Big Bad Buck Story, Part II

Perhaps I should have named this entry Big SAD Buck Story. The quick and deadly efficiency of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) has destroyed more than 90% of the deer in the areas that I hunt. And that number is more like 95% in the area that I've been chasing this buck. I saw more dead deer than live deer this past weekend.

The Buck that I've been out chasing over the years was killed by EHD about 2 weeks ago. I found him in the area I was hunting this past weekend and I was able to recover his antlers. But this is NOT the way I wanted to go about it.

This fabulous Buck has eluded me, and dozens of other hunters, for the better part of 5 or 6 years. There is no honor in death for a Buck of this caliber to die from a gnat bite. His antlers will hang on my wall with a small brass plaque that reads "The one that got away". And I'll enjoy telling the stories of how he got away time after time.

I'm convinced that I finally got it right this year, and that my hunt would have been successful had it not been for EHD. I was hunting in the right place at the right times. I saw the other deer that he ran with; I knew where his bedding and feeding areas were; and I knew what his escape routes were. It's hard for me to believe that I would not have been successful this year.

Then again, he always was just one step ahead of me... Was he still just one step ahead? Sadly, we'll never know for sure. But I do know that this will be my favorite debate for a great many years to come.