The Ones that got away. 2020

[GoatBoat218]

As this season comes to a close I find comfort in the idea that I am not the only one who didn't get the big one they laid eyes on for a brief second or put many hours into putting on the ground. I think it will be fun for many of us to share photos or stories of the animals that we stayed up and lost sleep over thinking about. I'll go first.

 

[Fatcamp]

Not willing to admit defeat.

Still have two days I could hunt.

I'll probably be back.

 

[GoatBoat218]

N

Not willing to admit defeat.

Still have two days I could hunt.

I'll probably be back.

NEVER SURRENDER !

 

[bbrown]

 

[Geewhiz]

View attachment 238615View attachment 238619View attachment 238620

Dat ass

 

[HuntInWild88]

Some how screwed up a 36yard shot on this bull.....he would have been my first....he will always have a piece of my heart...

 

[stonewall]

Ugh. I’ve lost sleep over a buck here. Never have I wanted want one so bad. Even had a dream about it the other day, woke up only to be disappointed. I’m guessing now that rifle season has been open a month he’s in someone else’s freezer. I’m not giving up yet and I’m looking to buy a muzzleloader in hopes he may still be with us. But nevertheless the goal was to get him during archery and I’ve been quite upset about it

 

[Jaker_cc]

I’ll never be the same again. Got to 90 yards and never had a chance

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[willfrye027]

Had him at 60 yards, bedded. Jumped the string and was standing in his bed as the arrow hit between his legs in the dirt. Hunted 7 days for him with the gun but never saw him again.

 

[Benincanada]

Missed thig guy.... twice.... in the same day
First time at 45 yards after creeping through swathed canola for 3 hours and having him and his buddies bedded for another hour

The second time at 55, just got out of his bed to go feed for the night.....

Every other time we found him was on land we didn't have permission on

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

 

[313hunter]

Painful memories...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ctitus25]

Shot a nice bull on the last day of my NM archer elk hunt. Hit shoulder and never saw him again

 

[Rogueworrior]

I’ll never be the same again. Got to 90 yards and never had a chance

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dang!

 

[Rogueworrior]

As this season comes to a close I find comfort in the idea that I am not the only one who didn't get the big one they laid eyes on for a brief second or put many hours into putting on the ground. I think it will be fun for many of us to share photos or stories of the animals that we stayed up and lost sleep over thinking about. I'll go first.
View attachment 238591View attachment 238592View attachment 238593

man this hurts!

 

[Squamch]

My dependable spots got super locked down this year. New gates with new locks. I still have cameras 25km behind one of the new gates. I'll try to get out to it next summer when the river is low enough to cross again.

What I'm saying is, everything got away this year.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Life would be less satisfying if we were always satisfied. Wanting it bad is part of the fun, no matter what it is your are pursuing. Doesn’t seem like fun at the time though. Tragedy +time = comedy.

I don’t have any pics, since my camera tends to stay in my pocket until there’s one on the ground. About 25 years ago I was hunting with a buddy in NV’s Ruby Mountains. About 8 am, He had a smallish buck in his sights at about 180 yards. Unbeknownst to us this buck was just one of a large bachelor herd. (This was before I learned how to glass properly). He missed the shot, but the bang got that herd up and running in a flash. There were bucks running every which way... at least eight maybe more. Then they got kind of organized and formed a rough line headed down the ridge away from us. Racks of all sizes were bobbing up and down and cream colored rumps weaving as the parade left town. One guy in particular stood out in a bunch that had a couple other very good bucks in it. Tall, stained, and thick his rack towered above his massive dark neck... an atypical with at least 12 points on a side. At about 600 yards a few of them stopped to look back as muleys will. None of the other racks were visible to the naked eye at that range except his. It still looked immense.

We of course spent the rest of the day trying to catch up to him but he didn’t get that big by being dumb or slow. I hunted that same ridge for years afterward and never saw him again.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

No pictures, but I saw a 350-360 class bull (and I’ve shot a 330” so I’m fairly confident in this guess) the first day out. An unfortunate timing because I flat out couldn’t climb the 3400’ of vertical to reach him. Oh I tried... my quads locked up so bad from lack of oxygen it was all I could do to hobble back down the mountain.

The next morning I bought in to the “bull in the hand is worth more than a monster on the mountain top” story. The rag horn I shot sure tastes good.

 

[toughluck]

He came running right under my stand chasing a spike off of his does on December 1st. I could not get him to stop. I shouldered my rifle but my scope was turned all the way up, a mistake that cost me this buck. Well above average buck for my area! Our season is open to the weekend after New Years Day but I will not be able to get back out until around Christmas.

 

[mtnkid85]

I watched a small band with at least two legal rams for two days leading up to the season opener. Night before the opener I counted no less than 11 other guys come up into the drainage! LOL, that was the last I saw of "my" sheep.

 

[callmebubba]

I didn’t take enough gun on my Utah hunt. This was first light, opening morning. Tried to move into position, someone else spooked him, he ran over the hill. We hoofed it as hard as we could and saw him again just in time for someone else to put him down.