11/05/2022
Got one down! Huge mix of emotions on this one. Long post ahead:
I’m definitely blessed to have taken a great buck but I did lower my standards to kill him. But this ends the worst stretch of shooting of my life (a couple of the shots were my fault and a couple were just crazy flukes) My 2020 was just over an inch short of 150 so as many of you know, for 2021 I decided it was 150+ or nothing. Well I ended up getting several opportunities but November 5th I missed a 150s buck, the very next day, I missed a different 150s buck, then late season I had 5 encounters with a 160 inch buck I call number but never got a shot at him. Ultimately I ended the season without killing a buck. This season I went in with the same goal and end up getting a shot at number one on October 18th. He ducked and I hit him in the backstrap and he ran off like nothing happened. October 26th and I hit another 6 1/2 year old buck in the perfect spot but his shoulder was tucked back and I got no pe*******on so if you’re counting that’s 4 giants in a row that I didn’t recover 🥹 All that to say when this 4 1/2 year old came in this morning posturing to the decoy, I felt like I just needed to get the monkey off my back and kill a buck. After passing some absolute mongo studs last year I just felt it was time to settle and I’m not necessarily mad about it. There’s so much more to this story behind the scenes as well but maybe I’ll share that over a podcast sometime 😜
Anyway, I’ve also been wrestling with what my goals are as far as size goes: like would I rather shoot a 130 every year or a 160 every 5 years. I know it’s not a good thing, but I do feel some pressure to kill a buck cause otherwise I feel like a chump 😂 which would you guys choose???