Regrets on passing one up?

[The Hedgehog]

What's the dumbest one you've let go.. and regret later? This is mine. It was 1997, Wyoming's Red Desert. I hadn't ever taken a really good buck. Saw this one during archery season while hunting with a friend and grabbed my video camera instead of my bow and was within easy shooting range for several minutes. Didn't think for a second I should be shooting. But when I look at the averagish looking 16" plain jane I took with a rifle instead, i want to slash my wrists. This is a heck of a unique buck in my opinion.

sorry for the crappy video, all i had was a VHS copy, nuked the original years ago taping over some fat friend of my ex-wife's wedding. I used my camera to video my TV.. horrible quality but you get the picture.

 

[Dinkshooter]

yeah you might of should have shot that one.

 

[the nikster]

yep!

I agree, you probably should have cut your season short and spent more time laying around the house scratching your unmentionables.

I have some regrets about deer I 'quick released'. I feel pretty good about my elk except 1 banner day where I threw about 5 lbs of lead at 2 bulls with a borrowed rifle-never, ever, again.

Probably regret last years moose hunt the worst. About the 10th day of 17 and I'd not yet seen a legal bull. Floating down a beautiful river when suddenly he was standing on the edge of the river. From 200 yards I quickly surmised he had only 2 brow tines per side, so he was not legal using that criteria. I still had 50" wide as an option but somehow never even thought to assess width. I took 1 really bad photo from about 100 yards and then floated by the guy at 15 yards. Not until I got home and was looking at hunt photos did I notice he was a legal bull.

Years ago I passed on a monster Mulchatna caribou seconds into my first Alaskan hunt. Talk was to not shoot the first one you see or you will kick yourself later so I let him walk. He was amoung perhaps 200 caribou and was easily the largest bull. Several hunters I spoke to later said I had a world class bull within 100 yards(much closer in fact). They had been watching me as the herd approached and when I did not shoot they tried to get him but he avoided them. I have hunted about 30 days in Alaska since then and I have yet to see his equal.

 

[Horn Seeker]

I've never passed up anything big or unique like that, but when I first started bowhunting...I was convinced I'd be a big bull killer and passed up two easy shots at raghorn bulls.... now..9 years later... well... chit...

 

[Big Fin]

I wish I knew how to scan in a photo, as I don't have a digital of this mistake.

SW Wyoming antelope hunt in 2005. I am hunting with a friend, who I will not name, to protect the innocent. I go out scouting two days before season, and find a buck I think will make the book. He is super tall for a northern state buck. I tell my buddy I will try for that guy.

Later at the motel, I run into one of my CPA clients from MT, who has drawn the same tag we have. They are hunting a different part of the unit.

First day comes and goes, and no buck shot. Lots to look over, but nothing I am ready to shoot, yet. Back at the motel, my client's group has taken two of there three bucks. Tomorrow he says he may come out where we are at.

Next morning, we are up and at 'em and at daylight, glassing over the basin where I had seen the buck. I spot him and we drive the vehicle to around a mile or so, to get a better look at him. While we drive out of sight, the buck and his does move right next to where we will drive past.

I come over a small rise, and there he is, standing right next to the road. Now what to do? Don't really wanna shoot one next to the road. But, he is really tall.

I debate with my buddy. Me claims he looks tall, because he is so spindly, and has no prongs. I claim he is taller than he looks, because he has more mass than one thinks, even with the small prongs. I am look at the buck through the spotter at 300 yards, and he sure is tempting.

I relent and agree that maybe I am being over excited at a buck that looks tall. Still not sure if I should pass, or not.

In the time we debate, I notice a vehicle coming up behind me. Not wanting him to scare the buck, I start walking down the road toward the vehicle, wanting to tell him we are thinking of stalking a buck, and would ask him if he can wait a minute or two. Then I notice it is my client who is driving up the road.

He pulls up and tells me that they are tired of the heat and dust, and are just looking for one more buck and will be headed back home. I ask him if he wants to shoot a really tall buck. He doesn't even responds, but jumps out of the truck and has his rifle out of the case, saying, "Let's go." He asks why I am not shooting this buck, and I tell him I have a week to hunt, and am looking for something really special.

I suspect the buck is still in the little basin next to the road, looking directly into the sun, at where my truck is parked. My buddy is standing by the truck and sees what me and the client are up to. He gives us the arm gesture to swing north and we will come out right on top of the buck.

We make a quarter mile loop, and peak over the crest. There is the buck standing at 100 yards. We drop back behind the crest and my client gets his bipod out, and asks what kind of buck am I looking for, if I am not willing to shoot this one. I would answer, but the tears are streaming down my face, as I left my rifle back in the truck and had already told the client he could shoot this one.

My client is loaded and ready, eases over the crest, steadies on the buck once it turns broadside, and before the dust even settles, the buck is laying on the ground with its feet facing the sky.

Everyone back at the vehicle had been watching. I am silently hoping this buck has a back case of ground shrinkage. Nope.

Each side tapes a little over 17". The mass is excellent, but the prongs are small. Even with that, it is a true trophy.

I am acting excited for my client, which I am, but not nearly as excited as I would be if I had pulled the trigger. The client is walking around hooping and yelling. He is slapping my back, telling me what a great CPA I am, how generous I was to pass on this buck and lead him to it, blah, blah, blah.

When the guy I was hunting with gets close enough, he sees the look on my face. He looks at the buck, looks at me, looks at the buck, looks back at me and say, "Whoops." And we erupt in laughter. What can you do at this point?

A couple months later, I get a voice mail from the client saying, "You should have shot the buck." Nothing more, just that message. I recognize the voice and call him back. He had it officially measured. The buck netted 83 2/8.

If I can scan a picture of the buck, I will post a pic of both me and the client posing with it. Needless to say, the client tells everyone the story of the buck and that this stupid CPA he uses passed on the buck and let him shoot it.

Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[Oak]

That's a pretty unique goat.

Big Fin, a sad story for sure. Hopefully you at least picked up extra business from your client's word of mouth.

 

[FLIPPER]

I agree Kurt...you should have slayed that freak!

 

[txDEERhuntr]

Well my passing on a buck took place in unit 11a in idaho, i had an extra doe tag and a buck tag. I was glassing a heard of deer and decided the buck wasnt worth day one kill and shot one of the does being my first year in idaho and no realizing idaho deer and 6000 times bigger than texas white tails and seeing the antlers on the deer when he was in the field after the shot yeah he would have been closer to 170 than the 150 i thought he was. ended up shooting a dink 7 point 5 days later still kick myself for passing on what i thought was a younger 10 point stupid texans should do more research on body sizes in other states.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Just a spike elk that was the first bull I had ever had in range. It was the first day of a hunt in a new area of Montana for me. I had seen a 4x4 raghorn and the spike with a herd of cows, got within 50 yards of them and then didn't shoot the spike when I had a clear shot, as I thought I'd get a chance at a better bull. Didn't happen and had to wait another year to finally bag my first elk.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I guess my worst screw up was being used to hunting the "Small Woods" for whitetails I did not yeat have a Range Finder. Second morning I am walking a ridge road and look down the mountain and there stands a real nice 5x5 and a 4x4 bull. I try to get off the mountain to get to them but no go. Make a sad story short I thought they were too far and let them walk. After getting and using a Range Finder I am convinced they were no more that 200 yards away.....a drop kick! John

 

[----]

That antelope is a freak GH, would've been a cool one to have on the wall.

That's rough Draftstud, messing up on elk always hurts worse.

I have a lot more stories about screwing up or missing shots or forgetting safeties than I do being too selective- especially bulls the last couple years. I have two that I really wish I wouldn't have passed though.

One was more a season than a specific buck. My senior year in high school I shot my biggest muley (a 160" 6x7, not a monster but a cool character buck) and the next season I drew the same week long tag. Opening morning someone bumped the only group of good bucks in the area, and they came up to my vantage point and stopped within fifteen yards of me. The best buck was a narrow buck with deep forks and a cool kicker- really similar to the buck I shot the year before. After catching my wind they turned tail and ran right back into the other hunter. After seeing the deer on the ground I started to kick myself, then especially so when I hunted the rest of the week and never saw another mule deer even close to that one. Just sat on my perch and watched another of the bachelor herd get picked off every day. Ended up shooting a little two year old 4x5 whitetail.

Then just a couple weeks ago I passed on a gorgeous little goldish blonde bear within a mile of the truck. Just a young little boar, I've passed on and shot bigger bears, but it was the second to last day of the season and could have had it in the truck whole (deep snow and a sled sitting in the truck) within two hours. Colored bears are also really rare in my area, maybe one in ten isn't black. I've been dealt a really shitty hand health-wise the last few years and really can't work as hard right now in the hills as I'm used to, kinda feel like I turned down a gift.

 

[Lawnboy]

That antelope is a once in a lifer. I thought long and hard about this bull I got in 06. I had seen him 2 days prior and wasn't sure I should burn a good special bull tag on him. After thinking about the "normal" side and all the character it had with the swooping whale tail and the other side just being weird I decided to take him. My friend wasn't quit as impressed as he was hoping for me to take a monster. In hindsight I have no regrets. I will never shoot a bull like this again. So I think if your ever in a position to get a unique animal even if it won't score well, you should.

Thanks for sharing Greenhorn. Good thread for thought.

 

[ashersdad]

We hunted POW for spring bear a few years ago and I was so excited about shooting a 7 foot bear. My cousin and I are cruising the beaches and see a bear in a small inlet. We sneak in and see that its a medium sized bear. Then right across from where we are (100yds) we see a great bear on the beach turning over rocks. Since its the first day of our hunt, I decide not to shoot. My cousin looks at me like what are you thinking. The bear is definitely bigger than anything I have ever killed. Needless to say, I ended up getting a nice bear but not near as big as the one I passed on.

So Fin, my CPA has never let me do anything like that. I'll switch to you if that's a normal thing you do for all clients.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Cool bull Bart! I sent a potential customer to you today (James).

 

[Lawnboy]

Thanks Kurt for the referral. I want to do some sort of European pedistal mount for that guy. It is really cool. I have some old barn wood that I was thinking of making a pedistal out of.

 

[Zeek]

Thought for sure this thread would involve women Greenhorn passed on.

 

[Layin_It_Down]

A few years ago I passed on a 6x7 muley with good mass. I always try to hold out for the imfamous 30 incher, but I definitely regret not taking that buck. He was passed his ears, probably around 25" wide but a great buck none-the-less. Last season (2008) I passed on a 6x6 muley with huge mass and probably 6" eye-guards. He had cheaters off of both sides. My wife just finished shooting her buck so I told her if I see him again, he's mine. Of course he disappeared after that. My only excuse is............"He'll be bigger next year." My stories go on and on................You'd think I'd learn at some point.

 

[Layin_It_Down]

That is a neat bull Lawnboy. Thanks for sharing. A friend of mine shot one similar to that with baling twine wrapped in his antlers a few years back. The unusual critters are always the most fun.

 

[BuzzH]

Only one I can think of right off hand that happened many years ago, and I'm still not sure why I passed, other than just not thinking.

I was hunting in my usual whitetail/elk spot in Montana with a good friend. We split up and I had not gone far when I spotted a small herd of elk about a mile away on a different ridge. Of course there was one raghorn in the bunch, so I took off after it.

While enroute to the raghorn, while going down a very steep shale sidehill, I bumped a whitetail buck...not just any whitetail buck. He jumped out of a bed and ran just a few steps and stopped to see what I was. He was a beauty, one of the best bucks I've ever seen in the country I hunt. Not sure what he would have scored, but I've shot bucks in the 150 B&C range...this one was well over that and had just about everything a person would want in a public land whitetail buck.

Anyway, I put the cross hairs on him, just about pulled the trigger and then in a moment of absolute foolishness, I clicked the safety on and continued after the raghorn. I looked back one time and he was still standing there...what an idiot I was! That buck was a gift from the hunting gods and I passed...unbelievable!

Elk were much tougher to find I guess was the logic I used. I never did see the elk again either as another hunter pushed them before I could get there.

I pass by that spot often when hunting Montana and wish I could have that one to do all over again.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Here I was thinking Buzz might have regretted going after this one..

I don't regret him deciding he wasn't interested and wanted to "hold out for something better."