Your best whitetail hunt?

[Nocturnal]

Seeing as we have some of the best whitetail hunters in the country on this one forum. I think it would be cool to hear your most memorable hunt, a hunt you will carry to the end. Mentioning your state, the date, and year would be nice too.

[SRWbowhunter]

Good idea for a topic I think. Guess I'll start. Every deer I've killed has been special to me from my biggest buck to the doe fawn which was my first deer so it's hard to choose one but I'll go with my 2015 buck. He's not the biggest buck I've shot but one of my better ones and images from that morning will be burned in my memory forever. November 14th I shot him with my bow on our land in northern Wisconsin. No cropland within miles all big woods. My dad bought the property in the 80s and I've been going up there my whole life. From the time I was a little kid going out with my dad just to watch because I wasn't old enough to shoot I wanted to kill a big buck up there. Took me 7 seasons to get it done and my uncle and dad were both there for the track job and recovery. Perfect heart shot and an easy blood trail. I hunted hard all season to that point not just up there but at home and other parts of the state without much success. All summer and fall we had cameras out and only had two nice bucks the entire time and nether were super regular. Due to that the expectation of killing a big buck was not super high. He was the only deer seen that weekend between the 3 of us. Meant a lot to me to take that deer on such a beautiful morning and to have family there to celebrate with just added to it.

[cbay]

I've had a lot of memorable hunts, a few of them successful as in killing bucks, but last year was definitely one to remember. Even though it's always the goal, it's rare when everything goes exactly as planned. Nov. 8th this last season i was lucky enough for this to happen. My best spot, prime rut, first time in, and within 100 yards of bedding.
Still on cloud nine over the whole experience. Can't help but think often about how lucky i was for everything to line up just right. Having said that, i've been at this long enough to know it's about making odds. Continue to do as many right things as possible as often as possible and eventually things happen. It just so happens i got lucky enough to have the one i was hoping to catch up with follow the script. He took his time grunting and scent checking as he made his way towards me. Didn't think i'd be able to get an arrow to him through the cedars but somehow it worked out.
Lots of great hunts with most not killing anything, but this one is still fresh in my mind.

[stash59]

The next one I get to go on!!!!!

[Dewey]

I will have a hard time ever topping this hunt. No doubt ranks as my best whitetail hunt ever. 11/5/2014 WI

viewtopic.php?f=287&t=27571

[Kraftd]

I will have a hard time ever topping this hunt. No doubt ranks as my best whitetail hunt ever. 11/5/2014 WI

viewtopic.php?f=287&t=27571

I remember following along on the live from the field for that one! Good stuff.

For me my most memorable hunt was probably 2007, sat a funnel all day and saw double digit bucks, including a couple of good ones. Had two little guys fighting in front of me, saw some hard chasing, pretty much everything you would want out of a rut hunt all in one day. Ended up shooting a 2.5 year old 9 right at closing. Was up for our annual rut hunt at the cabin with my dad, a good buddy of his from the Marines, and a buddy of mine. Fun drag, good night of celebration complete with tenderloins, and my buddy almost got a shot at 145 10 out of the same tree the next morning too. Also went back to grab a stand the next afternoon, and there were 12 eagles on my gutpile, which was pretty cool to walk up to. Now I'd have probably let the one I shot go and been back myself the next day, but not sure the way it worked out wasn't better.

[Stanley]

Great topic for discussion. My most memorable and my favorite buck, is one that is far from my biggest or best scoring buck.

It was 1978 I had knocked on 3 doors to get permission to hunt. I got permission on all 3. One particular farm was owned by 2 bachelors, Lester and his brother Harlem. They were let's say a different twosome. They both liked to pop the cork and did so with regularity.

I told Lester, “he was the brains of the operation”, I would get him a nice flashlight for letting me hunt there. He said please don't, but he would greatly appreciate it, if I would slide a case of beer on his porch every so often, so I did.

I hunted Lester's farm for about 5 years. He eventually lost the farm in a civil suit. He was driving drunk and caused an accident. Lester and his brother were always feeling pretty good when I would stop and talk to them after hunting.

They fell off their milking stools more than once while talking to them. Lester gave me run of the place as long as I closed all the gates. The beer didn't hurt our relationship either. Lester always told me "if I ever killed a deer to bury the guts and don't tell nobody, don't even tell me".

I only ever killed one buck on Lester's place:

In 1980 I had hunted every day of the deer season. Back then deer season started around the 12th of October and ended around the first of December. I killed this buck on the second to last day of the season. I was totally burned out, back then I hadn't figured out how to pace myself. The next year(1981) I killed a good buck opening day, you just never know.

I had hunted every morning and every evening. On this hunt I climbed into a tree, no stand just stood on a branch. Buck came by the tree and I stuck him through the heart. The area was loaded up with fresh rubs and that is why I hunted this spot.

I think persistence more than anything got me this buck. Like I said this is my most favorite hunt/buck for many reasons. Both Lester and Harlem are dead and gone. Been 35 years since I hunted that farm. I killed this buck Beast style before I even ever heard about Beast style.

I think about that hunt quite often. Many good memories are a bi product of that hunt. I did show the buck to Lester and he was tickled pink I killed the buck on his property. Buck didn't come close to P&Y minimum and weighed right at 200 lbs dressed. Back then my goal was P&Y.



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