About 10 years ago I assume I missed the biggest buck whitetail I've ever seen. Was sitting on a treeline on the edge of a cutover in a tripod with a brand new Remington 7600 .35 Whelen. Right at dusk, I glanced to my right and saw this huge form standing partially obscured by brush in a narrow lane on the edge of the woods, about 80 yards away. I looked through my binos and it was the rear end of a huge deer, looked like a horse. I slowly got the rifle up and pointed it in the right direction. I was hoping he'd continue forward and enter a small opening in front of him. Instead, he spun around and started coming in my direction, head down. Suddenly, he stopped and threw his head up and looked right towards the stand. His rack was as impressive as his body size, tall and wide. I HATE straight on shots and was praying he'd turn broadside but he slowly raised his foot and had that "I'm 'bout to get the f*** out of here" look. I really don't recall being that rattled and I placed the crosshairs of the Burris 1.5-6x on the center of his chest and squeezed. The muzzle flash blinded me in the twilight and when things settled down I saw and heard nothing. I assumed he'd dropped right there and was obscured by brush so I slowly climbed down and went to the spot. Nothing. No deer, no blood, nothing. I crawled around on my hands and knees with a flashlight praying for blood, hair, something. Nothing. My partner finally showed up and we searched for an hour for sign and then pattern searched in the surrounding woods for another hour. Nothing. I was heartbroken. I had to work the next morning but my buddy went back the next morning to search in daylight. Nothing. I don't know HOW I could have missed at about 70 yards but have to assume I did. I feel sure a 250 gr .35 would have left some sign, even with a frontal chest shot. But I'll never know. After that, I swore I would not take another frontal chest shot and I have stuck to that. That one haunts me to this day and I still pray that I did miss. Buck fever is a bitch!
