Your biggest/best buck?

[flathead willie]

How did you take your biggest deer? I got my biggest by still hunting/stalking, and had never seem him before. It was in a pouring rain. I had been slipping through about 50 acres of real dense pine thicket that sits between a hayfield and the hardwoods that I had several stands in. The pines were so thick that in most places, you would have to get on a knee and look under them. It was 11:30am, and I had spent two hours crawling through the thicket and hadn't seen anything. I had a stand about 20 yards away from where the thicket ended, at the crest of a hill, on a very small power line. There were a few scrapes in the power line, so I was headed there to see if they had been freshened. I crawled out of the thicket on my hands and knees, stood up and took about three steps toward the stand. All of a sudden a huge buck stood up from behind a pile of brush that was stacked up at the edge of the power line. He was 10 yards away and staring right at me so all I could see was his head and neck. I knew I only had a second to do something before he would bolt. In one motion, I pulled the hammer back on my Marlin 30-30, swung it to my shoulder, and fired at the base of the neck. The buck spun around and disappeared over the hill in a flash, but I heard him crash no more than 20 yards away. I took one more step and a big doe jumped up from behind the brush pile where the buck had been, and took off down the power line. I ran up to the crest of the hill and saw the buck down less than 5 yards from my tree stand. The two deer had been bedded up right in front of the stand I had hunted earlier that morning! I freaked out when I saw the antlers. They stand up 24" above his head, and the back tines are 14" long. After 5 days of hanging in a cooler, he still dressed out 209#

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=17472&d=1162789184

I'd love to read the story of everyone's best buck. Did you know he was in the area? Were you in a stand, still hunting, drive, or like me, just plain luck?

[Mike81]

Mine was a respectable 8 point several years back, I was stalking slowy through and nice oak bottom close to dark. I saw a doe about 75 yds away moving through the bottom. I grabbed my grunt tube and grunted at her a few times to try and get her attention. Immediatly after I grunt I hear loud crashing and grunting from the creek she came from. Then I saw him coming, nice heavy rack, nose down grunting every step and coming straight at me. I leaned my .270 against a tree, steadied it up on him and when he stop about 40 yds away, let him have it..... Man that was fun!!! :wink::big_smile:

[johnliester]

6 years ago I was still hunting a creek that runs through a walk in hunting area. I hadn't even had a chance to scout as this was muzzleloader season. Back then I was a motel manager, which meant I was married to the place. Openeing day my girlfriend said"go, I'll watch the motel so off I went. Got to the spot and noticed not too may tracks at the start. I hadn't gone maybe a hundred yards when the call of nature hit me. I propped my gun against a tree and let it go. As I was relieving myself I hear a crunching sound not 50 feet away. I look down the creek bottom and there was the biggest whitetail buck I'd ever seen. Without thinking a grabbed my rifle and shot the deer in the shoulders, dropping him on the spot. I finished my business and walk up to a 21 point buck. This deer scored 186 5/8ths inches. 25 inch inside spread too!
My wife calls it my "Whiz Buck".

[katfish ken]

I hunt from a blind 90% of the time whether gun, bow, or crossbow hunting. The other 10% I'm stalking in to where i set up my blind. Hunting in the Appalachians I think is different to most places or maybe it's just that i hunt different .

[derbycitycatman]

My biggest buck is the one in my avatar, 10 point 174 b @ c. Was sitting in a tree stand and a doe slipped into view but I waited since she seemed on edge. A minute or so later out walks the big guy for a perfect broad side shot. Ive seen him a couple times before but usually in gun range when I was bow hunting. I thought I had a decent idea of his routine and it finally payed off.

My best buck was my first, a puny 7 point basket rack but I remember that first one like no other. My second year hunting and my first with a rifle. It had snowed that day on opening of gun season and my bald tires wouldnt make it up the hill so I walked up hill a half a mile.:wink: Seriously! I had put out some tinks 69 in an apple tree next to a pond. That first buck came out in a rush, he was sniffing and licking the air and thrashing the lower limbs of the tree with his rack. Once he decided there was no does he turned and trotted off. About three steps going away I took him. I still can remember that hunt like it was yesterday. It was also out of the same stand I took my largest buck.

[derbycitycatman]

I hunt from a blind 90% of the time whether gun, bow, or crossbow hunting. The other 10% I'm stalking in to where i set up my blind. Hunting in the Appalachians I think is different to most places or maybe it's just that i hunt different .

Im becoming a blind hunter myself. I see about the same amount of deer but I am 10 times more comfortable. Ill usually decide where Im hunting based on the weather. If its cold and windy IM in the blind, if its nice Im in a tree, when Im bored im stalking. If its real cold and real windy Im at home.

[CountryHart]

Last year due to a late freeze, the timber leafed out twice here. Only time in my life i ever seen that happen. Anyway i had a bow stand that i had seen a really nice 8 pt. from and several smaller bucks and doe. I get in tree before daylite opening day of rifle season last year, and the woods came alive with shooting. I set and set,,,notta thing. I couldn't believe this cause i had been seein deer every day i hunted this stand. I get down and move 150 yds. thinkin i could see better because of all the folage. Talk myself an hour later to get back in tree.:confused2: It's gettin late and shooting has stopped. I get down and walk out beside the pasture hoping to see something. A few minutes pass and i see a 8pt. coming across the field and when i get the rifle on him, see big boi behind him. Let them get past me cause they are too far. Luckly for me the big one turned and came back across. Still to far but i took a cut anyway heading straight away. Crosshairs on back of head and hit very end of spine at hips. It was 15 pt. and officially scored 164 5/8.I'll get pics or link later tonite of it. Gotta get to work.:wink:

[baitchunker]

billie, you left out freak accident. good luck. and lightning strikes. not to mention bad brakes on my truck. lol.


my best was still hunting. i was 18. single, living alone, and all i did was work, hunt, fish, and chase women. i was fortunate to rent a place that literally joined up with one of the 2 hunting clubs i was a member of that year. one day in december it was hot as hades. prolly around 80 degrees. i got bored and started walking towards one of my favorite stands. i got distracted along the way and hung a left into an old creek bottom that ran next to an old railroad bed that hadnt been used in 50 years. i really dont know what i was doing, but you cant really call it hunting. i was mostly looking for old railroad spikes to use for weights on my trotlines. every few yards or so i would pick up a piece of rock and chunk it out into the bushes out of restlesness. you know just being a typical dum-dum. i even pushed over a few rotten pine stumps looking for lighter knot. only by some miracle did i have my rifle with me, which i was starting to regret. it felt like it weighed 50#'s and was really screwing up my throwing motion.

i was gonna throw another rock into the thick stuff when i heard something behind me on the railroad bed. i turned around and there he was standing there maybe 60 ft. away with this look in his eyes like "really kid? im trying to take a nap." it was a pretty nice little 8 point. about an 18" spread, close to 200#'s not a bad deer for my neck of the woods.

it still blows my mind the way that deer just stood there while i raised my rifle up and shot him. almost like he was commiting suicide just to make me happy.

[TheRiverRat]

my biggest buck is a mere 8 pointer (shotgun mossberg 500a) but my dad killed a 13 point typicol boone and crocket that scored 174 gross!!!! (shotgun rem. 870 express)

[katfish ken]

Here is a link to a page on another thread that has a pic of some deer I've killed. All of them have been taken while on the ground.

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94690&highlight=trophy&page=134
Ground blinds are a very effective way to hunt.

[Kansas Tree Rat]

My best deer is the one in my avatar. He scored 161 and weighted apx. 200#. I was hunting a new property and had spent a lot of time looking at aerial photos but had only been in to hunt twice. The second time in I found a HUGE scrape that had been used for years, it went completely around a small oak tree and was 3-4 inches deep. It was in the corner of a hay meadow along the edge of a deep wooded draw. I found a tree at the head of a small ravine coming up out of the main draw about 100 yards from the scrape on the edge of the meadow. The wind was not right to hunt it that evening so I just cleared a few limbs and hunted another stand that night.
I had taken the first week of November off of work which is about the peak of the pre rut here in Kansas and the time of year that the bucks are doing the most traveling. The next time I went in the wind was right so I headed to the big scrape. I had headed in early and was planning on setting all afternoon. I had been in the stand for about three hours and was standing up looking down into the draw when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye in the meadow behind me. There was a buck crossing behind me headed for the scrape. I was kind of freaked because he was going to walk down wind and I did not even have my bow in my hand yet. He was moving at a pretty fast pace and went right on by without ever catching my wind. All this time I am getting my bow ready and trying to figure out if he is a shooter or not.
I have killed 3 deer in the 140 class and was planning on holding out for something bigger this year (in Kansas You are only allowed one buck per year). As I came to full draw I grunted and he stopped at about 25 yards. I was still not sure what he would score but was very impressed with his mass so I let fly. The shot was good and he was stumbling before he got to the timber and I could hear him crashing all the way to the bottom of the draw (I never get lucky and have them run up hill...lol). I had thought he was an 8pt. but turned out he was a 10 and every massive.
Moral of the story: Use aerial photos to learn the area first. Never hunt a stand if the wind is not right. Bucks can come from anywhere. Sometimes they smell you and sometimes they don’t (I was wearing scent lock and go to great lengths to control odor). You can’t shoot a big one if you have already put your only tag on a small one.

[channelkatman]

heres my biggest buck dont know if anyones got a bigger un. if you do lets see it!!!

[Kansas Tree Rat]

heres my biggest buck dont know if anyones got a bigger un. if you do lets see it!!!
Donnie that thing is ALMOST as much of a freak as you are...lol.

[katfish ken]

heres my biggest buck dont know if anyones got a bigger un. if you do lets see it!!!

They say ever things bigger in Texas. I want see'em cap that one

[bownero]

My best buck is my first buck with bow. I was hunting in Iowa with my cousin. It was a very cold windy day and we decided to spot and stalk, because of the weather conditions. With minimal success seeing deer, we decided to walk back to my uncle's property. Suddenly my cousin said get down. He spotted a buck coming down this ridge. He looked like a decent buck from a distance. We waited for the buck to come closer and he jumped a fence and stood on top of a terrace in a soybean field. I stood up and took the shot. The arrow passed through the buck. A heart shot and we watched in amazement when the buck crashed 67 yds. away. He is a typical 9 point in velvet! Shot him November 7, 2000. I had him mounted and I remember it like it was yesterday!

Definently my most memorable hunt!! My best buck to me.
Biggest buck was shot in Nebraska this year. It is an 8 point that scores in the mid 120's. It's the buck in my avatar.

[flathead willie]

I'm surprised that so many are from the ground, while still hunting so far. I would have thought most would be from tree stands. :confused2:

[CNTRYBOY]

Billie - My best buck to date came on Nov. 8 , 2008 of this year. I had hunted opening morning on my stand behind the house on my property that borders the hunting lease. After hunting all morning without seeing anything I decided to head to the house. After getting a bite to eat and resting a while, I decided to get a few things done around the house.

I decided to hunt that evening again, but in sa different location. I have permmission to hunt the neighbors property that joins mine. I have taken several deers from his property before. It is only hunted by me for the most part and is kinda a spot for the deer to go when the hunting pressure starts from the lease around us.

Back in the early fall I had found a good trail while squrrel hunting. There is a old grown up field with a mix of pine and hardwoods and a spring feed creek between the field and my place. So, i hung my climber in the hardwoods just off the edge of the trail coming out of the creek and the thickets. I climbeb up about 20 feet and seattled in.

There was only about a hour of daylight left before dark. After about 30 minutes in the stand the wind calmed down and the sun started to set for the evening. It was then that a doe steped out of the thickets headed towards the field. I shouldered my rifle and got her in my sights. It was then that I noticed movement to my right. When I looked a little closer I noticed the movement was antlers. I held my gun steady and left the crosshairs in the same spot. The buck was on the does trail and following her path that lead him right into my sights. When I shot him the doe ran right at me and i could have took her too but let her walk.

I ended up with a 9 point buck. He is currently at the taxidermist awaiting to be mounted.

[katfish ken]

Im becoming a blind hunter myself. I see about the same amount of deer but I am 10 times more comfortable. Ill usually decide where Im hunting based on the weather. If its cold and windy IM in the blind, if its nice Im in a tree, when Im bored im stalking. If its real cold and real windy Im at home.

Well I've done the stalking thing. The tree thing and the stay at home thing. and Started the blind thing.
I first started hunting I did a lot of stalk hunting and took my share of deer. as time went on my knees started hurting from arthritis and I did the tree stand thing for a while ,still taking an occasional stalk,
One Christmas someone got me a bundle of the burlap blind material. I started thinking of ways to utilize the knowledge I had gained from all my stalking and tree stand hunting with the blind material in the picture.
Now my back has been blow out after many years at work I spend most of my time in a blind It seams as though I am seeing as many good deer if not better quality ones than from any of the other hunting methods I have used.
As I get older and I am learning better to utilize the mountainous terrain that I hunt to my advantage. If positioned properly in mountainous terrain you are elevated higher than you could ever get in a tree short of being a squirrel. Being elevated that much in a blind can be sorta like sitting at home in my easy chair.

[psychomekanik]

I shot my biggest buck to date the other day. He was a very heavy 10-12 point. Unfortuneately I lost him. I was in my spot hunting for a very large main frame 8 point I've been watching. A few days prior, I boogered a shot on him. He came in too fast and was standing 5 yards away from me watching a few does behind me. I was ready to draw, but could'nt without him making me. so, I waited for him to put his head down and start walking away. I could'nt get my bow pulled back before he got into the brush. A few days later I hunted the same area and he did the same thing. he walked in fast and stopped right under me. This time I was standing at full draw waiting for him to take one more step. He stopped right behind a small tree and stood there for several minutes. I leaned out to shoot around the tree he was behind and released. I centerpunched a tree limb. he run about 20 yards and stopped giving me a broadside shot. I nocked, drew back and released. This time the lower cam on my bow hit my treestand and about knocked my bow out of my hand. It was just after 4:00 and with less than an hour left of daylight, and me totally disgusted, I came down, packed up and left. I did'nt make it 50 yards and seen a monster 160-170 incher chasing a doe on top of the hillside I was going to climb to leave. The doe kept running over the hill to my left. He followed. I THOUGHT! I walked a little bit more and when I came to the base of the hillside I saw him standing 30 yards away looking right at me. I dont think he knew I was human. at that moment it started snowing really hard. He let me knock an arrow, draw back and put my pin on him. I released and the arrow, hit good. right behind the shoulder. It might have been a little high, and the deer was quartering away, and elevated slightly from my position. The arrow went in and sunk into the opposing shoulder. Defenitely at least a single lung hit. It quit snowing after about 10 minutes and was supposed to be clear that night, so I waited for morning to look for him. We found the blood trail and followed it. There was'nt much blood to follow. The blood we found was dark red, but scarce. He never shook the arrow. Well, he eventually came to an old grown up crp field, and we lost the trail from there. In 2 days we searched a total of about 12-13 hours or more. There's just too many ravines, and hollers to know where he might have went. I'm sure he's not too much farther from the field where we last found blood. Maybe I'll still find him as I hunt a lot in that area. I figured out why the situation played out as it did. I was using an aftershock broadhead. These broadheads dont open until the blades are fully penetrated. They have a "t" formed at the base of the blades that open them after penetration. But, with the broadhead sunk in bone on the inside, and the entrance wound only the size of the arrow. he did'nt bleed much outside of his body. I pride myself on taking good shots, and usually watching the deer go down. But, I've had so much shitty luck this year I don't know what to expect. I'm still sickened at the thought of a trophy that size sitting in a ravine somewhere being eaten by coyotes.

[whisker maniac]

My best buck was my first buck. He was a ten pointer with the main beams coming so close that I couldn't get my fist between the two tips.

This picture of him is really just his horns. I decided to try my hand at taxidermy and a friend of mine shot a 5 pt buck and gave me the head to practice on. I still had the horns from my first buck and decided to have some fun. So, I took the horns from my first deer that I just had on a plaque and put them on the head of the five pointer.:ooooh::big_smile:

[whisker maniac]

Here is a better picture of it.

[VaFisherMan]

I got my biggest buck on November 7th of this year. The property I was hunting is about half bean field and half woods. There's a swamp that borders the back half of the property. The wind is usually wrong for the place and I always have deer wind me and spook so I set up a little bit different than usual. My new spot was about 200 yards to the east of where I usually get, as to try and stay downwind of any approaching deer. About half an hour into the evening hunt two does came crashing out of the swamp and up a hill at an angle about 80 to 100 yards in front of me. Next, I hear a grunt and see a third deer about 40 yards behind the first two which have already disappeared over the hill. Although I didn't see a rack on the third deer due to the distance and thickness of the woods, I could tell it was a bigger bodied deer. The three deer went out of hearing but within 5 minutes I could hear them coming back from my left just over the hill. Next thing I know a herd of deer came running over the hill straight towards me. My brains was going doe...doe...doe...doe...BUCK! I put the crosshairs of my knight on his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. He took off but crashed 50 yards away. I have to admit, there was some ground shrinkage, but not too much. He's an 8 pointer and I green scored him at 135. He's got good mass and tine length.

[john catfish young]

I shot and killed my biggest buck ever in the 2005 season. During the rut in November while hunting on the ground with my back to a big Oak tree. I was overlooking a bedding area that is heavily used in cold and rainy weather. I heard a crunch in the thicket, but was unable to see anything. I took out my grunt tube and gave one short grunt. A huge buck exploded only 30 yards away and I saw him as he ran out into a clearing and stopped broadside at 75 yards. The cross threads was on him and I pulled the trigger. He dropped in his tracks with one shot from my 30-06. He was a huge 8 pointer with great mass and beautiful long tines with a chocolate colored rack. He weighed 214 lbs feild dressed!!!!:cool2:

[Snagged2]

I think it was 1997, I was hunting Mule deer here in AZ, I'd been hunting for about 5 days and the previous night I put a herd to bed, saw a small buck amongst them, The next morning I went out for them and found them, I was sitting on a hillside, glassing an opposing hillside, saw and shot a nice 4X4 (10 pt for you eastern folks!) mature buck while he was grazing, at 300 yds, He was an older fellow as he was greying around his face, his teeth were wore down to the gum line, and his hooves looked like a curled up old pair of cowboy boots,,, he was more than likely going into his last winter. The area he lived had a lot of acorns for them to eat, and he was real good eating.:wink:

Best whitetail was in Texas, I shot a 3X3 (8 pt) buck with my 4" .44 S&W at about 75 yds. Sometime around Thanksgiving 1998.

[plainsman]

I got my biggest buck this year. Couple years ago I got a 6 pt basket but reallly a small buck. This year I got a 4 pt but it was a nice rack and probably the heaviest I've ever shot. I was doing some shooting a week before I went hunting and noticed my eye didn't pick up a target too well so I was using a Rem 700, 30-06 with a 2.5 - 7 power scope. I had just taken it to the range and sighted it in a week before, good thing too, it was shooting about 14 inches high and left at 100 yds.

This year I spent more time than ever sitting in one spot but nothing was moving so on this particular day I was walking around and decided to follow some tracks to see where they headed. They headed into a bog and I followed until I ran into a trail out there and somehow got turned around and ended up a couple hundred yards from where I went in. I came out and was sitting on a log and determined it was time to eat lunch and take a nap. I found a comfortable spot where I had some open area in front of me to look at. I just finished eating a couple of smoked bratwursts and was setting the bag down when I noticed a gray shadow moving thru the woods in front of me. I had to blink, but I got my rifle and put the scope on it, then it went behind some brush and when it came out I made sure it was a deer and I would be able to find it if I hit it. I shot once and it disappeared. I shot a azimuth with my compas and went out there, I went back and started again, and about that time a couple others I was hunting with came by so I went back to where I shot from and directed them to the spot to look for tracks and blood. They found it between a log and a tree, I was amazed it was a buck, I didn't notice any antlers at that range. The bullet hit him in the ribs and backbone so he didn't go anywhere. It was a Sunday, it seems always my lucky day.

[Slime of the South]

10 pointer about 140 B&C. Seen several bigger ones.

[mariofish]

nice buck good job:big_smile:

[TheRiverRat]

8 pter

[john catfish young]

While hunting with my son under a big oak tree overlooking a thicket...this buck responded to a grunt tube by bursting out of the thicket and running and stopping broadside at 75 yrds. The moment he stopped...he was on the ground with 1 shot from my 30-06 (150 gr.sp.):big_smile:

[bklinds]

My biggest Buck ever I shot last thursday night. I was sitting in my ground blind watching a feeder when he snuck up behind me. He was about 15yards from my blind when I spotted him and looking right towards it. I waited until he turned his head and snick the gun out the window. Right after that he put his head back up, but it was too late. He wasa Large eight point just because he had broken his brow tines off.

I will post some pics this week.

[Bill in SC]

Mine was a 183# 8 point buck killed with a shotgun while dog driving. The buck was "slipping out", way away from the dogs. I never did a lot of deer hunting. The only other buck I killed while rabbit hunting. The beagles jumped the deer, and I put two buckshot shells in my Franchii Falconet over/under. I jumped in the truck and went to the spot where they usually cross the road. When the deer got there, he leaped, and I missed him clean the first shot. My second one rolled him though, but I digress. :wink:

Bill in SC

[riverdawg-1]

my biggest buck was a 150 class 10 pointer i killed 7 or 8 years ago. i got into the woods late after work and didn't have time to make it to my treestand so i wasitting on a tall stump in the middle of some thick cutover. i could only see about 30 yards around me but it was calm and i could hear very well. after about 30 minutes i heard a deer coming over the ridge above me, by the time i stood up on the stump all i saw was the rear end of a doe. about then i heard another deer coming the same way. dropped him in his tracks at about 80 yards with an old win 30-30.
chip

[Kip Brandel]

Mine was the 10 point in my pics. I totally missed it coming to me in a sleet storm and it got under the stand and laid down. I almost climbed down on top of it before I noticed it. It stood up and I could have dropped about 2 feet to it's back like a horse. I shot it with my 45acp at a couple of feet and it never moved. I field dressed it and left it. That is why it's legs look weird in the pic, it is still almost frozen solid and it took a week for it to thaw to finish cleaning it.