Author |
Message |
barry
King of Spring
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:44 pm Posts: 2716 Location: Bedford, VA
|
End of a quest
This fall has been a hectic one and I've been MIA here on the site for a while but I'm back and want to share something with you guys. We have watched this buck for 3 years and this year he was on top of my hit list. I had my chance at him during bow season and I blew the shot. We couldn’t find my arrow and only found a little blood. My only thought was that I had crippled him and lost him forever. I was sick for a week, then he showed back up on our trailcam, what a relief! Good thing was I had shot high and only grazed his back. Bad thing was he went nocturnal with only one trailcam sighting in daylight hours over the next 8 weeks. Every day during that 8 week span this buck haunted me and each time I sat in a blind I thought about him. Early muzzleloader and rifle season came and went with the buck continuing to be a no-show. I was passing on lesser bucks with hope that one evening he would show up. 2nd day of late muzzleloader season I’m setting in a blind nearly ¾ of a mile from where we had been getting trailcam pics of this deer. Lo and behold at 5:15 he and 2 other bucks step into the foodplot. Smoke filled the air, he went down and FINALLY I was able to put my hands on him. Yes, there are bigger bucks out there and he had broken off the G-4 on his left side but I had a special connection with this deer and I am very proud to have taken such a fine animal. At the same time I’m kinda sad that he will no longer show up on our trailcam pics. He will however have a special spot in my trophy room where I will be able see him each and every day. Here he is during the summer at a mineral lick. This is one of my favorite pics of him. I passed the 9 pt in the background several times and he should be a fine deer next year. One of the last trail cam pics we got of him You can see where my Muzzy cut across his back. He had all but healed up before that fateful day in late muzzleloader season. Finally!
_________________ "Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden
|
Sat Jan 18, 2014 2:15 pm |
|
|
Neill
King of Spring
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:30 pm Posts: 988 Location: Lexington
|
Re: End of a quest
Awesome buck Barry and a great story too....congrats!!!
|
Sat Jan 18, 2014 2:26 pm |
|
|
Doug
King of Spring
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:25 pm Posts: 2092
|
Re: End of a quest
Great job Barry! Thats the way to hang in there on a nice buck!!
Doug
|
Sat Jan 18, 2014 3:10 pm |
|
|
Bird Dog
King of Spring
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:50 pm Posts: 2649 Location: central Va
|
Re: End of a quest
Wow Barry. you've been holding out! Great deer! That is fine example, and poster boy, of a mature whitetail !!
|
Sat Jan 18, 2014 6:30 pm |
|
|
Gobblevt
King of Spring
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2007 9:36 am Posts: 1063 Location: Fredericksburg, VA Catlett, VA
|
Re: End of a quest
Congrats Barry! That's a fine buck and a great story and history!
_________________ It's not who you are, it's what you do that defines you.
GO HOKIES!
|
Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:33 pm |
|
|
MountainShadow
Jake
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 12:51 pm Posts: 31
|
Re: End of a quest
Great buck Barry! Saw it on Virginia Whitetails, been looking forward to hearing the story. Food plots were the key this year.
|
Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:42 am |
|
|
beardbuster84
King of Spring
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:48 pm Posts: 790 Location: Westmoreland co. Va
|
Re: End of a quest
Congrats Barry on finishing your quest, way to harvest a really awesome buck.
_________________ "If the good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise." Hank Williams
|
Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:18 pm |
|
|
BROOKTROUT
2 Year Old
Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 11:00 am Posts: 59
|
Re: End of a quest
Wow great buck Barry!
|
Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:10 pm |
|
|
TScottW99
Boss Gobbler
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:59 pm Posts: 2851 Location: Roanoke
|
Re: End of a quest
Congrats Barry!! That's a nice buck!!
_________________ "What gets us jangly is the suddenness of everything. We hunt turkeys because we want to hear them gobble, watch them strut and all that, and we hunt them with shotguns because we want to be close to them when those things occur." - Jim Spencer
|
Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:05 pm |
|
|
VTMChunter
Longbeard
Joined: Sun May 04, 2008 9:29 pm Posts: 191 Location: Madison, VA
|
Re: End of a quest
Congrats Barry! That buck is tremendous, and it sounds like it took a lot more than luck for you to get him. That takes a ton of patience to let a nice deer like that big 9 go, waiting on a nicer buck. I passed a 2.5 yr old 6 pt this year just minutes before I got a 130" 8 pt we'd been after.
3 P's. Patience, persistence, and perseverence!
|
Mon Jan 20, 2014 9:27 pm |
|
|
Vic
King of Spring
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:40 am Posts: 2706 Location: Baltimore, MD
|
Re: End of a quest
Great buck! Way to stick with it.
Vic
_________________ Vic
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)
|
Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:12 am |
|
|
HODY
Boss Gobbler
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 3:08 pm Posts: 1565 Location: Central VA
|
Re: End of a quest
Great story Barry, Congrats!
_________________ "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."
|
Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:59 pm |
|
|
huntingwhoas
King of Spring
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 5:27 pm Posts: 462 Location: Augusta County, VA
|
Re: End of a quest
Congrats Barry! Enjoyed the story!
|
Tue Jan 21, 2014 2:00 pm |
|
|
Greyghost
King of Spring
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:12 am Posts: 2451 Location: Midland, VA
|
Re: End of a quest
Great story, congratulations on a great buck.
Earl
_________________ God, Family, Country, Corps and then the Wild Turkey.
|
Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:45 pm |
|
|
vabirdhunter
King of Spring
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:55 pm Posts: 966 Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
|
Re: End of a quest
Total respect! great animal, even better story. Thanks for sharing
_________________ Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees . . Stonewall Jackson
|
Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:45 pm |
|
|
|