Profiles login here become a HuntingNut About HuntingNuts about us contact us Member Posts read the log dumbest things we do view profiles Photos 2010 photos 2009 photos 2008 photos 2007 photos 2006 photos 2005 photos 2004 photos 2003 photos Support HuntingNuts be a sponsor HuntingNuts STORE Visit our Sponsors aNERDandaGEEK.com HighlinePainting Music Lessons Winter Homes in FL Capital RV & Marine Articles by You! Best Day Ever The Off Season It's below Zero Bow Shot Placement NY Public Hunting Land Non-Park Land Sportsman Sites DEC NY Score Your Antlers NRA gun safety tips Pope & Young Other Stuff food deer eat How many more days? Sportsman Links NYS Big Buck Club Salerno Brothers ADK Hunter Amazon Mp3's Back from Iraq is RidgeRunner! Sorry it has taken so long for me to tell this story but while in Iraq I forgot most of my passwords for my sights and I have just gotten in touch w/ ElmerFudd to reset. I went hunting in Vermont the second week of Nov w/my Dad and some great Green Mountain boys. It was CCCCOOOOLLLLLLDDD, especially after being used to 140 degrees on a good day. We were starting the last drive of the day, I had top of the mountain route and I hadn't gone 100 yds when I heard a huge russle in the leaves. I froze praying they would top the hill. After a minute or so a doe comes mach 1 over the ledge and right in her tracks was a buck. They were running from my right heading to my left. I had no problem seeing horns. When I had originally heard them, I immediately took a knee in prep for the shot. I have always been told the best time to shoot em is when you see them so I lined what I thought was a good lead on the buck and squeezed off a warning shot. The Buck did a fake and started to run directly away from me. I tried to squeeze off another round but forgot I had turned in my M16 SEMI-AUTO for a BOLT .308. Desperately I racked in a new round and took a shot at his back. He proceeded to dis another fake and now he's booking from my left to my right. I cycled another round and gave him a lead and sent another round down range. After all this he stops in his tracks facing me presenting a beautiful shot, trying to find out what he has done to deserve this confusion, I aim in on his throat and let fly a solid heartfelt shot that drops him in heap. Well, It was the last drive and I had top run so obviously I had left my pack in the truck and I had only the 5 rounds in the magazine leaving me with 1 left in the chamber when all is said and done. After all that it would have been hand to horn combat w/ my K-bar. The only thing I can figure is I kept hitting trees in front of him to make him turn. The Deer turned out to be a nice 7-pointer and 1 of the only two deer shot this year from Vermont out of our group. SwampBuck taken by HuntingNut elmerFudd The afternoon was gorgeous and I arrived to my stand 12:30 sharp and read "Tuesday's With Morrie" (great book by the way) while overlooking the swampy marsh. The first deer I saw all afternoon at 4:25, and he was a doozy! He was 115 yards in the swamp and I let him walk by me once because I thought it was too far a shot for me. Then he walked by me again and I said, "screw that," I am taking my chances! I leaned over on the treestand branch, held her steady, and let it fly, BAMM! SwampBuck stood and shook his legs and tail just a tad. I watched in my gun scope (when I should have been UNLOADING it on him) as he gently walked away. Then, all I saw through the brush was his antler tops. I started freaking out because I was sure I hit him, but he walked away?!?! Does NOT a deer fall to the ground, or kick and run when they are shot with an '06 rifle? So I went down in the swamp and searched and found no blood. I went back to get my night light blood searching flashlight and scoured the entire area for a while, back and forth, up and back. Finally, I gave up! Could I have missed SwampBuck? Doubt started creeping in and replaced the excitement ....to be continued.