LAST EDITED ON Feb-13-09 AT 04:35PM (MST)[p]all those bucks were free ranging, and three of the four are from the same area.
story on the buck for the far left,
started off opening day of rifle season, which is november 1st here in alberta, was sitting along the edge of the river valley which leads into the famous badlands. first light arrived, and i had deer in every direction around me, i could see a couple bucks fighting and they were slowly working their way towards me so i sat and waited, until just after the sun finished clearing the horizon. mr truck hunter was late to the field and didnt realize that i had these deer lined up already, so as he floored his big diesel to try and get close for a shot, the bucks headed my way and the bigger one presented me a nice 80 yard running shot, down he went. i proceeded to stand up as the truck pulled up behind me, walked to my buck, picked up his head and turned for the #####. showed off my buck for him and hopefully showed him how much of an idiot he is.
2nd buck from the left. was the start of the rut, bucks were running around everywhere at my bowhunting location. and just so happened that i slept in that weekend. arrived shortly after 9, and figured my best bet for the day was spot and stalk. as i rounded on of the bluffs in the area, i spooked up this buck who was taking a sunbathing break from the does. he took off into the nearest bush and proceeded to stand there for about a half hour. the wind was perfect, completely downwind from him now. i decided to follow this buck as he looked pretty good from behind with those tall g2's. every time he started to walk i would tip toe my way behind him. he would stop, look around and continue on his way, completely oblivious to me following him. after about 3 hours of following him he entered a patch of willows on the side of the hill and bed down. as silently as i could i picked a path which lead me beneath him. i drew my bow back and continued tip toeing through the bush until i spotted the buck. his head snapped towards me and he didnt move from that point on, i edged forward and found a hole big enough to see only his vitals and took the shot. 20 yards and he was done.
3rd buck,
first seen him opening day of bow season, at about 700 yards from where id planned to see deer that night. i eyed him through the spotting scope and started counting. 5 on his left side and 7 on the right. i knew this was the one i wanted to chase all season, even if it took me to the last day. every time i went out, something didnt go as planned, he would come out at night too far away, go down the valley before there was enough light, bad wind, etc. finally last week of season, in similar scenario as the first buck, waiting for the deer to get close as the truck hunters push the deer closer. the buck just so happened to have been already tending a doe behind us in the valley before we arrived, so as the truck hunters started shooting out their windows, the doe spooked out of the bush and out he came right behind her, nose right between her legs.
the crashing of the deer out of the bush was what caught my attention and as i turned around i knew it was him. at this point it turned out to be a little bit of a reach out and touch them shot since they were nearing the 500 yard mark, i layed down, got steady, and boooom, the rest is history on the wall.
the last buck on the right is my dads which he shot before i was born in the same area as the one directly beside it and on the far left, seems to be they get bigger as the years go by
