I missed a 2x2 on opening day. Saw a big bodied 3x3 right before, right next to the truck, while I was still inside of it. He'll make a mistake soon, I hope.
Whose missed a monster
- Thread starter Sdbirds
- Start date
Back in the late 60's or early 70's, I was bowhunting with friends at a place called Joe Lay Lake near Escalante, UT. I had set up a ground blind by wrapping some camo netting around four trees and brushing it in. Late morning of the first day in the blind, the most perfect 4 x 4 came over a small ridge about 40 yards away and started feeding straight towards me. He started to swing to his left at about 30 yards to where, if he had continued, I would have had a shot. No such luck. He turned back and headed straight towards me. All I had was a frontal chest shot and I was just not going to take it. I felt he would turn and head downhill, giving me a broadside lung shot but he just continued until he was standing at the left side of my blind...at THREE FEET. He looked around one of the trees that held my blind and looked at me with an "Oh S**t!" look on his face. We were both frozen, him standing and me at half-draw. He finally bolted and I threw a "Hail Mary" at him, hoping to slip the arrow in behind the last rib on his left side. I was a little off and hit his hip bone dead center. The point of the arrow folded and the force of the hit split the fiberglass arrow. The fletching was floating in the air. He ran around a corner of some trees and disappeared. One of my hunting buddies was nearby and saw him streaking away but had no shot either. I keep re-living that moment to this day, wondering what I could have done differently and the answer keeps coming up, "Nothing!". It was either shoot him dead on in the chest or play it out. I chose the latter and lost. He was the most perfect 4 x 4 mulie I have ever seen...heavy, wide and perfectly symmetrical. That's hunting!