Close Encounters of the Palmated Kind - With Response

[Mike P]

Close Encounters of the Palmated Kind


I am getting closer. This time he came within thirty-seven yards of the tip of my broadhead. I eased off the safety of the Phoenix. I was on full alert. All I wanted from him was seven more yards.

He wouldn't give me those seven yards. He could not see me. He could not smell me. But he knew something was not right. I don't know how old mature bucks know, but somehow they just do. If ever there was anything to the myth about a sixth sense, it must use a whitetail buck as its first example.

I had him on the trail cams. He was now moving almost totally at night. The only place he could be had was returning to his bedding area at 7:40 a.m. every morning. I knew the trail he was using to get to this bedding area and that was the spot I chose for my second try at this buck.

At just after 7:35 this morning I saw those big palmated white antlers. His palmated antlers are some of the whitest I have ever seen. They are like billboards in the woods; he stands out like a sore thumb. This is the closest I have ever been to him and I was able to study him for a full two minutes.

I am somewhat disappointed that he has not improved on his rack from last year. The rack he has this year looks identical to his head gear from last year. Now I say this mostly as an observation, don't get me wrong, I will kill this buck if I get the chance. I was just hoping he would add some inches from last year. He sports six points on his right antler and five on his left. The tine length is not much. But it is not the tines that make this buck unique. His beams are what distinguish this buck. They look to be three inches wide at the base of the G2's. It looks like he couldn't decide to grow whitetail antlers or moose antlers.

And here he was within seven yards of my range. It might as well have been seven hundred. He just stood there looking. I knew when he stopped that the jig was up. I have seen it too many times. He was uneasy about continuing on the trail towards the cedar thickets where he had been bedding. He turned to his right and walked away.

This is getting very personal! This is the second time he has avoided a very well orchestrated attempt to kill him. Both attempts were well thought out. No mistakes were made. The first time another buck took him away from me. This time was different. Somehow he knew I was there. Like I said, he didn't smell me or see me. But none the less, he knew I was there.

I will continue to hunt this palmated buck and no others. I do not care what buck I paint with my crosshairs, even a 160 and above will walk. There is only one buck for me this year. I have palmated fever.

Ask me if I still feel this way in January.

[saxman]

Great story Mike
Good luck with him

[huntman]

Not disrecpecting your descion but at 37 yards i would let a GII fly, granted if he was broadside! Its obvious you are very intelligent gentleman and hunter, but sometimes you have to take what is given to you. At 37 yards i know my excalibur performs flawlessly so there would of been no hesitation. Good luck i hope you get a 3rd shot at him!

[Golden Eagle]

Good story Mike. Best of Luck.

[Rich]

Third times a charm Mike, let's hope so. Good luck.

Rich

[fletch]

hey Mike nice story, and I understand it is more than just killing the deer, it's all about the game that you chose to play with him and how bad you beat him.

[crazyfarmer]

you said it well.. somehow they just know someone is there. You can be competely downwind and they still have a sense that something isnt right. But in a few more weeks when his thoughts are elsewhere things will change.

go get him Mike... I wish we could get them that big here but 120-130inch bucks are wallhangers here. Sounds like you have a good 170 class buck or more on your hands and it will be worth the wait

[VixChix]

Awesome post, Mike. It's the hunting, not the killing that makes the memories!

[wabi]

I really believe they can sometimes sense you are staring at them! Those big old bucks didn't get big and old by luck alone.
Good luck on tagging this one!

[FredBear]

This buck is starting to make me mad! I can't wait to see him! Although if he knew you were there... Your going to play hell the next two weeks getting him to move in the day! Good luck non the less!

[sipsey]

You are fortunate to have such a worthy opponent. I have played the game with good deer in the past. They mostly win, but what an intense challenge. I was told by an old hunter once that when a good deer gets close, squint---the white part of the eye will give one away--

[sumner4991]

You'll get him. The fun is in the chase.

[Sandman]

Your abilities with the pen equal and mirror RJ's abilities with the camera~!

[mikej]

great story mike good luck next time. the third time is the charm

[Mike P]

Not disrecpecting your descion but at 37 yards i would let a GII fly, granted if he was broadside!

I understand your position huntman. I consistently put my arrows within a two inch circle at forty yards. The varizone on my phoenix is most consistant at twenty, thirty and forty yards. If this had been a doe and I was looking for a doe for the freezer, I would have taken the shot without a second thought. But this is a "major" buck. This buck is five years old for certain and possibly six. If I am to kill this buck, the shot will come from thirty yards or less. I have a great deal of respect for this animal. He has been one of the most elusive bucks I have ever hunted. In terms of relevant age, he and I are about the same. We are both getting pretty long in the tooth. This is like two crusty old men playing checkers in the park. Neither is willing to give an inch.

I will take no chances with him. I owe him that.

Your going to play hell the next two weeks getting him to move in the day!

Aaron, you are spot on! I don't have a prayer of seeing him now until the rut brings him out. And he will not come out early. Old bucks like this one don't waste energy running around unreceptive doe's like the young bucks. Another piece of the puzzle is the fact that he is not the dominant buck on the farm. I don't know if that is going to send him searching the surrounding farms for easier pickings. There is a four year old 165 ten point on the place that has the body of a professional wrestler. He may run off the palmated buck when things start to heat up. I will continue to scout him but I am pretty sure the only time I will see him is when I look at the trail cams.

Sounds like you have a good 170 class buck or more on your hands and it will be worth the wait )

CF, I don't think he will go 170. The tine length is going to knock down the score on this buck. Of course beam circumference is going to compensate some what but not enough to put him up in that rare air. I have never in all my years taken a palmated buck and that is the fuel that is firing the engine. If I had any sense at all I would be hunting the big bodied ten mentioned above or a four year old buck that we have on the farm that just may have a higher scoring rack then the "wrestler." Of course as my wife is quick to point out, I am totally lacking in the "sense" department so I will not alter my intentions. These "intentions" may be put to task should either of those other two bucks decide to test my resolve by walking under my climber.

Didn't I hear somewhere about a road being paved with best intentions?