Ground Growage buck

[nphunter]

Killed a buck about a week ago. I sat 30 yards above him on a cliff staring at him and videoing him before finally deciding to kill him. He was a much nicer deer than I first thought. At first I was thinking he’s 140’s, looking though my NL’s at 30 he looked bigger than the video, I could tell his bases were heavier than the video showed so I decided to kill him.

I was thankful he didn’t break after rolling almost 200 yards down the mountain.

In the end I’m glad I killed him, he was probably 5.5ish, big body on him and scored 160” even with the short G2’s.

 

[StupidLightweight]

Great buck and cool photos. That must have been a fun hunt!

 

[nphunter]

Great buck and cool photos. That must have been a fun hunt!

It didn’t start as a mule deer hunt. I was actually sending a pic of a bull I was watching to my buddy to verify if he was a shooter or not. I was on the phone when I spotted the bucks through my spotter and figured I’d stalk him and see what he was.

I decided to pass the bull that day and hunt the deer.


Crappy deer pic, it was mid day. The buck I killed is just below center of the pic. His buddy was against the cliff I stalked in on.

 

[ReddingArcher]

Nice buck!

 

[Hnthrdr]

Dang nice buck man, how long were you above him before you shot? That first pic with his ears up he doesn’t look anything special (guessing it’s the angle) but he is a heck of a buck!

 

[nphunter]

Dang nice buck man, how long were you above him before you shot? That first pic with his ears up he doesn’t look anything special (guessing it’s the angle) but he is a heck of a buck!

30 minutes sitting 30 yards away, he had no clue I was there, he didn’t even look at me when I drew.

Couldn’t make up my mind, I agree he looks small in the videos I was taking too. I almost passed him up but glad I didn’t.

 

[robby denning]

good job man, so educational to be that close to them in their beds, see how they live.

Did you shoot him in his bed?

 

[nphunter]

good job man, so educational to be that close to them in their beds, see how they live.

Did you shoot him in his bed?

Yes, as steep of a hill as he was on he would have stood parallel to the cliff and I wouldn’t have had an angle. He was looking downhill and I told myself I’d I draw super slow and if he doesn’t look I’d put it through his neck and into his vitals, if he looked I’d have to let down. He didn’t look and never knew I was there.

 

[huntsd]

Very cool. You are right that first picture is deceiving

 

[StupidLightweight]

Angles can be deceiving. I once drew a limited entry archery mule deer tag in southeast Idaho. While walking along a well-worn game trail linking two patches of timber, I came upon a mulie buck bedded at 40 yards, staring at me. He was narrow, so I didn't entertain shooting him. How close could I get?

The first step, he never budged. Same with steps three through five. When I got to 35 yards, he still hadn't even blinked. I knocked an arrow and thought long and hard about smoking him. Again, he was just too narrow, so I took another step.

Once I crossed this invisible line, he whirled out of there at warp speed. As I watched the blur of deer hide and antlers swap ends in a millisecond, I realized he was far bigger than I thought. Despite his narrow rack, he had deep forks front and back and tall antlers, likely a 165- to 175-class buck. This encounter taught me to never judge an animal when by just one angle.