My Dream Buck

By Rick Montgomery

It was the Middle of November and I’d been hunting this same area for more than two weeks. I had seen some nice does almost every morning that I sat in my stand. I had still not seen what I thought may be a big buck! The scrapes and rubs in this area had given me a good idea that he was just that “BIG”. The trees he’d been rubbing were larger than most rubs I’d seen before in these woods and they were scattered throughout. I knew this was a good stand location when I had seen it while looking for a place for it. I hoped to get this big whitetail or at least a look at him.

After sitting all those cold mornings and still not seeing him, there was still enough fresh sign to let me know he was using this area. Every morning I managed to get to my stand in the dark without even a crack of a twig. I knew that this was key to my success….that and being persistent, which I was.

I started to get worried when the end of the season neared and still no sight of the big buck. I began to think that all of the time I had spent in this stand wasn’t going to pay off after all. Then after almost all hope was lost, I set out for another cold morning sit in my stand and it happened. I heard a couple of loud cracks about 75 yards to my left and I noticed some bushes move. I saw the antlers start to appear through the brush. It was a perfect 8 point rack with heavy mass. The deer had a heavy body to match. He made his way into the opening and turned broadside.

I thought now was my chance! My heart pounded. I could barley breathe. My arms were shaking so much I thought I’d drop my gun. I slowly put my 6mm Remington to my shoulder and placed the crosshairs on his large forward shoulder and squeezed the trigger. BANG! He was off like a flash ripping and tearing though everything in his path!

I caught my breath and climbed down out of my tree stand and walked over to where he had stood when I fired the shot. Much to my amazement there was no blood; not even a hair. I had missed this deer that I waited so long to get a shot at. What could I have done wrong? Was it my gun? Was it me? I had always heard other hunters talk about “buck fever” but it had never happened to me before, until this day.

Although I never saw this dream buck again that year I didn’t feel bad at all when I shot a nice doe out of the same stand. I realized it doesn’t always have to be about the big one. I still consider this hunt a success because I got a nice doe from this same stand and at least I did see the dream buck. I had a freezer full of venison.