#1717498 - 01/10/10 11:23 AM
A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
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156p&y
10 Point
Registered: 10/23/01
Posts: 4097
Loc: Franklin Tn
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I have hunted this buck for 2 years and can not believe it all came together this weekend. I was getting plenty of pictures of him on my cameras early archery and actually had him at around 40-45 yards but couldn't get him to stop in archery season. He vanished after that encounter and didn't return until the day after Christmas. I've been working alot this year and wasn't getting many chances to get out in the woods but I made sure I had my cameras placed in good spots to try and figure out if and when I should hunt him. Once he started showing up after Christmas I noticed he was on the same pattern he had used during archery. Well Friday afternoon I got off work early and headed out to hunt him. The conditions were absolutely perfect. I had a general idea of where I was going to sit but on the way in I found red oaks that had no snow under them because the deer were tearing them up. Once I discovered that I worked my way toward his bedding area because I knew of a giant red oak right on the edge of where he liked to bed. I was able to find a big hollow tree trunk to sit in but the big red oak was only 20 yards from me which I didn't feel comfortable with but I sat down regardless. I pulled my face mask up to where I could barely see out and settled in to freeze my tail off for the remainder of daylight. About an hour left till dark I heard deer running in to me and as I sat there I had 15 deer come to the red oak, some within 10 yards of me. After about 15 minutes of not being able to move my legs fell asleep and starting burning like crazy. I looked up to where I thought the big buck would come from and here came a broken racked 8pt. At that point I got really excited because I noticed it was the same deer I had been getting pictures of right before the big buck would show up on camera. About 20-25 minutes later I spotted him coming down the same trail sniffing the younger buck's route. He was taking 2 steps and then stopping to survey the deer around me. I was about to have a heart attack as he worked his way in and was trying to figure out how to get my gun up without being busted. Everything was perfect except for having deer at just 15 yards in front of me. After about 3 minutes of extremely slow movements I was able to get my gun about half way up but I had an old doe that was looking at the buck and then looking at me. By this time I had to stop watching the buck and just concentrate on getting my gun in position; also I had to try to calm myself b/c I was LOOSING IT! I finally got my 30-06 raised but the buck was behind 2 trees and just 40 yards from me. He soon took a few steps into the open and I shot. He bucked hard and took off directly toward me as I tried to find him in the scope for a second shot. He ran so close to me that I distinctly rememeber snow flying past my face as he peeled around the big tree to run back to his bedding area. I shot once again, and then again when he was running away from me. The third shot he started stumbling but regained his footing and continued to run. I jumped up threw in a fresh clip and starting running toward where I last saw him where I could see him slowly climbing up the ravine and I shot at him agian right as he was going out of sight. It was then that I noticed that I could not see any blood on the snowy ground and started to freak out. I immediatly turned around and got out of there. When I got out of the woods I thought I was going to throw up because I just couldn't explain what had happened. I had absolutely no idea why there was no blood. After talking with my father about it we decided to wait 3 hours and then go in and pick up where I last saw the buck. When we got to that area I could see eyes way up the hill looking down on us and just knew it had to be the buck I had shot so we slipped out as quiet as we could. I felt somewhat better seeing that the deer hadn't gone far but still tormented that I couldn't find blood. We decided to just wait till morning. When I woke up from what I would consider maybe a 2 hour nap I could tell it had snowed about another 1/4" and was not happy. My brother in law, best friend and father studied a map of the farm before heading out to surround the deer. I came up with a plan that ensure someone a shot if the deer was still alive and tried to run. I worked my way up a ravine and then contacted everyone to move to their position. As I was working my way up the ravine I noticed coyote tracks and thought "oh no I hope they didn't jump him". As I approached where I last saw the deer I saw a yote trotting off, then another, and then I spotted one on the buck. The only reason I didn't shoot it was because my brother in law was working his way up the other side of the ridge. We couldn't believe how much they ate in just 10 hours. The buck had just gone about 300 yards from the first shot and from what we could tell I hit him 3 times. I have no clue how he stayed alive so long. He's 6.5 years old has 5 and 3/4" bases, the smallest mass measurement we could find was still 4". His G-2 on the left side is almost 13". I'm tickled to death, not a single hunter in the area even saw this deer last season but we got plenty of pics. I passed on every deer this year I saw even one really good 4.5 year old with my bow in hopes of only harvesting this buck. I really can't believe it actually happened. I think I even have one of his sheds from 3 years ago.
Found the deer
Buck
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#1717501 - 01/10/10 11:27 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: 156p&y]
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Bertman
16 Point
Registered: 12/07/07
Posts: 18697
Loc: TREESTAND
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cool
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#1717510 - 01/10/10 11:34 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: Bertman]
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Deer Whisperer
10 Point
Registered: 04/16/05
Posts: 2646
Loc: Murfreesboro, TN
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Cool story. Congrats on a great deer.
You're right. Those yotes really didn't waist any time on him.
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#1717519 - 01/10/10 11:39 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: Bertman]
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Bow Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 14528
Loc: Murfreesboro Tn.
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Congrats on a great deer, to bad the yotes found him before you did. They sure can do a number on one in just a little while, shoot all them you see.
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#1717527 - 01/10/10 11:42 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: Bow Hunter]
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RUGER
Arachnophobic
Non-Typical
Registered: 11/19/99
Posts: 4097469
Loc: TN
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Congratulations.
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#1717540 - 01/10/10 11:46 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: RUGER]
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Venison1
16 Point
Registered: 01/09/07
Posts: 12022
Loc: United States
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Real Nice 8 !!! Congrats!!!
Time to thin out some yotes now.
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#1717549 - 01/10/10 11:49 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: Venison1]
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Tree Tramp
8 Point
Registered: 07/22/09
Posts: 1560
Loc: Tennessee
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Dandy buck! congrats! Dern yotes 
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#1717555 - 01/10/10 11:52 AM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: Venison1]
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spitndrum
Team TLBB Woodpile Boys
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/09/06
Posts: 50718
Loc: Cumberland Plateau
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Monster 8 for sure, got any digital pics of him you care to share?
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#1717612 - 01/10/10 12:20 PM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: spitndrum]
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vabuckbuster
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2077
Loc: Virginia
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NIce buck!
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#1717623 - 01/10/10 12:30 PM
Re: A 2 year chase is finally over, monster 8
[Re: vabuckbuster]
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Yodel Dog
8 Point
Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1087
Loc: Mid Tn
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congrats
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