Biggest buck Poll?

[300rum]

Were you able to harvest the biggest buck that you ever laid eyes on in the woods(while in season)?  Is he still haunting you?

[docsven]

I did hear at school that someone else got him.  That was back in high school, still have never seen a bigger mulie.

[300rum]

I did hear at school that someone else got him.  That was back in high school, still have never seen a bigger mulie.

Were you able to get a shot?

[docsven]

No, he was holed up for a long time and we were sitting and glassing for an hour or so and he couldn't stand it anymore and took off, he was about 500 yards down on a flat, took off running and one of my uncles took a parting shot, more wishful thinking.  We looked for him for a week and then I heard someone else got him the next week.

[whacker1]

169 6/8 non-typical mule deer 2007.  Biggest deer I have seen in a legal season.

Saw a 200 class mule deer the day before season on the breaks of the snake over 10 years ago.  inside 300 yards, got to watch it for about 5 minutes.

[300rum]

Saw a 200 class mule deer the day before season on the breaks of the snake over 10 years ago.  inside 300 yards, got to watch it for about 5 minutes.

I have had similar situations happen, see them just prior to the opener and they just fade away never to be seen again.

[300rum]

I added "I passed him up" for all of you with ice water in their veins.

[andrew_12gauge]

missed a 190 typical out in the desert unit in 04, he really haunted me about 2 months later when driving home from coyote hunting he stood 20 yards off the road and stared at me, that buck was wide tall and heavy he had it all

[270Shooter]

missed a 190 typical out in the desert unit in 04, he really haunted me about 2 months later when driving home from coyote hunting he stood 20 yards off the road and stared at me, that buck was wide tall and heavy he had it all

That really sucks man

[Huntbear]

Have no idea what this buck would have scored, but it was over in Eastern Oregon, above Ukiah.  My dad and uncle and I were watching across a canyon, and found this deer, kept saying it was a doe, a doe, then he turned his head, and the WHOLE brush pile moved when he turned his head.  Total non typical that was at least 30 in. wide and high.   Could never get close enough to get a shot.

[boneaddict]

I was stalking mine and someone else came up from behind me who didn't know the deer was there.  Whatcha doin? 

[Bookworm]

Mine was a huge four point B.T. back in the 80's. Was driving back to camp after hunting all day. Came around a corner and it was standing in the road. Only problem was it was after dark, spent the rest of my season looking for him,never saw him again.

[300rum]

I was stalking mine and someone else came up from behind me who didn't know the deer was there.  Whatcha doin? 

How big was he?

[bowhunterforever]

Mine was during late archery season, the buck was a whitetail in the mid 160's and he walked by just out of range!

[bankwalker]

mine was over hunting along the methow river in a little valley. just happened to be glassing across the river to another ridge and seen what must have been a 170" buck. or at least what looked to be. it was over a mile away so i had no way in taking a shot or even getting within ranger without a 10mile drive to get to that side of the river.

the biggest buck i missed was 2 seasons ago at 40yds with a 44mag ruger. it was a 5x5 mulie along teanum creek. around the 140-150".....i should have took the shot with my 7wsm and i will regret it forever 

ive shot at a couple 120" blacktails aswell.

[walt]

Mine was down on the Grande Ronde.  I took the raft in solo mid week and set up camp on one of the few pieces of state land.  The first morning I am up well before the sun and hike up the breaks above camp.  Just after sunrise I glass 8-10 deer at about 1500 yards on a bench across the river.  I can't tell for sure if any are bucks with my binos.  About the same time a bighorn ram comes out about 200 yards above me apparently moving his ewes to another part of the canyon.  He would stare me down, move up 20 yards, stare me down, move 20 yards,...He had my attention and when I turned back to the deer a couple were sparing.  Well the ram wanted me out and I wanted to get a better look at the deer so I worked my way down into a draw and head for the river.  When I get to where I am a couple hundred yards from where the deer should be I make my way up to the edge of the draw and they are gone.  I find them moving up and out a couple hundred yards further up the hill.  Doe, Doe, Doe, Buck, HUGE BUCK!  By now he is 400+ away and all I can do is watch them make their way up and out of the canyon.  I spent the rest of the day and the next steelheading mid day, hunting early and late and didn't see another legal buck.  My visions of floating in to the take out with a monster muley in the front of the boat and couple of steelhead in the cooler didn't happen the way I had planned but it was still an awesome trip. 

[cascademountainhunter]

my dad got him so it was all good.

[Pathfinder101]

Biggest one I ever saw was this muley while I was elk hunting in Eastern Oregon (around Halfway) in 1990.  I didn't know anything about scoring or field-judging at the time, so I won't try to put a score or even a spread on him in inches.  I do know this though; my buddy and I watched him for a good 10 minutes at less than 200 yards and I know for a fact that I could have put the short barreled .270 Husquavarna I was carrying between his main beams and not touched either one.  I may never see another deer that size as long as I live.  Of course the deer season was closed.

Biggest one I ever saw during hunting season was a whitetail that my stepdad shot during the late buck season in 1988.  It was a little over 200 yards and trotting through some lodgepole pine.  I got a rest on a stump and was waiting for him to come out into a clearing in front of me for a clear shot.  Then I heard a shot 30 yards to my left and "my" buck piled up in the snow.  The old man had smoked him off hand at 200 yards on the run in the trees with a 30-30 carbine.   
I have the rack in my loft.  Scored him at 154" net.

[300rum]

The old man had smoked him off hand at 200 yards on the run in the trees with a 30-30 carbine.   

That is an amazing shot.  And better yet to have a witness.

[Wacenturion]

Passed on a for sure 170 plus class whitetail on the first day of my late whitetail hunt...permit only in the Blues back in the 90's.  Looked like a rocking chair on his head.  A 6x7 typical with a slit G2 on the left side.  Had him approximately 80-100 yards away from me tending a hot doe.  Had both the rifle and bino's on him looking at both side views, front and rear for over and hour before they moved off. 
Was one the two biggest whitetail I could have taken.  Did not want to go home that early...just got there.  Passed on three other 140-150 class bucks and finally took a nice typical 4x4 which was smaller than the other three.  However whenever I look at the one I took (on the wall) I actually revisit the other three I could have killed.
My son who was with me still thinks I'm a dumb ass.  He did not have a permit...was along for the hike.  Oh and the other big one I could have killed was several years later (same approx. score...170's)...again in the Blues.....I accidentally shot the satellite buck who was shadowing him and his doe by mistake.  I was looking down and didn't realize it, just saw antlers and figured it was him.......that's whitetail hunting for you.  I will never ever shoot a buck I'm pursuing with a hot doe unless I see the doe first.   

[sportsman002001]

Mine was 2 years ago had the multi-season deer tag. It was the 2nd day of early archery and there were 3 big bucks running around together all summer and one was a nice 5x4 with a drop tine. I was sitting on the edge of a landing and watched some does go into the timber and behind them came the 3 point so waited and watched. About 5 more min. went by and the 5x4 followed suite and could not get any closer to him than 82 yards and the worst part he stayed out for about 2 min. for me to watch. And to this day nobody has got him.

[jager]

Sad story.... Was watching a doe during late buck.....Waiting for a buck to show. Finally after about 45 minutes I decided to let her be. As I started to walk away this buck explodes out of the brush. Big boy! He's running at about 80 yards...not fast but moving... this was the first time ever, that I had decided to take a shot at any big game that was moving faster than a trot. I had always been proud of the one shot kills......Boom....I shoot... he keeps going.... and then stops. Normally that would have been a good thing.... Well as I was leaving the truck that morning I found out that that I had left my ammo at home.  Lucky for me I found one,  yes... one lonely cartridge in the bottom of my pack!
As I watched him move off slowly... I radioed my buddy who had already called me a *censored* as we were leaving the truck for, well.. you know.
He's hunting with a handgun that day and had shot a nice little buck earlier that morning. We met up after dragging his deer out of the creek bottom. I took him back to where "my" buck was.... he was still there! Almost an hour later..... Looking directly at me. He hands me his gun. I have absolutely no rest...He's at just over a 100 yards. I am trying to find him in the scope...No way. I couldn't have hit a barn at that point. We watch him take that doe over the hill...gone.    I just keep thinking about those eye guards. I came back two days later no buck..I then came back after the season to see if I could find him....nope! Not a day went by... for months that I didn't think of that deer! I was obsessed!
May of the following year my nephew found his left side....we looked and looked and looked for his other side. Never did find it, or any since. That was 3 seasons ago. He did give me that rack    That piece of bone is a constant reminder.

6" base, 23" main beam and 9" eye guard - 170 class

I've seen larger but not with gun in hand.

[bowhunterforever]

Dang that sucks jager! That buck has a impressive eyeguard! Would his right side match his left?

[jager]

Oh yea he matched!

[bowhunterforever]

He would defintly be a good one to get! That sucks you forgot your bullets!

[agchawk]

I was 13 and hunting with a friend of my dad's outside of Pomeroy. My dad's buddy and I split up and were walking a draw about 200 yards apart. About 1/2 hour into the hunt, for some reason, I stopped and glanced over my left shoulder. CRAP! There stood the biggest Whitetail bucks I have ever seen on the hoof...and he was just standing there broadside staring at me!!

I would like to say that I slowly lifted my .270 to my shoulder, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and squeezed the trigger...but NO!!! I didn't even lift the damned gun to my shoulder! Instead, I started shooting from the hip like I was in some old western, fighting off a band of charging indians!!!!!! WTF?!

As you can imagine, the buck high-tailed it outta there, never to be seen again. The worst part was that my dad's buddy had seen the buck from the other side of the draw and was getting ready to take a shot when I decided to fill the sky with lead....needless to say, he never offered to take me hunting again.  

[300UltraMagShooter]

The last day of archery season, I was sneaking along a river bottom with the sound of the river covering my approach.  Next thing I know a 180+ class whitetail stands up 20 yards in front of me.  The rocks were slippery so I had left the arrows in my hip-quiver.   

I slowly pulled an arrow out and clipped it onto my string.  By now, the deer is getting nervous and walking up the embankment at about 25 yards.  I draw back, but there are limbs everywhere now.  I notice he is getting ready to jump over a fence and out of my life, so I pick a hole through the limbs and when he walks into it, I let go.  The arrow exploded, and never made it to him.   

That night, I tell all my buddies, but this is a small town back east where a 120 inch deer is considered a monster.  My close buddies believe me, but noone else does.

My buddy, who has several rifles (I don't have any) and a brand new job at the gas wells, wants to go hunting with me on Monday, which is the rifle opener.  We run to walmart and buy a couple boxes of shells.  We spend Sunday, which is the day after the big miss, practicing at 100 yards.  Monday morning can't get here fast enough.  I get up several hours before the sunrises in preparation for the hour and a half walk to where we are going.  Two and a half hours later, my buddy still has not shown.     Luckily, he let me take his rifle home.    

I make it to my spot above the river bottom, an hour and a half after daylight  .   I brought a set of sheds I had found the year before and start rattling ever 45 minutes or so.   At about 10:30 I get bored, and decide to head down into the river bottom which I told myself I would not do because I didn't want to mess the place up.  I know there is a tiny island about a half mile that I would like to check out.  I know the odds are low, but I have seen beds on the island almost every time I have fished the area.  As I slip down the river bottom, I hadn't made it 100 yards when a yearling jumps up across the river and takes off in the direction of the island which is the last thing I wanted.  I am now ticked at myself for walking too fast.  I move down the river bottom, and as I reach the bend in the river where I can look down at the Island, I slowly peak my head around to look.  To my amazement, there is a large deer just standing on the island.  I think to myself that this is going to be an 8 point (eastern count) and my buddies are going to give me flack for it being so small compared to what I had described.  I raise the rifle to get a better look and as the scope hits him, he suddenly raises his head.     All I see is rack everywhere.  I try to settle in for the shot, but at about 120 yards off hand, I could not get steady.   I decide to sneak a litte closer to a large log in the river.  I somehow made it without him seeing me.     Now I am able to steady the rifle with my elbow on the log.  It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.  I start squeezing the trigger thinking that I wish I were more steady.  About then, the rifle goes off and at the recovery of the recoil, I see a huge rack coming right at me in the scope.  With the speed of his departure, I am thinking I missed.    I wanted to     but I thought to myself there would be time for that later.     I run around to the other side of the bend in the river and wade across hoping to cut him off if he comes out the other side.  No luck, so I start heading to where I had last seen him.  Once getting to the general area, a hear a noise and look up to see a large buck trotting down into the woods.  My heart sinks, but I am also thinking he looks much smaller in the woods than he did in the open of the river.  I start following in the direction I had seen him run and I see a tail flicker about a 100 yards in front of me.  I put the scope on him and notice I have a shot.  Unfortunately, the shot would be at his rear end or his hip.  I decide not to shot and just then the buck runs off.  Instead of following him this time, I decide to head back to where I had shot at him and look for blood.  No need, as I got to where I had last seen him, I see him laying on the river bank not 20 yards from where I had shot at him.  He had run barely out of sight and fell over.   

Well, there is the story of my biggest buck.  Both a miss and a hit within two days of each other. 

By the way, the sheds I was using to rattle with belonged to the sam buck.  Also, I shot the deer where I was going to put my buddy, who had stood me up because he was worried about his new job.

[270Shooter]

You got pics 300? 

[jager]

 You got pics 300?

       

[300UltraMagShooter]

I was poo at the time so I didn't have a camera.   So poo, I couldn't even afford an "r".       No field photos.   

I have a few mount pics.  I'll se if I can find them to post. 

[270Shooter]

I was poo at the time so I didn't have a camera.   So poo, I couldn't even afford an "r".       No field photos.   

I have a few mount pics.  I'll se if I can find them to post. 

Cool I would love to see em. Cool story by the way.

[300UltraMagShooter]

Ok, here is one that I found on this laptop.  I have more at home.

[jager]

Awesome buck! That thing has got some mass!

[300UltraMagShooter]

thanks,

6 1/2 inch bases and the four of the others are well over 5.

Awesome buck! That thing has got some mass!

[270Shooter]

Man thats an awesome whitey. 

[burrheadcountry]

I smoked him. My 2008 mule deer was the biggest I have seen. He was beded 400 yards down hill from me when I first saw him. I closed the distance to about 150 to 200 yards and just sat down and waited him out. I had to wait for ever (33 minutes). He stood up and I droped him right back into his bed. No guts and no front legs from the knees down it dressed out at 175 lbs. Took me 4.5 hours to get him out.

[bowhunterforever]

That whitey is a hog 300shooter!

[300rum]

Who else passed up the biggest buck they have ever seen while hunting?

[colockumelk]

Mine was in GMU 379.  That buck was easily 190" if not more.  Hands down the largest buck I've ever seen in real life or in pictures.  Might have even gone over 200".  Not even kidding.  The only bad part is that he was in the wild life refuge.  He was with about 3 or 4 other bucks that were all around 150" and he dwarfed them all.  Oh that was a big buck.  BLRman and myself just sat there and 

[C-Money]

I jumped a very LARGE whitetail out of the CRP grass on our ranch. He took off hell bent for leather and I missed!!! To make things worse my wife was with me and she witnessed the whole thing and kept reminding me how big that buck was!