Free: Contests & Raffles.
I have a couple that pop into my memory from time to time, but only one that I could have legitimately killed. I was blacktail hunting on Halloween morning several years back in the best blacktail hunting weather of all time, just an absolute S! storm of wind and sideways rain. On my way into the cut right at first light I ran into a handful of does in the road, then just a little while later a spike and doe on the edge of the clear cut. Deer were moving for sure. I hunkered down to let a really nasty squall pass that must have knocked down a dozen trees within ear shot of me. Once it past, I worked down the treeline towards a small bowl I knew of at the bottom of the clearcut that likely was protected from the wind some. It seemed likely there would be deer down there that morning. I dropped onto a spur road and started towards the landing. I noted A LOT of rubs, and big ones at that. 5-6' fir saplings ripped completely out of the ground, etc.. I was getting pumped. As I eased out to the edge of the landing, I immediately spotted deer across from me. A quick look through the binos confirmed a nice 2x3 and a doe. I've never been one to pass on a buck so I immediately got settled in for the shot without taking much time to look around. My scope was super fogged up, and I missed my first shot. I scrambled to wipe the lense clear, and luckily he stood there completely unbothered by the shot. I lined up and dropped him on the next shot. The doe he was with stood there confused as could be. Walked up and sniffed him, and went back to feeding. I was jacked as could be, grabbed my gear and started around the bowl to my buck. Along the way I couldn't help but notice the crazy amount of sign and rubs in there. It didn't seem to fit the deer that I had just shot. Just as I was covering the last 20 yards or so to my buck, two deer jumped up out of the reprod and bounded down and across the bottom of the bowl and stopped on the other side looking back at me. A buck and doe. The buck, absolutely dwarfed the doe he was with. Realistically his body size was at least double hers. Built like a Clydesdale. He had the classic white blacktail face with the black brow that made him look eternally pissed off. His antlers were square and mahogany red. They seemed to come up a couple inches then go straight out past his ears, and then turn 90 degrees and go straight up almost equally far, curling in at the top. Mass like i've never seen on a blacktail and 3"+ eye guards. He was majestic and massive. They stood there for probably a good 30 seconds before the doe sauntered off into the timber with him hot on her heals. I stood there in disbelief. They had been within 20-30 yards of the buck that I had killed, bedded in the reprod. If I had just taken the time to survey the situation before I shot I very well could have ended up with that buck. That was a very hard lesson to learn. This photo of a buck killed in Oregon reminds me a lot of that deer.
