Several years ago I was hunting a Monday morning. I had limited time, because I was working swing shift at the time. I had hunted some gated timber company ground in the morning. I was riding my 4-wheeler the 6 or 8 miles back to my pickup. Snow was about 12-15 inches deep. I was scooting right along down this old ridge road, came around a corner and caught a glimpse of a doe high tailing it across the logging road. I immediately parked the 4-wheeler and walked over to where she had crossed. There was another bigger track that had already made it across the road. I followed them down over the ridge. I made it about 100 yds down into the timber and the doe came running up out of there and passed by me at about 20 feet. I figgered that buck was running her around but I couldn't see him any where. I looked and looked but nothing, so I walked about 10 yds to my right to an old skid trail. There standing down the trail about 60 yds was a big old 5 point, I new instantly he was a booner. The split second it took for my jaw to hit the ground and then my rifle to come to my shoulder he was gone.
That spring I looked for his sheds with no luck, put up a camera in the area nothing.
That summer, I went into my local sporting goods store and there on the wall above the register was my buck. I would have recognized it anywhere. Apparently, about 3 days after I had seen the buck, a guy shot him from his pickup while road hunting Thanksgiving day.
The buck netted 172 and some change.
