feeling sick

[BigGoonTuna]

i've been hunting locally this year, having swallowed my pride and bought a vail permit.  haven't seen much in the main tree farm, but gave one of the "non motorized" areas a shot earlier in the week that i was mildly familiar with since i had picked blackberries there a few years back.   i hiked a few miles in and found a rather large clear cut, and noticed a deer moving through the far side into a stand of ash trees in the swampy corner of the cut.  i could not put any points on it since it was moving too quickly, so i decided to try to intercept it.  i moved to the end of the road and noticed that several fir trees had been absolutely shredded by a buck, and began working my way down into the dog hair.  i started down the hill, watching the ash trees, when he got up from the edge of the timber and headed for the next county.  all i caught saw was his tail.  the trees in the area were battered, leaves were chewed up and there was tons of sign in the area, i figured it was his bedroom.

fast forward to today...

i went out for an early morning hunt since this would likely be my last day i'd be able to get out before late buck.  i headed into the main tree farm to find the whole area was socked in with thick fog.  i ended up driving about 30 miles just exploring, stopping at a few clearcuts to glass.  didn't see a single deer, except on my way out a doe crossed the road 50 feet from the gate as i was getting out to unlock the hubs on my truck.  i wrote off the morning and went home to take a nap.

when i woke up, i decided to go for an evening hunt in the walk in spot that i'd seen that (alleged) buck in.  i got out there about 4:00pm and started hiking in.  this particular spot is about 2 miles from the gate, and about a mile in i saw what looked to be drag marks, which lead to a gutpile in the ditch.  somebody had obviously shot something here.  i hoped that it wasn't the buck i was looking for, and continued onward.  i made it to the same area i had first seen the deer earlier and posted up on the edge of the clearcut, watching the swamp, and starting to daydream.  about 30 minutes in, i heard a loud "snap" back in the direction i had came from, to see a doe bounding through the dog hair 50 yards from me.  i put up my binoculars and found her, it looked like she was being chased.  looked around some more, and found the reason why!  monster buck, one of the biggest blacktails i've ever seen(outside of ocean shores) was following through the reprod.  he was at least a huge 2 point, possibly bigger, but the tines on his rack were at least 8-10" long, i could see them clearly(i usually have to struggle to put horns on a spike, my eyes suck).  looked like a muley.  he moved through, then lined up for a perfect quartering away shot. i threw up my rifle and...he was gone.  i grabbed my binoculars again and found him, he had started moving again.  i frantically grabbed my rifle and found him in the scope as he was trying to slip out of sight, put the crosshairs on his shoulder and pulled the trigger.  the .250 savage barked and he was gone.  nothing, no blood, no hair.  i searched the area in a grid for what seemed like an eternity, only to have to concede that i had made a lousy shot and totally missed.  once i saw how big he was, i got the shakes so bad that i probably pulled the shot(it doesn't help that my rifle could use a trigger job).

buck fever sucks!  only legal deer i've come across this season and he's a monster, and i blew it!  hopefully he's still around for late buck...

[Antlershed]

That’s too bad man. Hopefully you can find him during late buck. I’m headed out in the morning, but I haven’t seen a buck yet either. Hoping the fog isn’t bad tomorrow.

[hollymaster]

Don’t feel bad, my son missed a slam dunk at 20 yards his first go around. 

[fishnfur]

Been there, done that.  That bad feeling will pass.

Saw a video a couple of weeks ago where the guy said that if you're shooting at a deer from below or above it, the shot will always be higher than your targeted point.  It makes no sense to me and I have no idea if that is actually true.  Something to think about.....

[PastorJoel]

Sorry. That’s frustrating. Consider checking to see if your scope is still centered. I have seen them fail mid hunting season before.

[pd]

Been there, done that.  That bad feeling will pass.

There isn't a single soul on this web forum who hasn't experienced this feeling.  It, too, shall pass.

My guess is that you flat out missed.  Better than a poor shot!  Move on, hunt the late season.

Otherwise, it sounds like you had a great hunt.  (Get to the range before mid-November and check out that gun.)

[Magnum_Willys]

Had some excitement, and still have a tag to hunt some more.  Good experience!

[slowhand]

The antlers have crazy powers, nothing when it's a spike or a little forky.
Oh but when it's a big guy it becomes an entirely different challenge.
My big miss was on a bull of a lifetime, peaches ridge any bull tag went up in flames.
That was 4 years ago and My last hunt till this month. Took that long to get over it.

[Crunchy]

Heck i got buck fever on a cow elk once during archery season.  Missed her more than once is all i am willing to admit to.

[NW SURVEYOR]

Missing a shot always hurts.
This is even more true the more experienced you become.
Those guys who say "It will pass" are just being polite.
If it was  nice buck or bull IT WILL NOT PASS.

Heck, I still remember (With remorse) shots I missed 40 years ago.
There are nights where I wake up thinking about the bull I missed at Wolf Point on the 200 line at the head of Baird Creek.
That's just for starters, and he wasn't that big.

Good Luck!

Rob.

[C-Money]

Hope you get on another in late season!

[JDHasty]

I missed getting a shot on the only really nice buck I have had a decent shot at this year.  Instead of just putting an arrow through his barrel at 20 yards I just had to take a look at him with my binocular to make sure what I was getting first and that was all it took for him and a doe w/couple fawns to turn inside out and vamoose on me.  It was about two minutes of legal hunting left and although I could see the deer I could not make out the antlers, but from the size of his body next to the mature doe, and since even if it had no antlers it still would have been a legal deer...   

[JohnVH]

I love a good story, what rifle, savage 99?

[BigGoonTuna]

Yep, savage 99a, straight stock with a 22" bbl

[JohnVH]

awesome, I have one too. 

[JDHasty]

awesome, I have one too. 

There was a well used, but very nice 300 and an even better 250 at an estate sale about twelve years ago.  Both solid frame and I waited until Sunday for markdowns and IIRC they were ~ $350 ea already.  And there was also a pair of BB94s that were basically unused in 307 & 356 for $450 ea and neither had a cross bolt safety. 

Talk about beating yourself up for over a decade.  Every time I see an old straight grip 99 I could just about cry over my stupidity.  I should have just wrote a check for all four.