Best hunt you ever been on?

[iluv2hunt]

I have been very fortunate to be part of some great hunts throughout my life. Here’s three that stand out. The first hunt happened in 1998. I was bow hunting my own property that I had just purchased that year. I watch this deer all fall along with many other bucks. I had this deer patterned so I was able to take him on the very first hunt on my own property with my Mathews bow. It was a twenty yard shot. He went 25 yards stopped and fell over. It was my best bow buck at the time. He dressed out at 197lbs and has a 20 inch inside spread. 
The second hunt took place that November in Saskatchewan. I hunted the same stand for four days straight because I was seeing buck chasing does everyday. I could hear and see this deer approaching from my right though the trees from over 150 yards away without any shots. I had to let him get to 40 yards before I could shoot. I shot him though the heart at forty yards and he went another 100 yards across the field. I was able to put two more shots in him as he ran across the field. He dressed out at 265lbs. And grossed scored 165 1/8. Thats my best deer to date. The third hunt was an Antelope hunt that took place in Wyoming. I wish I could say I hunted hard for him but the drive to the ranch we hunted took longer then the hunt. When we got to the ranch the guide said to me if the antelope are here they will be in this Bowl like valley. We snuck to the edge and there was about 200 antelope. The guide was looking for this particular antelope and we spotted him just as he was leaving to go bed down for the day by himself. He was moving quick so we had to move a couple hundred yards to get into position for a shot. When we ran out of cover I set up for the shot just as he came into sight. The guide ranged him at 224 yards and I dropped him in his tracks with a 243WSSM. He missed B&C by a little more then an inch. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by iluv2hunt

[hvnj]

Best hunt so far was my 2015 dall sheep hunt in the Alaska Range.  I never worked harder to prepare for a hunt.  The hunt was one awesome experience after another. 

[JHbowhunter]

Great post - exactly what is needed for this site... Too much BS lately.  Some great hunts and animals and stories so far... Keep it going all the way to SEPTEMBER!         

[Tarhunt]

I got nothing. 

[3Blade]

5 minutes ago, Tarhunt said:

I got nothing. 

Because you work too much John.

[deadonshot2]

Most here could probably write a book as we have many accomplished hunters on this site. I will tell two my most recent. Last season (columbus day) I took a young lady with an apprentice license. She had sat unlicensed with her uncle 10 or so years earlier several times. This time she will be able to shoot. So after getting situated and talking about where the deer approach from, etc we started our hunt. Less than two hours into our hunt I see a doe on my right. Huntress is on my left. I whisper if the deer stops in front of us to take the shot (would be broadside). If not let her go to the food block. Well as the deer gods would have it the doe stops broadside at 10yds. I whisper aim right behind the shoulder and squeeze the trigger. She let that bolt fly and doe piled up in 50 yds. She is waiting to take her test to become fully licensed for this year. I bought her boots, insulated coveralls, and giving her my back up crossbow still in the box to help her on the way.

My second hunt was opening day of 6day two seasons ago. I had a dliema with a big 10pt showing at three of my stands. He never showed on any cam until 10 days before the season. So I went with the most recent pics and visitssince it is hard to pattern a buck that was traveling as much as this one. Well, I hunted a stand opening morning I never usually hunt in morning because it is so hard to get in there without deer knowing you are coming. So I started my "crawl" into the stand extra early. I did not see a deer that morning but pulled the sd card. I did have two scrubs in front of my stand one minute before camera took my picture. And they did not spook but looks like they walked off. Well, get back in same stand in the afternoon. Again much earlier just to get in as quiet as possible. I am sitting there for hours thinking if I chose wrong because I still have not seen a deer. I was wi=ondering if the big buck was in front of one of the other two stands. So I pull my phone from my pocket to check the time. 4pm on the nose. As I slide it back in my shirt pocket I hear a crunch and turn my head. Oh crap there he is- 30 yds away to my right. I slowly stand up and turn watching him the whole time. Well he is looking at something out in front of me. He slowly turned to quartering away at this point. I put the bead behind the shoulder and squeeze the trigger. Piles up in his tracks.  Despite only having a short encounter with him, just the interaction of watching his reactions was awesome. Oh and the thing he was watching was a doe he must of have been following as she came walking by shortly after the shot.

[archer36]

15 hours ago, Hawkeye57 said:

Sick of the politics. Would love to hear some epic hunt stories? 
 

You have to be more disciplined. About half of the Threads on here are "political". You have to realize that the vast majority of people on here don't participate. We have about 3,000 members and you see the same dozen people posting over and over on political posts. I have cut my activity on these posts down about 90%. I would like to make it 100%. Occasionally I like to throw in a post to rile people up. LOL

You are never going to change the hearts and minds of people on here. Why waste your time. 

Some people thrive on political posts. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by archer36

[archer36]

Now on to answering the thread in another way. My "epic" hunts can't be measured by the size of the trophy. Some of the most memorable could be spotting and stalking a Doe in a apple orchard, and killing it freehand at 40 yards with a crossbow. I have hunted Moose in Newfoundland and South African Plains Game which were very memorable for reasons other than the size of the antlers or horns. 

[archer36]

15 hours ago, Nomad said:

Deer hunting is Saskatchewan was a lot of fun.  Camped 5 miles into the wilderness, in nice heated wall tents.  Big bucks running all around.  Weights averaged about 275 live weight.  My friend got one 300.  Cold as heck! 

 

 

,

That's hardcore hunting!

[archer36]

41 minutes ago, Tarhunt said:

I got nothing. 

Sure you do. You have posted about hunts with your Son. It doesn't matter the size of the trophy. It's the time together that make it "epic". 

[archer36]

14 hours ago, MGHunter66 said:

With all the different game I have hunted one “epic” hunt will always stand out simply because we could not believe our eyes. Hunting a small swamp near me 20 minutes before shooting time ended(1/2hour before sunset) wood ducks were circling in groups of 7-10. As each group committed(feet down) We started shooting ducks, other groups committed while we were shooting landing in the water infront of us. Loading as fast as we could woodies just kept coming in. In less than 20 minutes we were limited out and sat there for another 20 minutes just watching flock after flock divebomb this tiny location. Just before dark we ventured into the water to retrieve all our ducks. There had to be over 80 woodies in a small swamp pocket maybe 40yrds in diameter. Truly a sight to see and nothing like that have I ever encountered again

I always wanted to do an out of State Waterfowl hunt. It's on my bucket list. Maybe Goose and Duck hunting in Kansas. They sure can be "epic"!

[Nomad]

I flew out to Denver alone, rented a Lincoln Town car and camped on public land in the Rockies for 10 days.  Called and shot this at 7 yards, on the last day with my longbow.  Packed it out 2.5  miles by myself.  Quite an adventure. One of my favorite hunts.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Nomad

[archer36]

2 minutes ago, Nomad said:

I flew out to Denver alone, rented a Lincoln Town car and camped on public land in the Rockies for 10 days.  Called and shot this at 7 yards, on the last day with my longbow.  Packed it out 2.5  miles by myself.  Quite an adventure. One of my favorite hunts.

That's even more hardcore!

[toxo]

My best Hunt would have to be my Caribou bowhunt in Northern Quebec. We where flown into   a real nice tent camp on an island. I took 2 Bulls with my recurve, both at 10 yards kneeling on the ground.One was a group of 5 bulls,when I shot the Biggest one I almost got run over by the other 4! Really isolated,100 miles from nowhere.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Dinger

[Mixbaghunter]

I have afew my first fox catch with my boys  there . My sons first deer 2years ago took 6 years to put one in front of him the longest  5 minutes  i ever had waiting for him to shot. Any time i can get a new hunter a deer . Most of all any time spent with friends and faimly hunting.