"The one that got away" - your story here

[Buckmeister]

I know there is still some season left but I thought I would start this thread anyways.
I was talking to some friends today who were out yesterday and had a chance on a nice 170 class drop tine muley but he bugged out too fast and just wouldn't present a shot opportunity. Just listening to their story got my heart pumping and I could feel their pain.

So what about your stories about the big one that got away this season?? Lets hear em!

[Buckmeister]

Here's mine.
Two weekends ago I was with my son in an area that has been highly logged and had about 10"+ of snow on the ground. Just hundreds of square km's of open terrain to cover so we were on my quad and covering ground fast. I came around a corner and about 300 yards away I spot some deer. Quick look through the binos and I see a doe being tailed by a nice 4 point typical. He looked taller and wider than the one I got last year so I estimate him at 180 -190 class. We were busted and the doe didn't want to stick around and he was following her where ever she went. He didn't stand still once and they both head straight up high and into the timber. I climbed up and tracked them for a short distance but they were deep into the thick stuff. He was a pretty buck though and still has me shaking my head.

[kwasky]

Had a 200"typ bust me. JK. No in september i had a little 4 point bust because i didnt see that there were actually 3 does with him not 2, and of course she was staring me down. She spooked....he spooked. O well he'll be bigger next year.

[KB90]

I had been spending a fair bit of time out on my uncles farm getting to know the area better this summer. My dad has taken a nice buck off the property and we have seen others, never in the fields though always in the back 60 or the power line. I figured it would be a good area with no other pressure from hunters since its private land.

So anyways 2 days before september 10th I was riding my quad up the powerline when I spot a doe feeding out in the open. I stop and shut my quad off and watched for about 5 minutes. I then decided to keep moving. As I took 2 steps forward to my quad another deer that was bedded down appears, he was just out of my range of vision. The second I see this deer I see bone and a lot of it. I put my binoculars up and he is an almost perfect 5x5 in full velvet. Gorgeous deer. So now I am pretty excited, hunting season starts in 2 days and I've found the deer I dream of. So the next evening after work I do the same thing, I make my way out to the farm and up the powerline and this time I spot him all by himself feeding in the open. I couldn't believe my luck I figure I am going to come here tommoro night after work and take this buck. So the next day work comes to an end and I make my way out to the farm. This time I walk up the powerline, not wanting to spook him. So I make my way all the way to the top, and didn't see anything??? I see him 2 days before and he stands broadside at 150 yards, and now I can't find him.

So I sit at the edge of Uncles property line scratching me head, where in the hell did he go??? As I am standing there thinking I turn around and have a look out in the neighbors property, and there he his bedded down 150 yards in the middle of the Alfalfa field, on a NO HUNTING property....

I couldn't believe my luck. I went out a couple more times and spotted him out there twice more...just out of reach. Talk about shitty.

I swear the deer have an internal Calender and know when Sept 10th rolls around to get outta town. Its almost as if he knew it was safer over there...

O well I had a good season regardless :)

[mark]

The big one didnt get away this year, :-D let lots of medium size bucks go though! :-D

[bearhunter338-06]

2 weeks ago when I was up in Dawson Creek. Open field about 400-500 yards out. Estimated to score in the 180's. Give me a year of long range practice and I will go after him, or his son's.

On a side note I did score on a huge doe (250-300 pounds)

[bridger]

the top hand and i were drivng down the road the second to last day of the season in his truck heading for my cabin. we saw a great 155+ whitetail running across the field. I jumped out dragging my 300 short mag with me not knowing that the top hands camera bag was wrapped around my bolt. needless to say after i got that straightened out; to late. Oh well always next year.

[betteroffishing]

heres my most nagging missed opportunity . i went up to my father in laws house for a visit/hunt for 3 days 2 novembers ago , on our way to the hunting grounds we picked up a freind at lac le hache and headed to our first hike. i hike alone so off i went along a fenceline to cut a game trail , i find said trail and start to walk like a ninja . the wind she was a blowin that day cause off to my left not 20 feet from me on a paralel trail i see a MASSIVE buck , the kind that when his nose is to the ground hes racking up the ground in front of him with his mass of horns. i drop to a knee and take aim . now were in thick timber and im seeing slivers of body slivers of horn , but no clean ethical shot is presenting itself so i pan ahead to an opening he must cross through. he approaches the opening and ive got a head shot ...just 1 more step and ill have a boiler room shot , he freezes but its not me , hes completely unaware of my presence and just like a ghost , hes gone. 1 second later my father in law and his buddy come walking down the trail talking and laughing and having a great old time. SH_T. ok sharring really does feel better.

[sawmill]

I passed on a 140 class whitie this fall because there was a guy parked down the road from me and I figured he was on it.I backed up a ways ,stopped and shut the rig down so as not to wreck the guys stalk.After a few minutes the buck booked for safer country so I drove down the road and guess what,the asshat wasn`t even hunting,he likes to drive backroads and had pulled over to answer his cell phone.
I was out with the Bro in law to collect a big LEH doe I had gotten earlier in the morning(my insurance ran out on my truck) and he had a chance at 4 different bucks in 20 minutes and f%cked around so long that they all wandered off.I had every one in the crosshairs and another tag but I thought he needed to get one.
Conclusion.......NO MORE MR. NICE GUY.:evil:

[ElectricDyck]

A friend and I were hunting black tails in our spot for 2 days. The first day I took a spike. The next morning we are getting back to camp from our morning hike. I decide to walk a ridge through the bush and my friend b lines it down the road to camp. I come out of the bush near camp and instantly spook a 3 or 4 point and 2 does accross the road, they run over a hill towards our camp, I run the road to try and get a shooting lane. I kneel down and am watching his ass through the scope, waiting for him to turn all the while thinking where the frick is my friend. The deer walks straight away from me never giving me a shot. Then I hear the rifle boom and I am relieved.

Turns out he was taking a dump, he saw the deer, figured they were does and watched them the whole time broadside while he finished his buisness. He grabbed his rifle after cleaning up and checked them out through the scope with just enough time to fire and miss the buck as he crested the ridge into the timber. That would of been his first deer, I think next time he'll pinch it off. :mrgreen:

[Cariboospeed]

Three years ago I took a buddy up to my old stomping grounds on the Nov. 11 long weekend. We met up with another friend of mine that still lives up there and we went out for a drive. It was -18 and nearly 3' of snow, we only had the weekend and we had to tour a couple mills, so it was going to be a road hunt trip.

Putting along we saw some 60 elk and 40 odd moose, but only a few does. We covered a lot of ground and the area has changed tremendously in the last 10 years. I saw more moose and elk in the one weekend than I did in the years I lived there.

Finally we came upon a couple w/tails standing in a meadow. I had borrowed my buddy's daughter's rifle, which coincidently was a M77 II SS in .280. The identical rifle to my .270, even the same Trophy scope. I jumped out and the other passenger did as well and we lined up on a little buck maybe 40 yds away. I had to whistle to get him to move his head a bit so I could count points. I declared him as a 4, flicked off the safety and let one rip off hand, holding dead on a broadside heart shot.

Little Buck just stood there and looked at me. My buddy just stood there, aiming. I cranked out the old and in the new, twisted up to 9 power and all I could see was brown deer, lit off and the bugger bolted like I've never seen a deer run before. My buddy still standing there, not firing a shot.

I walked out and found the exact spot he was standing. No blood or hair, just tracks 15' apart away from where he was standing. I searched for 1/2 hour looking for any sign he was hit. Absolutely nothing. I asked my buddy WTF kind of back up was that? He asked back, how many people does it take to shoot a 40 yd, broad side deer?

When we got back to town and I handed the gun back to buddy's daughter he says, Oh ya, "Tom broke your gun." A few days later they went to the range where the girl posted 5 holes in a 2" diameter @ 100 yds. I got the phone call as soon as they got home.

Other than a couple grouse, and starlings, that's the only thing I've shot at and not bagged. It shook my confidence and bothered me for the next two years. Before I went out this year I put ~100 rounds through and made damn sure I had my eyes back. Seemed to work, three bullets, three deer.

[Wild one]

It happens to me lots bow hunting so I try not to think about it and just try harder next time. I could fill a lot of pages on here with stories of game running away.

[brotherjack]

I had a very nice mule deer in my crosshairs back early in the season. Only problem was, all I could see of him in the scope was his butt and the back of his head as he went bouncing away from me at high speed. I didn't wanna shoot him in the butt, and I didn't trust that I could make a clean head/neck shot on him from 100+ yards out while he was bouncing up and down like that. I also thought to myself -- surely, he'll do what pretty much every other mule deer I've ever seen does, and stop to have a look back at me once he gets to that treeline. Well, he never even slowed down when he hit the treeline; and I never got a shot.

[MRoy10]

Hunting buddy of mine and myself headed up to where we had seen lots of moose sign . We were looking for an immy when all of a sudden 500 yds up on the road above us we here 3 gun shots go off. Thinking we are screwed we decided to take a mid afternoon walk. Way to hot to walk in full clothing so it was t shirts for sure. He went up high I went down low Not 10 steps down my game trail and I spot movement to my right, First thing I see is Horns and not a lot of them.. Bring up the binos can't make out what it is (SHITTY BUSHNELLS) so I wave buddy down and we slowly make our way down to towards the moose. Next thing you know there is three a Cow a Calf And The Bull... Count the points Rye I say he says "I can't make out how many he has.... Shit..... Three No Two Wait Yes Two I Think..... Well my heart was pounding I had to calm myself down pull up the binos one more time make out 2 points on his left ok were good to go... Range finder 287 yds no problem with the 300 wby aim a little high componsate... BANG! I lost sight after the shot couldnt see him thought he dropped right there... " I Heard a thud" Rye said "I think you got him".
No there he goes running down the slash two far for a second shot.. well needless to say I did the wrong thing componsated too high on a downhill shot. right over the top of his back and smacked a tree not a drop of blood anywhere... My heart sank lower than low my first miss on a big game animal... always next year and the year after. guess it just was not meant to be.. Rookie mistake for sure..

[Buckmeister]

I too was looking for immy moose on a chilly, rainy day when I came down a road and spotted a bull's head poking out of the tall grass beside the road. I was within 30 yards and could just about make out his rack with the naked eye, but I went to the binos to confirm. They were all fogged up due to the weather. DARN!! He got up and walked into the trees and stopped. I pull up my rifle and have a look through the scope, but now the branches are in the way. I had to let him walk. Next year.....

[thetackdriver]

This year my buddy and i were driving to our elk hunting spot and on the way there we decided to stop and let out a bugle just for the heck of it. To our surprise we get a bugle back through the thick trees not 40 yards from the truck. Neither of us were expecting that so we quickly dive into some cover and get ready when all of a sudden my god damn truck alarm starts going off. No idea why it decides to start honking but the bull takes off crashing through the trees. Think it scared the crap out of him. Needless to say i have now disconnected my alarm during hunting season.

[3006pg]

ya steve that was quite the pain in the ass haha

[hunter1947]

I don't know where to start ,I had so many get away from me where do I start would it be back in 1958 or would it be in 2009 ?????? :?.

[springpin]

nothing got away this year...

[Greenfields]

Twice..yes twice. I was cruising along a trail...rifle slung on the shoulder. Turn a corner of the trail and bang face to face with a legal deer. A brief pause as we assess the situation....I try to swing the rifle into play...the deer buggers off so fast I don't even have a chance of getting an ethical shot off. LOL
This actually happened with a cow moose as well, but didn't have a tag.

Good times.
B

[ELKOHOLICBC]

Back in October I had a crack at a nice 2pt blacktail that offered me a 185yd shot, bedded down at a wierd angle. I had a solid rest so I squeezed one off at a neck shot ( which I don't really like to do) but thats all he gave me. I know if your not comfortable with your shot don't take it. I took the shot and he jumped out of his bed and dove over the little ridge. I gave him about 30mins. I went down and only found about 8 little drops of blood.Looked for an hour and a half to find nothing no more blood. Went back the next day spent another 2 hours looking. I went back a week ago with my dad for a last chance hunt to find a nice little 2pt with a couple does 15 yds away from where this happend in October. I dropped this deer and after hanging him in my dads shop we were skinning him out and I noticed a wound on his front leg. We both agreed that it looked like a bullet graze. So I'm glad to see that the dear survived for the time being.

[1 shot 1 kill]

my storey from this yr goes like this..my older brother and i doubled into a sweet spot this oct. and parked and split up hiking this vast open hillside, i went south and he went north over the ridge so as not to get into each others line of fire. after hiking for about a mile he calls me on the gps radio and says he just spooked 4 bucks!! i get his location from the gps and start heading under his location into the direction of travel of the deer. sure enough after about 20 min i saw then come out from a patch of trees and into the open, i could see rack on the farthest away deer ( about 700yds) without my bino's!! i kept moving south to try to get ahead of them for a shot, i stopped on a small ridge and could see with my spotting scope that there was 2 4 points a 2 oint and the big one a huge 5X6..i was now within 450 yds and was getting ready to take the shot as i shoot a 7mm mag and am comfortable at that range...when the deer stopped behind some alders!! i waited and waited for about 15 mnin for them to come out, once they did they busted hard across the quad trail and out of view..i unloaded moved to the ridge where i could see another quad moving up the trail, he must have sppoked them out on me..worst part is yet to come..i get back down to the bottom of the hill and start my way towards my brother..when boom..boom boom 3 shots ring out..the deer ran across the road and a road hunting plugged one of the 4 points!!
we were a little upset of course, but the day ended well my brother while waiting for me to bring the quad up to his location spotted a moose 400yds off and after using his spottiing scope could see that it was an immature with 2 points on the right and a spike on the left!! BOOM 1 shot and down it went...hrs later we had it 1/4 and back to the truckk after getting the quad to within 100 yds of the kill site.