I'd like to share a story

[Ouachitamtnman]

I apologize in advance for the dissertation but this experience was amazing.

Sunday, the last day of rifle season, I rattled a 150+ giant to 30yds (I've got a handful of 135s and 140s and know what big deer look like and he dwarfed anything I've killed by 15-20"..absolute unicorn of a mountain deer). He stopped behind some brush and I was waiting for a clear shot and he caught my wind and bolted. He needed one more step. Im sick as a dog. Beatin myself up wondering if I shoulda just shot through some brush. Im in a saddle I saw one in last weekend that got by me. I was looking at him through the scope at 30yds but was thick and i was having to shoot left handed because he came from my hard right, almost downwind with a just off wind. the way i came in. I knew with the NW wind blowing through the saddle of the E/W ridge that I could get something come in from downwind so I had walked a harder path towards the top of the mountain to avoid my ground scent on the easy walking stuff and it worked like a charm. Friggin giant. Easy 150. I blew it hard...shoulda just shot but it was thick and I was sure he'd take another step but in hindsight, I knew the gig was up when he stopped and told myself to shoot and was looking for an opening to slip an -06 bullet through. He was walking steady and i needed one more step and he stopped but didn't seem alarmed and he just turned inside out and was gone like that. Thankful and blessed at the opportunity but that ones gonna hurt for a while. This is the second time I've ever stepped foot on this mountain but marked some spots to scout, last year.
Sat till 930 or so. Rattled loud and aggressive, scraping the cherry I was in for about 20 seconds. Pretty much gave up looking hard after about 15 min and bundled up. then hear something, pull the beanie off my ears and there he is walking slow towards me from my downwind side and it hit me he would catch my wind soon and one of the biggest mistakes I made was not realizing the gravity of the situation fast enough and not getting turned for the shot with enough urgency. That said, he was walking my way and the sun was illuminating me although I was on the other side of the tree, I had to peer hard around it and I dang sure didnt want to blow it moving to quickly and I watched him walk through about a 15 yd wide lane at 40yds and I was locked down and slowly trying to inch my gun up without getting picked off. Wind had been hard N with a little W in it and i knew he'd get my wind but thought i had another 10 or 15 yds based on last wind check. It had too much W and he busted me...that or he caught my ground scent from my trial that was probably 30yds parallel to him. When he stopped, i knew that was my shot but it was too thick but I might have been good as close as he was. So disheartening but I found a giants house. Hope i didn't blow it, but i feel like i did in every way. Those opportunities are rare...

A little backstory:
I went in last week exploring the place for the first time. Id marked a big saddle on a map and went to scout it. Got to this spot and had what looked to be a good buck get through this same saddle on me but he came to grunting and a snort wheeze even. Again, just too thick for a shot but i called him back to about 70 from over 100 yds but didnt see him move and he caught my hat bill move and slipped out but wasnt spooked. He just did what old deer do and they dont second guess their instincts and when there was a hint of something fishy he slipped off the South side of the hill and was gone. I had the wind and sun in my favor. I explored the area after the encounter and found a hardwood with few limbs for a climber and marked it and actually shimmied up it and sawed 2 limbs off so it would be ready to climb quietly when I decided to come back. I figured a NW wind would be best to blow the way i came in and that's what we had Sunday so i went. Rattled about 930...listened real intently for 15 min or so then got cold so i covered my ears and hunkered down to get warm. 5 min later i hear something, turn the direction i came in and he was coming just on a slightly lower path. He was 65yds and closing at a walk scent checking the South side with a NW wind, walking E to W. I couldnt turn to shoot right handed so i got the gun up slowly as he walked through 2 wide open lanes at 45yds and i got to see how gigantic he was and i couldn't believe it was about to happen. He got to a clump of little pines at 30yds and stopped but didnt seem too spooked but i knew that was my shot but didnt take it...the left finger is not the killer the right one is or I'm draggin that deer...Ugh im disgusted and what iffin myself to death.

A couple of lessons I'm trying to take from it to kill this deer and see more deer like him in the future.
-If a deer is coming in downwind and giving you a chance, you better get to it in a hurry one way or another
-If I had sat further to the S side of the saddle and less towards the middle, like I would have if I had walked in from the bottom through the draw leading to the saddle, eliminating any path behind me, that deer wouldn't have caught my scent as it wouldve been blowing off the steep drop off and into the draw behind me. We have N winds forecast for this weekends late Muzzle Loader hunt and that's one thing I'll do different in my set up. After this ordeal, I thought through that scenario and looked behind me to see a giant pine that doesn't have limb for 25' prob 15 or 20 yds behind me. Although I was trying to avoid pines because of the noise climbing, there should be a little wind that should help mask some noise.
-Just because there are no acorns doesn't mean the deer don't use those mountains in exactly the same way with dang near the same frequency.
-After the first week of Modern Gun, the mountain tops are where I need to be for the rest of the season

Just want to note, the first time I went in there the wind was SW and that buck was cruising parallel to the ridge on the N side about 20 yds or so off the top. Moving West to East but he came in to my grunt so I'm not sure he was originally travelling that direction or just bedded or what. This Sunday the wind was NNW and he was cruising parallel to the ridge on the S slope, about 20 yds off the top. For anyone who doesn't believe in the knowledge Dan's droppin, that confirmed some of it for me and I'm grateful to feel like I understand these animals a little bit more. As sad as I am that I missed that opportunity, I feel like I've put some major pieces of the puzzle together that are really going to increase my chances at deer like this.

What do y'all think? I'm thinking I blew my shot at rattling and prob shouldn't try it again since he caught a whiff of something he didnt like that he may associate with that. I did have a thought that maybe a different set of rattling antlers with a completely diff sound could help but my instincts are telling me I shouldn't go to that well again any time soon.

Anyway, amazing experience I wanted to share and let y'all chew on and give feedback. I've hunted mountains successfully for a while and have some 135s and 140s to show for it but seeing an animal like that and feeling like I've got a legit shot at them, has me excited for the rest of this season and looking forward to next.

[headgear]

Cool story, I would probably give the rattling a rest, I don't think he will commit again at least this season. But get back out after him and see what happens.

[Recurve6]

Two things... first - it's awesome you got that close to that deer - sucks to not get him but ... second... more important than one deer is the experience you gained and the trust in these tactics (and are sharing with some of us newbies to this style hunting) that will led to much more success in the future...bummed ya didn't get him but that should be overcome by deliberately going in and finding him out of all those acres he could be on..... pretty neat stuff

Congratulations - good luck going after him!

[greenhorndave]

You literally only needed 1-2 more feet. You did almost everything right, except the wind was off by a foot. Part of hunting? Sometimes it is so close. Doesn't make it less frustrating, but you're not alone in having something like that happen.

As to your question about shooting through the brush, I wouldn't have, but I'm probably too conservative. Maybe others have shot through like that?

[swampnovice31]

nice read.. I had a similar encounter about 6 years ago.. rifle season, thick swamp had a crack shot at a nice buck right up the behind, I passed. Some guys would literally unload their gun in your situation. I think theres a lot said here about your character as a hunter.

[Ouachitamtnman]

Yellow is my entry
Black is his path once i saw him.
Blue is where my stand was
Red is where i feel i shoulda been
Orange is where i walked up on 2 bucks eating greenbriar on the south edge of a greenbriar thicket

Do you think i got lucky that i didnt spook him coming in from the direction he apparently was? If so, would you come in from the bottom through the draw leading to the saddle or stick with what works and just be extra cautious/quiet slipping in? Next planned sit Saturday should be light rain and NE wind and 36-38° all day. Sunday is NNW winds moderate wind and doesnt break 40° all day. Prime for movement if i can hack it.

Thanks for the feedback fellas.

[Ouachitamtnman]

Went back in Saturday to try and kill this deer and it was pretty much a disaster. NE wind would work for where i wanted to be but not walking in. Jumped a deer off its bed on the S slope just as i got to the top and started to walk in so i skirted the knob and got to the N slope only to have my wind blowing directly over the ridgetop to the S slope so that was a no go. Decided to leave all together but my desire to get back after this buck trumped my good judgement. I decided if I skirted the S slope below the buck, i could come up from below into the saddle. I did just that but it was a long slow hike trying to be stealthy only to jump 3 deer bedded about 100yds below the saddle at the foot of a steep slope on a small knob that jutted out. After seeing the 2 smaller bucks feeding close to here last weekend and thinking he was likely with them, im gonna assume it was him and those 2 smaller bucks. One bed was large and had a huge pile in it. Would sneaking in an hour before light and setting up ober those beds be a decent strategy? Never done it before. I want to just stick with the saddle but im not sure where he stays to know exactly how to get in and out without bumping him. To top it off, it was 33° 10-15 sustained winds and freezing rain on the tops of the hills and after staying out till 230, effin everything up, i got to the truck, ready for warmth and to take me home and i guess while loading everything into the front seat i mustve bumped the lock button and walked to the drivers side only to find it locked...i had to bust my window to get in because i bought this truck used and dont have a spare key to even call someone to bring (got a key made yesterday) Gonna be 200 before tax 2 weeks before Christmas. Its enough to throw in the towel but im a glutton for punishment and im a grinder and will give this deer at least one more go and then ill dive in around Feb when the turkeys start gobbling and find his beds and try to get him next year. Im debating putting a cam in there simply because im not sure i want to know how big he is...essentially how bad i effed up lol

[Ouachitamtnman]

Deer were bedded at the mark by the 11

[Kraftd]

Fun post, never beat yourself up for not taking an unethical shot. You did right.

Agree that rattling isn't likely to work again on him this year, but you know where he is at least. I've learned that lesson as well on staying ready after calling. I regularly have deer come in 10-30 minutes after calling that I'm fairly certain based on the way they are acting are still reacting to the call. I try to stay diligent for at least a half hour after calling (well I try to stay tuned in full time on stand, but we all slip sometimes).

I also very very regularly see older bucks hang up downwind of calling in the thickest stuff they can find for quite a while trying to figure it all out before committing. That wasn't luck, he knew what he was doing, imo. Blind calling can be very fun and exciting, but unless you have a downwind barrier (like a cliff or water body), or with a gun in particular know you have an open shot, you will get owned more often than not by mature bucks. Young bucks will often commit (1-3 year olds) but mature ones are smart. I've killed a couple of mature ones I called in and been darn close on others, but conditions have to be perfect and calculated usually. Probably not terribly practical for hike in mountain hunting, but a decoy can really help address this issue by getting them to focus on the decoy and guiding them away from your wind.

Good luck going back at him!