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Muzzleloader season 4 years ago. Just finished the night sit, not a thing, freezing miserable weather. I get in my truck and head back to camp. Go to pull in my driveway and I hit the breaks to allow 7 deer to literally walk in front of the truck. Literally rubbing their sides on the front of my truck. Each time I tried to enter my driveway another one or two would cross from my neighbours in front of the truck. I was just in awe.
Nice stories,keep them coming....please
Okay, I'll share one...
I had been bowhunting religiously since 1984 without success. Always solo, with no hunting friends, or any shared knowledge from anyone other than what I read in the Ontario Out of Doors magazines.
I had built a small tree stand by myself in the valley down from the farmer's field. I stood there many days for many hours with a home-made harness holding me to the tree and no seat to sit on.
It must have been around 1987 or 88 when one morning, there was SUDDENLY a monster buck standing directly below my tree, behind me, and slightly to the right. I had not heard the buck at all, and had never seen such a magnificent animal so close to me before!
It was an unbelievable shock for this very green big game hunter.
My only chance - I decided - was to drop my body forward, relying completely on the rope around my chest to hold my weight, then pull my bow as I leaned left and wrapped myself around the tree to shoot down at the deer.
You know how they say "the deer never look up" ?
Well, this deer was heading away from me, but he had his neck twisted 180 degrees, looking BACK and UP at my twisted swinging body!
So he jumped just before I released the string, but didn't go too far though. I could still see his head and neck standing in tall grass and angrily huffing at me. I managed to send another arrow his way while barely keeping myself attached to the tree stand on the tip of my toes. Clean miss.
I still tell that story any chance I get.
I hope you’ve been able to get one since then hawkman?
Not my story my cousins but......a good one.
Was out for my first year with a cross bow. Hunted lots with a rifle and was hunting my favourite rifle stand. Always lots of action. Second night out couple does wander by and then a big 8 pointer.
The buck has no idea I’m there and I have the crossbow up and in position. I have shot 4 deer in the exact spot I’m holding on now, with my rifle.
Well I lean forward and the deer walks into my scope. Squeeze the trigger and find myself flat on the floor of the tree stand.
WTF. Stand up and the deers looking at me. Swear to god it laughs and runs away. What I had not taken into account and what I could not see in the scope was the two trees on either side I was aiming through. The arms of the crossbow hit the trees and the force shoved the crossbow back into my face and knocked me on my Azz.
Still not sure why my cousin told us that story one rainy day but glad he did. Still chuckle when I think of it.
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Saskfly....exact same thing happens to my brother ironically...he smoked the tree and bounced him backwards. I was able to c this happen from a stand I was in. I heard him go “ merp “ and saw him bounce back lol lesson learned im sure.
Good Lord,where to even begin,lol.
I mentioned in the other thread that I could fill a book with “close calls and ones that got away” stories,and sadly,I was only half joking,I’ve got enough material I’m sure for a big book of short stories.
I guess I’ll start at the beginning......
The very first deer I ever tried to shoot got away.
I was 14yo and checking my line of coyote snares and beaver traps on a snowy November Saturday morning.I began trapping muskrats when I was 9,and by the time I was 14 was running 100+ snares and another 100+ traps and had caught pretty much anything and everything that walks,runs,or swims in NB by then....rats,mink,coons,beaver,otter,fisher bobcat,fox.....anyhow,I had a couple dozen snares along this old faded/grown in trail that ran in a sorta loop for 2 miles or so and swung by a couple beaver ponds where I had a few sets for beaver and other water critters.
So I’m carrying my Dad’s old Lakefield Mossberg .22LR to pop bunnies and grouse and maybe dispatch a yotie or even better,a $300 cat(early 1980s).....there’s a lite but steady snow coming down,a fresh 2” of powder,and one of those kinda days that’s whisper quiet in the woods....so I’m walking about half way through my 2 mike loop and I catch some movement up ahead,and it’s 3 deer walking straight towards me,a big lead doe with 2 yearlings in tow.So first I just stopped and froze as they closed in from 50 yards...and they kept coming and coming,seemingly oblivious to my presence.
Now deer season was still open,but at that time you had to be 18 to buy a deer licence in NB.....and truth be to,d 16 to hunt alone,14 with an adult....but I’d been sneaking the .22 out since I was 10 or 11,and by 14 Dad let me hunt alone close to home wth either the .22 or 12ga even though technically supposed to be with an adult.....meh,wutever.So these deer are getting closer and at some point I decided that I should shoot one,get Mom to tag it,and I’m gonna have a nice gut pile to hopefully snare a few coyotes off of for the next cpl days.
So these deer are at about 20y now walking straight towards me and finally the lead doe sees me and freezes......I already had the gun up.....leveled the x-hairs right between her eyes.....had a few second thoughts......should I/shouldn’t I...YEP I. Doing it,gonna kill me a deer before my best friend Jim does,lol...squeezed the trigger...CLICK!
Those 3 deer wheeled around and bounced away unscathed.
Ya see Dad’s old Mossberg semi .22 had the Safety right on the bolt,the kind that ya pull out for fire,and push in to lock the bolt back for safe.
Now normal function,you really should just need to pull out on the safety,and the bolt slides forward into battery on its own,but Dads had a lil quirk and a bad habit of sticking just a wee bit if you didn’t pull out on the safety AND push it forward 1/16 of an inch into battery......it would still “fire” but the bolt and pin and weren’t engaging the round,so the firing pin would fall short of striking the rim and primer.....more or less a dry fire?
So I was underaged and illegal as F,and the poaching Gods were against me,and even though I’d already fired hundreds maybe a couple thousand rounds in this .22,it didn’t stick all the time or even all that often,but I forgot to make sure this time,and the first deer I ever put crosshairs on and squeezed the trigger ran away without a hair on her head harmed instead of getting a 3rd eye and frontal lobotomy.
Soooo many things wrong with that story grinr!! That may have been one that you just keep to yourself.
LOL, most people on these forums have heard my stories many times already!Quote:
Originally Posted by marky.mark
After 17 years of trying religiously with my compound bow, I finally got my fist deer in 2001 - with a .307 Winchester Model 94AE.
My first (and only) archery deer happened in 2013 and it was my Excalibur Vortex that got me my largest buck ever.
Quite a few years back I was sitting in a tree stand overlooking a bean field. Out of the far end of the field I see a big deer making its way across the field away from my permission farm. I grab my grunt call and give it a loud burp/grunt sound. I do this again as loud as I can as the deer is moving and about 300yds away... the loud burp/grunt sound gets his attention, he stops. I grunt loudly once again and this time he starts running toward me like a race horse as he was a really big deer, the biggest deer I have come across... My first drop tine buck makes it way, runs right up to me and stops at what I think is about 40yds... I am in disbelief and excited as heck as this is the biggest deer I have ever seen and it made its way from well over 300 yds to me within seconds... Now it's standing broadside at what appears to be 40 yds to me... I put the excalibur on him and pull the trigger only to see my bolt fly over his back....
the buck, takes a couple jump back and just looks at me trying to figure me out and what the heck just happened..... He stuck around for another minute or two before he trotted off in search of new pastures.... It turns out he was only 30yds away but me being so excited made a mistake on the distance.... It was one of the coolest hunts I didn't get a deer. :)