I drew on him as i made my final move through some twigs and he still just layed there. At that point inexperience kicked in and i didn't know what to do. If he would have stood up the story would be different but i finally bahhed to try to make him stand up. He stood up and as i released he bounded of giving me a clean miss. I walk past this area everytime i go out there and just happened to spot his rack. I watched from about 200 yards for a good 10 minutes once i realized he was bedded i figured i might as well make a move. When i finally got around him and within 30 yards i couldn't see him til i stepped on a branch and he put his head up. This bugger was huge. My heart is still racing at the thought of how close i was to him. Do i wish things would have worked out different? Sure but it was a great experience no matter what. What are the chances of him staying in the area?
I don't have the answer for you but that was a great stalk I think you should just keep doing what you did and persistance will reward you,just don't forget the controlled hunt is next week and he may get spooked if he isn't allready!!
I'm horrible at stalking as well, I couldn't sneak up on a deer decoy!
From my limited experience, if there's mature does around to breed, I don't think he'll go far. He's there for a reason I think.
I think he may still be around, a buddy sat in my stand yesterday morning and had a big deer before light come crashing out of the bush and grunted up a storm, then it walked along the field edge towards his stand which he wasn't in.
