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PublicLandHunter's Link
Sucks he couldn't find it until weeks later, but at least he found it. I'm probably starting another fixed vs mechanical debate, and when to back out or press for a deer, but it's worth it.
Mine probably would have looked like that next year...
Awesome buck for sure. No Mech-fixed debate from me, but no quartering too trying to hit in front of the shoulder and thread it up in there either. Tough shot...
Glad he found it.
41 days to find it? Shouldn't go as a bow kill. Coyotes could have finished it off. Should be in the book as salvaged. Also the warden Def blew up that guys spot lol
Hard decision. Don't know what I would have done. No recovery, no meat, no mount, just bones and coyote droppings. Sometimes that's how it goes, and he does have a monster rack and a record to his name, but also some regret. Has me thinking harder. What were those wide bladed fixed heads again.....
I can’t believe the article posted where he shot it. Their goes his spot! Apparently the guy thought Rage could perform miracles with that shot location.
I love Rage heads. Killed my big buck with them. But a tough shot at a record deer, the shot started off far from ideal. Backing off with rain in the forecast probably was a mistake. But again, I wasn't there, and I don't have a 190in rack on my wall. He does.
Well there are two other 10pts he didn't get this year. Might have to visit family next year. My brother lives near Pittsburgh.
I imagine that state land is enormous, doubt they really killed his spot.
Who knows he didn't make the spot up. Could of been state land miles away. Who knows. Poor shot selection gives poor results.
Seems strange that it qualifies as a record. He finds a buck in the woods more than a month after he claims to have shot it and now holds the archery record?
Same with any record. Hunter tags deer. Hunter holds record. There is no other way to prove anything else. Could have poached it, shot it with an illegal weapon, after hours. He does have trail camera pics, so it is probably true. It's just damn near impossible to prove otherwise. Innocent until proven guilty.
"Seems strange that it qualifies as a record. He finds a buck in the woods more than a month after he claims to have shot it and now holds the archery record?" I tend to agree!
I believe he probably did kill it with his bow, not many guys want to hold a record they cheated to get, but some certainly do. In most situations the hunter would at least be able to show the wound proving it was shot with the weapon he claims to have used. Aren't there places in the record books for deer found dead? Just my opinion, but that category seems more suitable for this situation. That buck is stud either way.
I have to agree with you guys. Who goes back in the woods that much later to look for a deer your not even sure if it’s dead.
he wasnt just in the woods he was gun hunting
We've all had deer we knew we killed and never found. Didn't someone here find a deer they shot two years ago? In his defense, he found it, hunted it, made a kill shot, so the record is his. He just didn't get the full rewards of a packed freezer and mounted head.
But I will say, hopefully people stop saying "public land sucks" and change it to "private land is easier".
I agree that he did scout it, find it, and make a shot that eventually resulted in the bucks death. So I guess the record is his. But I still have a problem with this statement, “At 32 yards the buck looked over his left shoulder, exposing his right shoulder and neck. That would be my only chance, so I let him have it where the shoulder meets the neck..." He made a conscious decision to take a low percentage shot. I've said it many times before, things happen in the woods that result in bad shots happening. I get it. But I'll always have a problem when someone makes a conscious decision to take a bad shot.
It pissed me off when someone consciously makes a bad shot BECAUSE OF the size of the animal. If it had been a doe would he have rushed that shot? Doubt it. Just because the thing carries some bone on its head is no reason to take a bonehead shot.
Good point. One or two more steps would have opened the chest fully. But again, buck fever can get to us all. I'm sure it's a lesson learned for him in rushing a poor shot on an unspooked deer. It could have easily been found the next day, and then he is a sharpshooter that can track like a pro. Props to him for doing most of it right, to include a half mile tracking job over many days. As long as learning has occurred and mistakes prevented next time.
Bruce and Hick - you guys said what I felt better than I. I've messed up. I've made bad shots and recovered some, and lost a few over the years. It SUCKS when it happens. But, intentionally taking a low percentage shot just feels like a poor choice. Overall - well done to the guy - he worked hard to find and hunt the deer, and then put in lots of time to find it. Just wish he'd let him take a few more steps - so to speak.
In my mind, if he recovered it the next day that doesn't make him a sharpshooter and professional tracker. It makes him a guy who took a low percentage shot and got lucky.
He certainly did his homework to find that deer and have a shot at him. I'd be willing to bet he wonders sometimes what might have been had he waited just a little longer before pulling the trigger. Because, while he says "that would be my only chance" he doesn't know if in fact that's true. It seems like the deer wasn't spooked so it could have turned giving him a full broadside at the same 30 yards, come in and given him a 15 yard chip shot, or moved off in the other direction. No way to know for sure.
Anyway, just my thoughts. Not looking to start any arguments.
All valid points. Good debate. Back story, I was a city boy who dragged my dad out hunting at age 15 because my friends hunted and I felt the call. A $57 30/40 Krag in hand and zero knowledge. My first year, no success. I spent a year reading and asking questions. It hasn't stopped. I bring it up because some knowledge and ethics aren't instinct. They are learned from others or by the school of hard knocks. From someone not raised in a hunting family, it had been a longer road for me. Maybe for him as well. He seems sincere and put in a lot of effort in tracking, so I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not all of us were born with a camo spoon in our mouths.
Public, you sound like me. My parents are not outdoors people outside walks and xc skiing when they were younger. They saw i was into it, and encouraged me. Lots of failures and misshaps, but glad to have grown from all that!
Yup. One of the reasons I joined the forum. To learn from those with more experience and different ideas. My ethics are better for it. Hopefully this guy's will be too. The debates and talks are good for everyone.
For me the ethics part of it probably is instinct. Pretty much been that way for as long as I can remember. I probably need to learn to extend more grace to people who are learning that part.
The knowledge part is another story. I feel like I'll always be in the steep part of the learning curve. Many, many on here who are far better hunters than I. But I still enjoy myself :-)
And honestly, if I ever have a chance at a buck like that it will probably be more luck than skill. Unfortunately...
Yup. Public my brother & I got into hunting in our teens. No one in our family hunted. We had to learn as we went and definitely made mistakes. Definitely rushed shots, lost animals, but never did I take a shot intentionally that I knew was "iffy" just because I might not get another. I'm not holding myself higher than this guy, or anyone else for that matter. I just hate to see an animal wasted (seemingly intentionally).
I hunted a giant 8pnt all season once. Will can attest, he's seen the trail cam pics. I rattled him in to within 18 yards....problem was, he came in through a 20 inch gap between to apple trees and was head on. He stopped, made a scrape, did the flehmen response....then put it in reverse and backed out straight never giving even a quartering shot. I absolutely thought about launching one center throat...but could bring myself to do it and potentially wounding or losing him. I passed and never saw him again. But I totally feel I made the right call.
You did make the right call, he seemingly didn't. Just saying it's easy to Monday morning quarterback. An unrecovered deer who died slow is on his head, and hopefully his conscience as well. Those lessons for me are ones I tell myself "never again".
Agreed on the ethics of that shot, that's the first thing that jumped out at me when I read that last week. During the rut this year I had to pass on a big old 10 that was broadside but 10 yds further than my self imposed limit with my longbow. Then instead of following his doe into 20 in the open he turned to run off another buck similar size coming in behind them. I almost puked. But I can feel good about it after and gives me a target for next season to be excited about. I had soo much sign from him other than no camera pics. They win most of these chess games.
B and S - well done, that would be HARD in the moment. It's easy to rationalize: "it's on a yard to two to far" for example.
Hick, that deer was a stud! When I first started coming on here, there were several years where you were running a bunch of cams, and I remember being amazed at all the great bucks you were getting shots of. Are you still doing cam's, or to much other stuff in life going on? I just wasnt feeling it with the cam's this year personally. Had a few out for a little while, but just wasnt really into it for some reason...
I love those stories B&S. I think most bow guys have them. A big buck at 45 yards and only good to 40. It used to really bother me when I was younger. Now I just laugh, and say to myself whew! I almost had to gut and drag a deer!!!
I have a good mentor that turned me on to the. Preached husband self imposed limit. I kept saying when I can put 6 in a row couple days in a row in the boiler room then expand my comfort zone . Not there yet.
Will, several reasons lead me to stop or use them more sparingly. 1) I got tired of constantly replacing them...(they aren't build to last) 2) in my old age/senility I would forget where they were (lol) 3) other things...kid, coaching, training, etc etc seemed to take on more importance.
as well as my prime spot getting overrun with other hunters when the shopping center got built...giving easy access to a bunch of new guys. the big bucks are still there, I just don't have the time to pattern them like I used to. eh, one year closer to retirement. he he
aside from the shopping center, there has been a ton of development all around the perimeter of the property, messing up the travel patterns.
I have one camera out right now and all it got all season was does and a couple forkies.
