Tall Tales and Memories That Will Never Fade

[Tinks69]

I am what most would consider new to the forums here and I apologize if this type of topic has been previously created. Only being 19 years old I am sure that the majority of you have many more stories as well as stories that are very interesting and have meaning.

In the 10 years I have hunted (11 including this year) I have had so many things happen in the outdoors, I cant even imagine what the next 10 years may bring.

I just want to hear some hunting stories that may never leave your mind. The type of memory that has happened many years ago but seemingly will never fade. These memories you can always picture in your mind as clear as the day it had taken place. I gurantee that many of you have multiple stories of great hunts, or maybe even not so successful hunts where something happened to make it irreplaceable. The only thing I kindly ask is:

If a story you would like to tell others about is somewhat long and you are wanting to tell more than just this one story, please tell each story in seperate posts. I feel that in doing this it makes it much more thorough for others to read and think about.

[Tinks69]

My second year I had ever hunted with a bow(10 years old) my dad decided I was now old enough or maybe he felt I was confident enough with my bow now to be able to hunt in "his" spot.

The year was 1998, 1 year before my dad took a high 160s buck from this same woods. Two years prior to the 160 buck he had taken a beautiful 9 point that just barely missed Ohio Big Buck. A few years before the 9 pointer he shot a very unique 11 pointer with an above average rack size but the shape of it is what catches my eye. What makes these 3 deer so significant is that he shot them all from the exact same, home made treestand made out of a wood skid as a footrest and 2 2x6s nailed in the "V" of the tree with a pad for his butt duct taped on top of the 2x6s. He used a tower or something like that for a ladder. The tower was 3 metal poles in a triangle formation with metal pipes holding it together. It really was a good ladder for not being a ladder at all.

There wasnt enough room in this stand for the 2 of us (still too young to hunt alone) so he made another makeshift stand that we could both sit in together. The stand was made easily. 2 2x6s (with some type of brace below them) was nailed over the opening on an big, old, hollow beach tree. I had some sort of safety thing on, not exactly the best though.

A few hours after sitting still after arriving at the stand 30 min. before daylight and I was cold! Everyone who has a son or daughter that hunts knows how it is:p My dad was nice enough to give me his thick, warm, compfy gloves to wear. We hadn't seen any deer for the first 2-3 hours in the stand but, then a doe appeared to our right(my side of the stand). He told me to get ready, this was my first chance I had ever had with a bow. But, when just barely out of my shooting lane the doe spooked and ran off. I went to put the gloves back on(couldnt shoot with them on) but they were gone. My dad then ties a rope around me and with no choice I was lowered 15-20 feet down into a hollow beach tree to retrieve the gloves. Now remember, I was only 10 years old, inside the tree was pitch black, and to make things even worse the gloves slid into a small hole in the bottom! I will never forget that day and thinking to myself that my ass was grass if a raccoon was down there!

That piece of woods was magical. It was a tiny piece of woods behind my dads work and we hunted there a few more times after he got another job. The part that upsets me is that we didnt hunt there anymore because he didn't work there. My dad and his old employers still got along great! The woods is now pretty much gone. Some sort of company now has a building on the exact spot I had sat in that beach tree many years ago. Why must we destroy such an amazing place just to build a 1 story, pretty small building, and cutting down everything in 3-4 times the area that was needed....

Just a memory that I will never forget:redface: :o :16suspect1:

[Tinks69]

I wanted to post just 1 more memory before I get offline for a little while.

Two years ago I began to hunt more frequently with my best friend. His family owns a piece of land in SE Ohio that is big in size and also big in productivity. It was around pre-rut time, if I remember right maybe a week or two at most before the rut was in full swing. When on our way to our stands we spot a big boy across a small valley(pretty much we were on top of a small hill and so was the buck. Where the 2 hills met on the down slope is what I am considering a valley). This buck was well over Ohio Big Buck and possibly a boony! We decide to ditch our stands that night and try a spot and stalk approach. He, a doe, and snother tiny buck (6 pt. basket rack) trotted away, across the field and into a small woods. They did not seem spooked at all. We enter the same woods that the deer had only 50 yards or so to the right (north). I am 5 yards off the fence line and my buddy was 10 or less and 2 yards to my left (now north because facing opposite direction). We could both hear something coming toward us from the direction of the deer but, I was the one who spotted it was for sure a deer that was making the noise. Next, I can plainly see a rack on it's head but not how big. The deer is now approaching us fast and my friend(who was thinking it was the big boy) kept signaling for me to shoot. It was now 10 yards south of me and I could see it was the small buck. I remain motionless, picture a statue and that was me. The buck continues to approach us, still oblivious that we were even around. The buck is now an arms length away, directly in front of me. Only thing between us was a small tree and it wasnt as big around as my thigh (I only weight 150ish). The buck began to SNIFF my boot and lower leg!!! I could literally feel it rubbing its nose on my leg! My friend raises his bow and he was also so close to this deer his entire scope on his bow was brown! It didnt matter where he put the cross hairs because he couldnt even tell what he was seeing other than knowing if he was on the deer. He freehand shoots at the deer and puts a good shot on it. Normally, we dont shoot small bucks nor would we shoot freehand at a deer... But, in this scenario it was for our safety(although it would be very rare if it attacked).

[jackalope]

This year while doing some spot and stalk, i was walking along and old logging road on a ridge. I peeked over and down into a hollow and to my surprise there was a deer walking directly at me about 100 yards off. It kept coming closer and I just stayed still with no cover. no face mask or gloves. Just some dirt i had rubbed all over my face because i forgot my mask back at the truck.

The deer walked behind a tree at 40 yards and I drew. as it came out the other side i noticed it was a spike. I had already filled my buck tag. At full draw i was literally trying to count inches. I decided he was like 4.5 inches and not to shoot. That deer walked so close to me that I could have stabbed him if i let down. he was literally 2-3 feet away and walked right past me never knowing I was there.