tmule88
Member
The story starts in the summer of 2016 when a nice 8 pointer showed up on camera. I guessed he was 4.5 and knew that he would get a pass if given the opportunity. After missing bow season due to an ankle injury it was now LM season and I had seen the big 8 on a local food source several times.
March came around and I picked up his right side in a well known bedding area.
The summer of 2017 I had high hopes what this deer might turn in to. The first card pull of the year he showed up still supporting his 8 point frame but put on lots of mass and some height as well.
I had a couple encounters with him while bow hunting during the rut but really focused my efforts on a different farm chasing other deer. Christmas day I hung a camera on the same food source as the previous year and it didn't take long for him to show up in daylight.
On the evening of January 4th the wind was right to hunt this food source and deer began to pour into the field. An hour before dark, he stepped out at 51 yards. I shot and after the smoke cleared I thought I could see him running down the field edge and into the timber. I gave him some time and went to look for blood. I never found a drop and was baffled how I could of missed a perfectly broadside deer with my muzzleloader at 51 yards. I continued to hunt the farm and run cameras with no sightings or pictures of the big 8. Wednesday January 10th I decided to go in and search once again the area I thought the big 8 may have headed. Two steps into the timber and there he was 25 yards from where I pulled the trigger on him. The deer I saw running the opposite direction was evidently a different buck. Lesson learned! Disappointed I didn't find him sooner I am fortunate that I was able to lay my hands on his antlers and close the chapter of The Big 8.
March came around and I picked up his right side in a well known bedding area.
The summer of 2017 I had high hopes what this deer might turn in to. The first card pull of the year he showed up still supporting his 8 point frame but put on lots of mass and some height as well.
I had a couple encounters with him while bow hunting during the rut but really focused my efforts on a different farm chasing other deer. Christmas day I hung a camera on the same food source as the previous year and it didn't take long for him to show up in daylight.
On the evening of January 4th the wind was right to hunt this food source and deer began to pour into the field. An hour before dark, he stepped out at 51 yards. I shot and after the smoke cleared I thought I could see him running down the field edge and into the timber. I gave him some time and went to look for blood. I never found a drop and was baffled how I could of missed a perfectly broadside deer with my muzzleloader at 51 yards. I continued to hunt the farm and run cameras with no sightings or pictures of the big 8. Wednesday January 10th I decided to go in and search once again the area I thought the big 8 may have headed. Two steps into the timber and there he was 25 yards from where I pulled the trigger on him. The deer I saw running the opposite direction was evidently a different buck. Lesson learned! Disappointed I didn't find him sooner I am fortunate that I was able to lay my hands on his antlers and close the chapter of The Big 8.
