Kill them when you find them

[tduke]

Buddy of mine found this buck when he was hunting with a first time hunter on opening day. They tried to get on him but lost him as they got closer to where they had seen him. After they couldn’t find the buck they decided that hiking a buck out of there wouldn’t be a good experience for the hunter (thank goodness) , he messaged me and told me it’d be a buck worth chasing. He mentioned that coming in the morning would be a good move! I said if you’re leaving him I’m going in right now! My dad also thought a morning play would be good but i knew this buck had to be right there and ya gotta kill them when you find them. After a little convincing, me and my dad hiked 6 miles in and started to work slowly down where my buddy had first seen the “big buck” (we didn’t know if it was even big with no footage but I trust my buddy) At about 5:30 pm I spotted him feeding in open daylight and as soon as I got my spotter on him I recognized as the double eye guard buck I got a few trail cam pics of in June! After losing him and finding him back in his bed I was able to touch a few rounds off and kill my biggest buck to date. Shoutout to Robby for the multiple times he’s mentioned “kill them when you find them”, it really did make a difference in my mind set and proved to be a key in killing this buck! Im curious as to if anyone has stories where they decided to wait til the morning and regretted it. I know sometimes it can be better to wait, but in this case it was worth the evening chase!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sweet story. I do agree with you, lots of variables and sometimes you've got to trust your gut and get it done when the opportunity presents itself. This last fall the first buck we spotted was one that we passed, it was getting dark and it was the first buck we had seen on the trip so we took video and left him. Watching the video that night I knew it was a mistake. Took several more hunts to make it happen, I'm glad we ended up getting him in the end.

 

[Matt5266]

Nice deer! So you had trail pics in June and killed him when? October? How far away had he traveled when you killed him from where you had the pics of him in June?

 

[huntnful]

I always try to kill them ASAP. I’ve seen a big buck and hiked 5 hours over to where he was, relocated him, and killed him the same day. But I’m rifle hunting. Archery needs more things to align which may not be ASAP on the day you find them.

 

[tduke]

Nice deer! So you had trail pics in June and killed him when? October? How far away had he traveled when you killed him from where you had the pics of him in June?

Yeah killed him opening day Oct 18th. He was just over .9 miles line distance on onx and in a completely different drainage that I wouldn’t have thought he’d end up in. Kinda in the open and pretty glassable from a few spots funny how it plays out perfect sometimes

 

[Mountain_Life]

I found a hillside with some decent bucks a few days before season in Colorado. The problem is that the hillside was right behind a large parking/camping spot. I left them to find other deer. Stopped back a few days after season opened when my morning spot was a bust. Glassed up a nice buck feeding towards cover 900 yards from the empty campers. A quick stalk and I was packing him down the hill when the hunters returned to camp for lunch empty handed. They are where you find them.

 

[Smokey Bear]

Well done! Thanks for sharing. On top of that you were able to have a great experience out with dad!

 

[Matt5266]

Yeah killed him opening day Oct 18th. He was just over .9 miles line distance on onx and in a completely different drainage that I wouldn’t have thought he’d end up in. Kinda in the open and pretty glassable from a few spots funny how it plays out perfect sometimes

Cool thanks for sharing! Im always curious to see what some of these deer do