Danny filmed this buck in Kansas one afternoon last fall…at 600 yards. When you see that much rack (esp. G-4s) from that far away you know it’s a big deer. Second I saw him I hissed, “170!” And look how long his body is. Sometimes a buck’s huge size can make his rack look even smaller than it is.
Back at the camp house that night I told the landowner I had seen a Boone and Crockett, or close to it. “Why didn’t you shoot?” he asked.
“Six hundred is too far for me, and especially on TV,” I said.
“Aw, you could have gotten him,” he growled.
And I could have missed…or worse.
Most hunters will never get the opportunity to see a B&C class buck in the wild, much less shoot at one. If and when that happens, the urge might be to take a Hail Mary at long range. Would you have tried it?
I get the opportunity to hunt good places, and that buck was the biggest I’d seen in the last 3-4 years. But I was comfortable with my decision to pass then, and even more so now.
More frustrating was that the giant walked into those trees less than 200 yards away from the stand I had hunted that morning! Had I not moved stands for the evening hunt, you never know…
That buck was never shot last season far as we know. You’ll see this great deer and the encounter on a new episode of BIG DEER TV on Sportsman Channel this fall.
No way at 600….What a lot to ache for until the next season, especially if you get any camera shots. Who could sleep on that till the opener?
No reason for a Hail Mary, Mike. You’re an accomplished hunter with tons of big bucks to your credit. The fact that you passed when many “hunters” would’ve tried is one of the reasons I believe you and your show stand out. You did the right thing. You live to hunt another day. Who knows, maybe you’ll go back to that same spot and get to kill that buck with a bit more growth. How cool would that be?