You beat met to it MUP. I was gonna post the same.
The most special deer is probably my first as it is the only deer that I killed with my Dad by my side. I don't have any pictures on here. It was a small five point that I gut shot but learned how to blood trail on my first deer at 11 years old. I have a great relationship with my Dad, and he gets to hear every deer story whether he likes it or not
, but deer hunting is just not something that he has the patience for. I also killed the deer with the 30-30 that he had saved to buy me the Christmas before.
That deer would have been in 1992. Fast forward to 2009 which brings me to my most memorial deer which sort of links to the first one. I had trail cam pictures of three 3.5+ year old bucks around my house that year prior to bow season. There was about a 105" eight point running with a small buck, and then about a 120" 10 point running with about a 135" 9 point. They were hitting the salt hard prior to bow season, and the eight point was like clock work every day. I was off work the first week of bow season and just knew that he was dead at the least. I had saw him in the field two or three times in the summer as well. The two bigger deer were pretty nocturnal even in the summer time.
I decided that I wouldn't put a whole lot of pressure on them during bow season and wait to get super serious on them during the rut. I still bow hunted strategic places. Two weeks prior to bow season, the 8 point range shifted and was gone. I never saw them during bow season but had night time pics of the two big ones. I spent a lot of time trying to kill those three deer during the rut with no luck. I passed small buck after small buck and gave up hunting in some of my other prime locations trying to especially kill the 9 point that may have pushed 140".
I had also brought my old 30-30 mentioned above out of retirement a few years prior wanting to kill a good buck with it. I had killed numerous smaller bucks and does with it when I was younger and some does with it recently but no big bucks. 2009 didn't look like the season that I would do it. It appeared that 2009 would be the season that I would go buckless for the first time in many, many years. These three deer were basically my season wreckers.
I had given up on these deer, hunted other places, etc. when all of the sudden the 8 point showed back up at the salt around Christmas. He was worn down from rutting, not sure where as I never saw him during the rut, but gave me some hope. I sat on some cold mornings and evening with no luck.
There was snow on the ground on the last day of season. I hunted that morning til about 11 and decided that was it. I was done for the year. I remember standing up and looking at across the woods and saying "Oh boys, you have done well and kicked my rear end this year. See you next year." For whatever reason, I decided to pull my trail cam card on the way out. I looked at it and had a pic of a new, smaller 8 point the from eve before. Just my luck, I had went somehwere else the eve before and killed a doe. I told my wife that I was going to give it one last chance that evening and close the season out where I started.
I decided that afternoon that I was going to take the 30-30. It was cold, but the sun was shining and the snow was starting to melt. About 15-20 mins before dark, I heard that oh so familair sound of foot steps approaching. I could tell that it was one deer by itself and was at that "buck gate." As my heart raced, could it be?? Was it really gonna story book script like that??? Then it stopped right out of sight, and stood there, and stood there. I was then thinking, did I really hear a deer?, did it smell me?, no the wind is in my face. Maybe I am crazy. It stood there for at least 5 mins. I strained to hear something, but I all could hear was the blood pumping through my body as it was one of those cold clear evenings that was absolutely silent in the woodsl. Then it took another step, then another, and then another. I then saw it and instantly saw horns. It was about 50 yards and closing. I shouldered the ol 30-30 and let her eat. He went about 50 yards and piled up in the creek. I was so excited that I had finally killed a good buck that year at the last minute with my 30-30. I couuldn't have scripted it better. I forgot to unhook my safety harness I was so excited as I got out of the tree.
I thought when I shot it that it was the smaller 8. When I got to it, I knew that it was not him, but the eight point that was one of the three that I had been after all year. I had a ton of emotions flowing at that minute as I looked at that deer, hunted him all year, killed at the last minute, kiled with my 30-30, etc, etc. I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn't dreamin. I called Dad who came over to help me get him out.
As I was taking pictures of it, the next afternoon, I realized that out of all of the big deer that I had killed over the past several years that I had never had a picture of me and Dad with a deer. That changed on that one as I got a pic of him, me, and my son wearing a pair of coveralls that I wore when I was his age.
Sorry for the long winded post. That deer means a lot considering the circumstances and to kill it on my own land. He is not the biggest deer by no means that I have killed but means a lot.
On a side note, it is amazing how much weight a deer will lose during the rut. He was a 130 - 140 lb deer early season but only weight 100 lbs field dressed.
