This story begins last season 2012, I had trail cam photos of a nice 10, about a 140" or so, we played cat and mouse all season.


He would show the day before I got to the lease, and a couple days after I would leave. I thought, is this deer really that smart or is this just bad timing? I hunted the right winds, tried to slip in and out very quiet, but never saw him. 
Around Nov. 25 he started only showing up about every 10 days for one feeding, and then around the third week of Dec. he went MIA. No pics the rest of the year, just assumed he was shot on the border lease.
Fast forward to 2013 opening weekend, my brother is hunting his stand , that is just a bit over a mile from mine, and a nice 10 comes in to the feeder second morning at day light. Now my brother, is the type to second guess things too much, he gets to look at the deer briefly, but can't decide if he is a shooter, of course it is still pretty dark. Never the less he lets the deer walk, being second morning and all. 
After the hunt, he decides to check his trail cam card, and brings it to camp. While viewing the photos he is sick, because he just let a 150" deer walk, but that's ok, he will be back. I see the pic and holy crap, it is the 10, I hunted last year, same frame, same trash on his left G2, but he has put on 10+ inches. 
So my brother sets his sights on him, hunts him a relentlessly , the deer will be on cam,but just at night. That's pretty normal for mature deer though, so no big deal, with the rut approaching he could make a mistake and follow one of the ladies in. So, the rut goes into full swing, but still no show except at night, then around the end of Nov. he quits showing cold turkey, no trace of him. Well we guessed, he had slipped up, but it was on the bordering lease and some hunter is very happy. Mean while my brother still going to that same stand, very often and seeing nothing, but an occasional small buck and some does, but he's loyal. 
So here's where it gets interesting, we decide to go hunt the last weekend of season, everything is usually dead this time of year, with nothing but does and small bucks coming to the feeders. I arrived at the lease on Thurs. in time for the evening hunt, he was gonna be out later that evening. I decided to go down to my river stand, since it was closer to camp and it was getting late, I sat till dark and saw nothing. Now this is odd for this stand, I have never seen zero deer here, so I went down to the feeder, sure enough it was not working. Kinda disappointed, but not a big deal, planned on hunting my back stand this weekend any way. 
On Friday morning, I go to my back stand, and my brother goes to his stand ,that he always goes to. It is dark and for some reason I can't skylight my stand, so I wait for a little light, wouldn't you know it, my stand has blown over and is damaged pretty bad, Now this is a concern ,cause I am now fresh out of stands. Mean while my brother sets in his stand and sees nothing, everything works just no deer. So he grabs his trail cam card, believe it or not, the big 10 is on there. We had a pic of him Nov. 28 and then nothing till Christmas Day just before midnight and again New Year's Eve at 2 am. He has turned into a holiday only deer, what the heck? That was the only two pics of him. 
Now my brother decides he is gonna go hunt his second stand for the evening, where he has been having a big 8 on camera pretty regular, and knowing I am out of stands, tells me just to go sit his stand. He has a management buck that he has seen there and I was sure getting trigger happy. Don,t get me wrong, I don't have to kill one to be happy, but after passing up a bunch of 2.5 and 3.5's for 2 years, well you know. So I took him up on his generous offer and sat there for the evening, I did see one 2.5 year old 8 point, but he didn't come to the feeder. 
So the next morning, he decided to go back to his second stand, and tells me just to go, to the stand I sat in the night before if I want to, well it is pretty dead there, but my options are kinda slim, so I decided to. I got to the stand a few minutes before daylight, settled in and waited. I kept picking up my binocs and straining my eyes trying to make out the feeder, finally the orange glow over the horizon. I can just barely make out the feeder and no deer, not a surprise, wait a couple more minutes and look again. This time I catch movement in the brush, just a figure of a deer creeping in, now my eyes are watering from straining them through the bino's, why won't it get light? Finally I can make out a frame on his head, can't see tines but at least an outline of horns, over his back I catch more movement in the brush. Another deer approaches very nervously, and I can see he is a larger body deer, with good headgear, now I am thrust into hunter mode( heart racing), I tell myself this is a mature deer. I can't distinguish what the deer actually are in this light, but this is my last morning of the season. Right at that moment the feeder goes off, and they both run out into the brush, not a big concern seen this happen many times, sure enough the smaller deer comes right back. The larger deer creeps back in slowly, and then spooks back into the brush, now I decide it is time to reach for the rifle, I make up mind, if he comes back I am going to take him. Well luckily he walks back in, but only for a moment, and I can tell he has had enough and is leaving for good. So I squared up on him, settled the cross hairs and as he slowly walked into the brush, he wasn't going to stop, so it is now or never. I touched the round off, now it is still very low light and I can't tell for sure what this deer is or even if the shot is good. I lose sight of the deer and just have to wait, this has all transpired over just a very few minutes, but seemed like an eternity. 
[i][/i]Finally I can't stand it any longer, and I crawl down for a look, I haven't walked far when I can see the beautiful white belly shining like a diamond, thank you lord, it was a quick kill and a perfect shot. As I walk a little closer, I can see a large beam sticking out of the grass, "oh man this is a good deer",I say out loud. I walk up to what is the biggest deer, I have taken by a few inches, but feel sick at my stomach, it is the big 10, my brothers deer, that he has spent hours hunting. Although I am so excited I feel great remorse, because luck was on my side and not my brothers. I know it was hard on him, but he was great about it, and said he was glad it was me and not someone else that took this great animal. I promised him, that if I had a big deer on cam next year, he could hunt my stand, although I know he would decline. 
Here he is 159 6/8 

Nice buck, What county?

Hall

Great story amd a helluva of a nice buck!! CONGRATS

Nice one and good story , his time will be soon so don't feel bad.

Awesome buck and story, thanks for sharing!

Your brother was a good sport about it, and I'm sure he'll be rewarded in the near future.

Whata buck! It's good chance he's the one you saw last year, but racks can change so much year to year that I think a lot f people see new big deer and think it's the same one every year. Game cams really help with identification and that looks like the same buck to me. You have some good age structure and nice genes!

Wow! Congrats on a truly beautiful buck.

Nice buck and I wouldn't feel bad, his time will come

great story and very nice deer!

Awesome Buck!

Great looking deer.

Congrats!

Great looking deer. You hunted him for the season of 2012, I wouldn't sweat it he would have done the same given the opportunity. I was supposed to get to shoot the first buck off of our place when we finally built our numbers up after 2-3 years. Opening morning the "target" buck stepped out infront of my brother and without hesitation I responded shoot him. I don't hold it against him and I doubt your brother holds it against you.

Awesome deer. Congrats.

Don't sweat it. It's a long time til next season and a whole lot could happen to a deer between now and then. With a big mature deer, at least to me, you've got to take them when the opportunity arises.

At least it is in the family and your bro can look at the mount every time he goes to your house.

Great buck! Congrats. Sometimes it is about being in the right place at the right time. Or, as I believe, the good Lord decided to bless you with a great opportunity that morning.

Great deer, but not sure I would have shot at him till it was light enough to tell what he was.... just me

So it wasn't just me thinking that . . .

Really enjoyed your hunting story & pics Jkd106 thanks 4 sharing

great buck....better you get him than someone in the next pasture.

Thanks guys for your comments. Hoof and wings, I understand where you are coming from,but make no mistake even in low light, I knew he was a mature deer. I did not know how many inches he was sporting, but mature no doubt.

Great buck! Congrats. I've made some quick decisions based on my instincts telling me that's a mature shooter. When you have observed a lot of mature deer over the years in the field, on video, pics etc..I believe you trust your instincts when it comes to quick decisions on elusive mature bucks. Well done.

Great buck! Thanks for sharing your story.

Great story, great buck