Oh yes! I shot the wrong buck. It was November 2006.
I had taken a very large buck in 2007, the camp record. There was still a pretty good amount of venison left prior to season. The kids were still at home, so whatever they shot in Yute season went in. I took a decent-size doe Opening Weekend.
It is no exaggeration that I spent a half-hour cramming the last chub of ground venison into the freezer and then carefully checked the door to see that it sealed.
I just could not take another deer that year. In fact, I went out the next Saturday with the idea of "Not-Hunting." That is, going to the stand, fully kitted, and just not taking a shot. Everything was going well. I was enjoying the morning, and then what looked like a really nice buck appeared. You'll laugh when you see the pictures. They already laugh at me here for misjudging racks. From 70 yards away, it really and truly looked bigger. Honest!
It was a big deer, I forget the yield on it, but it was a major chore. I'm not going to spoil the rest. It's here if you want to read it:
The Shaman Backs into a Buck . . . Getting the buck up to the house was a big enough problem. The big hurdle was that I had to get a new freezer in place before I left the next Friday to pick up the meat from the processor. Sears had a freezer on sale, but they kept blowing me off on delivery. It eventually arrived Friday evening, but they put a dent in it getting it off the truck. I got $60 off, but negotiating took even more time and delayed our departure for the farm.
The rack is still up here in my office as a reminder.
