Ok I know this story isn’t about Bow hunting, but it is about Deer hunting and I believe bow hunters can relate.

About four years ago during shotgun season our hunting party wasn’t having a great season, but we did get a few deer. It was the second and last weekend of the season and I headed out to my stand. The tempture had dipped quite a bit below freezing the night before and it was still a bit chilly.

I was up in my stand, and fighting off sleep which usually happens to me by the second weekend. A couple of hours had passed and I didn’t see any movement, or hear any sounds. Not even a turkey or a squirrel made a peep that morning. I found it rather strange b/c normally the whole forest is alive by the time the sun is up.

I had an idea to keep my self awake, so I grabbed my binoculars and started scowering the landscape around me. My stand was in a very open area so I thought I would see something any thing a bird or maybe even a deer. No such luck! Just as I was about to put my binoculars back in my vest I head a crash and a splash way off in the distance.

The noise sounded like it came from a run of ditch about ¾ of a mile away. I quickly turned my head in that direction and gazed through my binoculars to see what made the noise. I looked at that ditch for about ten minutes. Once again I saw nothing. Getting a bit discouraged I decide it must have been a duck or a muskrat.

I thought since my hands were already cold I should take one more look around before I put my binoculars away. I looked to my left and back to my right (the direction the crash was form). Then I saw him.

It was the biggest deer I had ever seen in my life. Standing just out of gun range and not presenting any type of shot. This deer was easily pushing 300lbs and had at least 12 points on his massive rack. I know this because I stared at him for at least 15 minutes.

When I saw him I slowly put my binoculars down to hang from my neck. I inched my gun off of my shoulder and hesitantly brought it up and leaned it against the tree. I put my bead on him waiting for a shot he wouldn’t move. It’s like he knew I was there trying to shoot him. Every so often I would slowly take my head away from the gun and look at this massive beast. I just kept thinking to my self this has to be a dream.

After what seemed like for ever I finally had my chance at a shot. He turned his head just enough for me to get a shot. I turned off the safety, and was in the process of easing the trigger back when the giant decided to run. I don’t know what made him run at that exact moment but he did. At that point I couldn’t stop pulling the trigger so I missed. I was able to get off two more shots as he was running away but neither one of them hit the target.

Then when the giant buck was sure he was out of my range he stopped running for about 30 seconds as if he was mocking me. At this point I had no shot and my uncle Bruce who was even farther away from the deer than I was thought about taking a shot. He never did, and the monster buck ran off into some of the thickest willow swamp I had ever seen.

Being optimistic I got out of my stand and to see if I could see any blood. My uncle who hardly ever gets out of his stand must have been excited too. Bruce met up with me and helped look for a blood trail. There was nothing to be found.

One other reason I know this was a Monster Deer was the fact that Bruce said in his 35+ years of deer hunting and at least 25 of them on the WMA we were hunting he had never seen a deer as big as that one.

Maybe some day I will get a chance at that monster again, but for now I think he is hiding in the swamp.

Ben G.