tine whitetails. i have three diffeeent spots that hold big drop time whitetails in region 3 only shot one not as big as op..deer of dream...theres also alot of non typical 6 points around.

[Steeleco]

Sad ending for the buck but you have a great tale to tell around the camp fire. Thanks for sharing.

[Harvest the Land]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Buck of a lifetime for sure. This spot was maybe 100-200 yards off a pretty busy logging road that has traffic rolling by every few minutes at certain times of the year (quads, logging trucks, tree planters, trout fishers etc.). But I knew nobody was ever hunting this particular stretch of timber off the road and maybe that's why he rolled through and hung out there in mid-late November every year. It's also a doe bedding area (mostly mule deer, but they move out of the area early mid October or when the snows starts falling and then the whitetails move back in. Whitetails hang out in this area year round.

LovemyWinchester - that's definitely the same buck for sure. Interesting to see that you got a shot of him in velvet and close to daylight still - good work, and thanks for chiming in!

PiperDown - you bet I will keep you posted. I have a number of cameras scattered throughout and I'm getting more whitetails on them each year. Nothing like this guy - none of them have drop tines. But a few real nice up and coming typical 4 pointers with really tall and straight/symmetrical tines. I have no doubt this guy fathered a ton of bucks in the area.

Redthies - so what I ended up doing to post the pictures was to just copy the BBC Code from Imgur (second link from the bottom) and pasting it directly into the white area where you type responses on HBC. I stopped clicking on the "Insert Image" icon on HBC and trying to paste the link inside that little box - every time I resized things and kept pasting it inside the "Insert Image" box, it wouldn't upload and said it was too big of a file. So for future reference - don't click on the "Insert Image" icon to post pictures (its useless). Just paste the BBC code link into where you type responses and it works no problem

"Excellent tale! One hell of a fine Whitetail right there!
And he well displayed what it requires to stay out of someone's freezer!
Sham the big kitty got him, but a hell of a find collecting his headgear!
That will bring back fond memories whenever you gaze upon it hanging on the wall!

Cheers!
Nog

Holy cow Nog I know its a good day if I'm on your good side for once! Thanks for the feedback - I know you're responsible for the demise of many a giant bucks over the years. I will be buying a cougar tag every year from now on. Can only imagine how big that cat must be

[tyreguy]

looks like some tree material on the bases there like when they're rubbing trees - you think this deer may have died during the rut last fall. Either way a great story and find - amazing how habitual he was when walking down trail etc and time wise.

https://i.imgur.com/FDhwbED.jpg

[Harvest the Land]

Absolutely - I'm almost certain he died during whitetail rut in this area which is basically from mid November to mid December. I keep the cameras up in this spot year round and only ever got him on camera during the rut. The little knobs on the bases of his rack still have white sticky sap on them and you can still smell it

[cptnoblivious]

Amazing story and great that you know what happened to him!

[weatherby_man]

Wow, that is a cool story and one beauty set of antlers. I love that sap on the antlers, I have had 2 Muleys that had the same thing the smell on the antlers was fantastic.

[walks with deer]

what managment area?

[BeerMan]

Region 3,public land. Post#2.

[john-brennan]

some nice extra trash on that boy, very nice

[Rieber]

Nice buck and rack but you sure gave him a strange haircut.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Beautiful buck!
Thanks for sharing this story despite the less than ideal ending.

Whitetail are amazing survivalists!

I get a kick out the people that think that humans are irradiating the species with our antlerless seasons.
Ya, good luck with that!

SSS

[walks with deer]

Region 3,public land. Post#2.

yes i was curios 3-?? thats all nowhere near

[Harvest the Land]

yes i was curios 3-?? thats all nowhere near

That might a be bridge that's too far for me to cross Walk with Deer. Other hunters I know that hunt this already heavily pressured area probably would not appreciate me spilling the beans and have this area become even more heavily hunted (if that's even possible). But I can tell you its one of the top 10, and maybe even top 5 heavily hunted units in region 3. But that's all I can offer. I think he covered a lot of ground in his life and bread a ton of does (at least I sure hope he did). He was the top dog in this area anyway. Can't wait to see who fills his role now

[tyreguy]

Smart move -little bit of info but not too much. Definitely not over the internet!!!!

That might a be bridge that's too far for me to cross Walk with Deer. Other hunters I know that hunt this already heavily pressured area probably would not appreciate me spilling the beans and have this area become even more heavily hunted (if that's even possible). But I can tell you its one of the top 10, and maybe even top 5 heavily hunted units in region 3. But that's all I can offer. I think he covered a lot of ground in his life and bread a ton of does (at least I sure hope he did). He was the top dog in this area anyway. Can't wait to see who fills his role now

[walks with deer]

there are whitetails from bralorne to east shushwap.
toll booth to clearwater. so mu dont matter was just wondering if i had seen him before or not. think i may have.

[walks with deer]

i have shot my two whitetail bucks every year in region 3 since bag limit increase curios more than anything.

[Haydenmk]

Thats an awesome chase! crazy how nocturnal they can be. Ive been watching this buck grow the last couple seasons, it'd be nice to see him during day light as well. http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7981&stc=1http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7980&stc=1http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7982&stc=1

[Rattler]

Great story! Too bad you don’t get to chase him this year. Just a stud of a buck!

Good genetics there, so there should be other bruisers in there...

Thanks for sharing.

[Harvest the Land]

Finally found time to do a skull cap mount and take a soft tape measure to this rack and get a rough idea what he scores. I got 186 5/8 Gross and 163 6/8 Net. His left G3's were confusing cause its kind of palmated and it branches into 3 points, so I just focused on what I could gather was the main G3. Sure wish I saw him in daylight. There's some GIANT Whities in BC my friends. Good luck on your pursuits this fall!

https://i.imgur.com/k86yL09.jpg

[338win mag]

Thats a great buck! Nice work.

[Dour]

Nooooooooo billy got eaten. To bad great old buck I’m pretty sure I know Where that buck was. I’ve heard the stories. Sorry about your loss my friend. Maybe you will find is first son :) or sons first son Cheers. And happy hunting

[bownut]

Are you allowed to keep a pick up?
Just wondering.