Let’s hear your parking lot buck stories...

[perchsoup]

Saw a nice buck in a public land parking lot once. Asked the guy where he got it, he said about a 1/2 mile back on the oak ridge chasing a doe.

[PredatoronthePrairie]

Set up on private in Wis. just 75yards from a public parking lot.
Stand was 30 yards off my driveway and 100 yards from the road.

Some public hikers pull up, get out and start yapping up a storm in the lot. They set off down the trail an half a minute later a smallish 4x4 comes right from the thick stuff surrounding the lot.

Still mad at myself for passing that deer. Ended up moving not long after.

[Huntoholic]

My best example of a parking lot buck is on a base in North Carolina where I shot a nice 10 point about 30 yards behind the rifle range berm. This rifle range had about 10,000 shots taken on every day and this buck was bedded within 100 yards of the berm. There was a lot of hunting pressure on the base and I just thought that nobody else would bother Hunting so close to the range so why not give it a shot, my very first night hunting there he walks by At 20 yards right after sunset.

[NorthStar]

Not a parking lot but similar. I hunt a lot off an airboat, I have a particular spot I always sit as its more an observation stand but still a good set. Well I have witnessed deer feeding in my general direction when an airboat will be headed down the trail. These deer will simply lay down until the boat goes by and then stand back up like nothing was happening. What's also interesting there is a camp not terribly far from this area that is always in use during hunting season. You can hear the guys waking up and starting boats up deer just don’t care about them.

I was just down in the Everglades and I was looking out into the vast open areas....seemed overwhelming as a hunter. Do the deer bed on the hammocks or where do they go during the day? Do they have primary food sources down there or do they mainly browse on whatever is near?

[Jonny]

Passed up a shot on a doe because if my arrow didn’t stop in her, it was going to stop in the bumper of my truck 10 yards behind her. There were also 2 guys talking within 50 yards by their vehicles.

Also on more than one occasion have had a small buck cruise between me and the truck while I’m busy taking the browns to the super bowl. Usually a 911 so I’m lucky to make it to the first down log out of the lot. Never thought to take my bow with me to the brush pile. Never thought it would happen twice. Stupid spikes.

[Thesouthpaw]

I shined a 160 inch 10 point 30 yards from a public parking lot in Indiana. Absolute giant... The best part was that he literally just stood there and let me watch him for 2-3 minutes.

[Hambone79]

Not a parking lot but similar. I hunt a lot off an airboat, I have a particular spot I always sit as its more an observation stand but still a good set. Well I have witnessed deer feeding in my general direction when an airboat will be headed down the trail. These deer will simply lay down until the boat goes by and then stand back up like nothing was happening. What's also interesting there is a camp not terribly far from this area that is always in use during hunting season. You can hear the guys waking up and starting boats up deer just don’t care about them.

I was just down in the Everglades and I was looking out into the vast open areas....seemed overwhelming as a hunter. Do the deer bed on the hammocks or where do they go during the day? Do they have primary food sources down there or do they mainly browse on whatever is near?

They do bed on the hammocks and the levy systems. Most of the actual glades have been closed during hunting season now. Claim due to high water but its almost not worth hunting in the glades much anymore.

[LukeTM]

I found a carcass of a 140-150s buck last week on a highly pressured piece. He was dead in his bed which was 100 yards from a parking area just about straight up hill. Now that I know the secret, If one mature buck used it, hopefully more will.

[Manitoba derek]

My MB buck this year was shot 50 yards from where everyone parks and sights in there rifles in this one area. I could hear guys talking we’ll sighting in 2 days before rifle season. I got the whole story in the essay thread. Either way knocked down a 126” 2/8 typical right beside the parking lot with guys coming and going all day. I sat from dawn and shot at 4:30 ish

[Cutter]

There was a 150 class ten point that lived 100 yards across the main road from a parking lot. We hunted him for 2 years and couldn't kill him. This year he was gone so some one shot him or EHD killed him. We estimated him to be around 5 or 6 years old. History with that spot goes back 20 years when my dad hunted a huge non typical and shot right over his back. 4 years ago another hunter who was sleeping in his car around 8am shot a different 150 class 10pt that crossed the road into the woods near the parking lot. This year the big sign was gone, but there's sign of a younger buck that has taken over that area. I'll be hunting a parking lot buck again soon enough.