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Late muzzleloader 2012....

I'd been holding off through bow season and rifle season because we had a really good buck visiting the farm. His range was pretty big, as a few guys on adjoining farms were getting pictures of him too. In fact, a buddy of mine was getting several pictures of him on a big creek about 1/2 mile from the far end of my property. I'd busted a few does, but nothing with horns yet..

Anyway, opening morning of late muzzleloader (mid-December) I had my one and only encounter. It was raining steadily and I was about to pack it in for the morning. I was cold and wet, no deer had graced my presence. All of the sudden, the buck below comes busting over the ridge! When I first see him through the open timber, he's probably 80 yards away. He's in a big lope/run and coming straight to me. I keep waiting for him to stop and look back as deer normally do. He's getting closer and still moving pretty quick. At 20 yards he changes direction and is completely broadside. Still moving, but it appears to be an easy shot. I fire and he doesn't even flinch. He never breaks stride and continues to run for 100 plus yards until he's out of site.

I get down and find my sabot at the base of a tree. Look up and there's a fresh chunk of wood missing from the tree. I followed his tracks in the mud for a while, but nothing materialized.

I'm still sick about the miss....and I have no idea what caused the deer to bust into the run. No coyotes were following, no other deer were around, no humans -- nothing.

He was killed in 2013 during rifle season about a mile from the house. Everybody that hunted nearby and used cameras had pictures of the deer, but none of us had actually seen the buck in daylight or while hunting in 2012...or in 2013 until the rifle opener.