How many 180+ Whitetails have you seen while walking?

[ResidentSpokesman]

I find as I get older I seem to have less patience to sit every year. For the past 30 years my motto has been "the best way to kill anything, regardless of the species is to figure out where he's going to be and get there first". I've killed some awesome bucks from a tent or stand over the years. But lately I want to get out and stroll around more.

So my question is how many of you guys that still hunt every year see big mature bucks this way? I've bumped into tons of 130 and down while hanging stands / scouting / sneaking in etc. But I can't ever recall seeing a shooter this way. Even while Elk or Moose hunting I've bumped into everything but a 180+ Whitetail.

[Slicktricker]

2 biggest whitetails I’ve shot was walking one went 177 other grossed 182 netted 168

[LJalberta]

I've never seen a 180 whitetail alive. One of these days hopefully...

[Kurt505]

I have had success with spot and stalk but I can't say how many I've seen while walking around because I've never shot one while I was walking (one 180+ that is), I do know that I've seen some cankers while walking but haven't had time to get a good shot off.

I haven't shot a 180+ deer walking, sitting in a blind, sitting in a tree, driving down the road, still hunting, or any style of hunting for that matter, at least not yet anyway. I've killed a bunch between 160-178 though.

As you (ResidentSpokesman) already know, the best way to get a good shot at a good deer is to be waiting for them to come to you. Still hunting isn't the best way to kill a big buck, but it's by far my favorite.

[Dick284]

None.
Zero
Zilch

[FCLightning]

None


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[whitetail Junkie]

saw one 180+ while walking in northern Saskatchewan in 2001 was the year...he was about 700 yards from me and we both spotted each other at the same time.we both stood still and eyeballed each other for about a Minute before he finally hightailed it into the thick timber...The height of his tines and think main beams are still etched into my head.

Lots of bucks in there prime (if they even live that long) won't crack 170 let alone 180+.....But like the OP I can't handle sitting all day in the same spot,I mix it up with walking,ground blinds,cut lines,bush pushes,scouting new spots and visiting/coffee time with landowners and fellow hunters...all proven successful for us at one time or another.

[fishnguy]

My cousin's first whitetail netted 182 or 188 (I can't recall, but those were the numbers). Still hunting. His next was 170 something gross, but netted at 157. Still hunting as well.

Personally, I have not seen any whitetails that big. I have not shot anything worth measuring yet. Last year's buck was probably 140 and a little bit. I actually kind of regret (well, maybe not, maybe just on the fence of regretting) shooting him because the guy had a great spread and tines and came from a genetically very good area. I am almost confident he would be a monster buck in a couple of years.

Now mulies is a different story. I have seen at least a dozen that were that and bigger. But who has a tag? It is two more years for me to get one, hopefully. Unless things change drastically in that area during this time.

Still hunting is the way to go, IMO. I cannot sit in one place and even 30 minutes is pushing it. I killed a cow elk on a field this year and that was the most boring hunt for me so far (I only have few hunts under my belt though). And even here I did not get to sit more than 5 minutes, even on the field I chose to move and walk like a ninja :lol:. I scouted there quite a few times earlier and spent an hour or so a couple of times at that field. The only reason I was able to spent so much time there is a huge number of mule deer there, so it was fun watching the young ones run and play, calling them in to within meters - the closest I got was just under 2 meters. That was fun.

[north american hunter]

2, northern Alberta, one 6x6 and one 7x7 that would have gone over 200"

[DJS]

2 I’m pretty sure. Both while moose hunting. One I was lucky enough to sneak up to and get an arrow into at 7 yards. It’s my biggest WT to date. Grossed 199. The other was meandering through a cut block late in the afternoon but stayed way out of range.

[pikeman06]

Down in my parts an honest 165 is a jaw dropper. The real big ones get down in the stuff you can't get them out of or they are in some ones yard pretty much the whole season or at least call posted land home. Plus they are nocturnal and there's some that don't partake in the rut hardly at all. For all its worth it's best to sit and wait just in the cover as they tend to hang up and let the does do the watching till its dark. If you get a nice dump of snow with a good buck track heading into a smaller bush with a ring of willows I might walk but it's never the 180. Alot of guys think a 160 is 180 no use kidding yourself. Never seen one on a walk...I think they know you are there before your boots hit the ground out here.

[dfrobert]

4-5. Most of them were actually after the peak rut in the beginning of December running stupid across a field along our back roads. Growing up in the Edmonton bowzone in the 90s before hunting became "cool" it wasn't uncommon to see a great deer every winter kicking around our families acreage that bordered big bush and prime farmland.

And here I though hockey and girls were more important in those days...

[Bub]

I have seen one last year and I still have no idea what exactly it was. The buck had a huge whitetail rack and mule's behind. I have only seen him for 15-30 seconds while still hunting in the bush. I followed him for quite some time that day but have never seen him again. I had never used trail cameras before but bought a few since; yet I have not been able to take his pic. I am more than positive that that guy was way over 180 and had one of the most symmetric racks I have ever seen. The body mass on him was out of this world.

My cousin have also taken a whitetale that netted over 180 while still hunting. He put him down within 200 yards of a hardly used quad trail, but he still had to take him out by parts because there was no way to drag him out of the bush he was in. He said he saw just the tips of the antlers and it took him forever to find a shot. He put one through his neck and the buck remained where he was, didn't even get up. It was a cool story and every time I am in his house and see that rack, I think holy **** to myself. The meat, though, was crap I hear :sHa_sarcasticlol:

[pikeman06]

[QUOTE=Bub;3649344]I have seen one last year and I still have no idea what exactly it was. The buck had a huge whitetail rack and mule's behind.

That's a mule with a forward facing rack then. Picked up a dead head that I thought was the most typical long tined whitetail ever no matter how you looked at it. But it was a mule. It was 188 with 2 inches deduction looked like a perfect 5x5 whitey with shortish brow tines that made me wonder from the start. My buddies swore it was whitetail but if they get that big out here the brow tines are usually huge. I believe we counted teeth or something to settle the score. It was a mule. This was 15 years ago before DNA was a big thing.

[35 whelen]

When I was in my twenties hunting around Drayton Valley just walking up a cut line looking down at some coyotes s*** I looked up and it was the biggest whitetail I've ever seen double drop time probably 2:30 75 yards away took an offhand shot missed came back the next weekend and seen it again never got a shot still have that picture in my head from 30 years ago

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[ROA]

Zero

Biggest bucks I have seen I have been driving around usually not hunting at all. Never had a 180 plus stand there and give me a chance to shoot it, doesn't matter if I am walking, sitting, road hunting, calling/rattling, day dreaming, taking a ****. Don't matter how I hunt I've never been given the chance.

[Twisted Canuck]

Never while walking. Once while driving, and he was so hot after a doe I could have walked up and clubbed him with a brick...Biggest WT buck I have ever seen, a genuine 5x5 typical with beams on him as thick as coke cans. I still have nightmares. Was just south of Le Glace, on the way to work. I stopped van, and watched him dog this doe all the way across the field, and cross the highway 50 yards in front of me. I was tempted to put him down with the van, throw him in the back, and tag him when I got home....*sigh*:(

[sns2]

None.

I may only have ever seen one live buck that would go 180. They don'y grow on trees.

[Don K]

I've seen one in Saskatchewan and 2 or 3 on a place we used to hunt out east. There were big deer out there but always on the run as it was primarily a bush pushing excercise. It's been overrun by hunters and hasn't ever been the same. Sigh...

[Battle Rat]

I have two that gross 182.
One is a very typical.
I have screwed up on many that I would suspect in the ballpark of that size.
Mostly in the past when I walked too much and too fast.

[hunted]

When walking many deer look like 180 running away but once on the ground turn to 150’s. Hardest thing about shooting a 180 is they are very rare to begin with but not shooting a 150 first.
Still hunting changes this in Your favour.

[Kurt505]

I didn't realize how common 180+ deer are until I read this thread, I gotta find some better hunting grounds.

[58thecat]

Had one encounter with a gagger while walking a down a trail In a river valley, Hawkins in hand, got a weird feeling, stopped and looked back and there he was 40 yards right behind me, well I cocked the hammer, found the front trigger, swung around bead set on chest...when the smoked cleared...miss!:sign0176:

[hiway mike]

I walked right up to a 186.... After i arrowed it out of a stand.

[Bushrat]

I didn't realize how common 180+ deer are until I read this thread

Neither did I, thinking I need my eyes checked cause some of the guys who hunt the same area as me see 180" deer all the time, even some 200 inchers.

[The Spank]

None but was 25 yards from a mulie at work yesterday that was definitely over 200”.

[walking buffalo]

I didn't realize how common 180+ deer are until I read this thread, I gotta find some better hunting grounds.

The number of sightings need to be qualified with the amount of time hunted, and where.

In over thirty years I have seen four confirmed 180+ whitetails while hunting.
Two were while driving, both were occupied by does.
Two were while walking, one on a very foggy early fall day, still in his bachelor group.
The other was simply outsmarted. We worked many days to finally get a shot at him. It took two guys to pin him, one guy would never have done it.

Three of these bucks came from areas with heavy hunting pressure.

[MartyT]

A 180 is a BIG whitetail. Closest I have ever seen Was first thing in the morning maybe 2 mins into legal light, fog was super thick and he jumped the fenceline onto the cutline I was on and wasnt sticking around for long. About 75 yds away and My mental process went like this: Rifle to shoulder, deer in crosshairs..... hey look at those antlers!!!!...... bang! MISSED. spent all morning hoping to see a spot of blood in the snow with no luck.

[EZM]

I think deer get bigger the longer times goes by, just like fish. lol.

Another member here and I stalked/hunted a "record monster" a few times with thick and long tines, plenty of width, excellent symmetry, etc... We would often describe it as a 180's deer. We would never get close enough to it (bow zone). That deer was far smarter than we were.

Both of us took the measuring course through AFGA, and participated in our local clubs annual trophy measuring event - so it's not like we had no idea what makes up a good deer compared to a trophy.

Unfortunately another hunter harvested that deer a year or two after we began our quest and had it measured at our association event. Measured in the high 160's and likely shrank down quite a bit from there.

Just goes to show you, it pretty darn hard to size up a deer in the field.

A 180's typical whitetail would likely make the AFGA's banquet on most years. That's a big rack.

[oilngas]

In 45 years of hunting in a zone that produces a good share of big Whitetails I have harvested two at 160 - 165 measured by BnC person. I chosen not to harvest anymore deer that size. Those two on the basement wall are just old decorations it's the memories I cherish. I have passed up on a few in that category, and again it's the memories that I cherish.
I believe I have seen another two that were significantly bigger, I was driving on a foggy morn, they were together in a slough bottom about 50 m off the road and 100 m from a farmhouse with no one at home. I watched them for a few minutes before they disappeared like phantoms in the fog.
Ground shrink is an amazing thing, there is lots of it around. As other have said if you wanna 180 +, you are going to have many years before you see one, and likely many more before you can harvest one!! Although I supposed one could pay for one, I'm sure that some outfitter has one "lined up", but a 180+ would take an enormous amount of scouting or luck!!

[elkhunter1234]

Same here.. after 40 years of hunting whitetail sin souther alberta I have never seen a 180 whitey, heading north this year and hoping my luck will change. My best WT on the wall is 156”

Jim..

[Smokinyotes]

Ive been hunting big game since 1979 and ive only seen 2 whitetails that i would consider monsters. I dont know what they would have scored but they were massive. First one ran down the middle of the road in front of me one night for about 300 yards. Second one was in the Edmonton bow zone on a qtr of pasture land.

[ram crazy]

Neither did I, thinking I need my eyes checked cause some of the guys who hunt the same area as me see 180" deer all the time, even some 200 inchers.

What some people perceive as a 180" buck and what really is a 180" buck are two totally different things what most people think is a 180" deer is actually closer to a 160" deer. When somebody says they seen a 180" deer I usually take that with a grain of salt. Now I once shot at a 250" typical whitetail and missed him :sHa_sarcasticlol:

[220 Swift]

^ this.

Some people i know shoot 180s every year in their own mind. I think that They looked at the wrong side of the tape as that was cms not inches lol

I think one is all i ever saw this big , that another guy shot later in season. I have been hunting since 1990.

[pikeman06]

If there were as many 180 whiteys in the wild as the ones running around on this thread you would think a guy would see the odd trail cam photo or a picture of a guy holding a dead one. Haven't been maNY 180 net typical whitetails coming out of this province at all in the last few years.

[whitetail Junkie]

If there were as many 180 whiteys in the wild as the ones running around on this thread you would think a guy would see the odd trail cam photo or a picture of a guy holding a dead one. Haven't been maNY 180 net typical whitetails coming out of this province at all in the last few years.

I think most guys are talking 180"+ gross score.The one I saw in saskbush I can't say would NET over 180" Typical ....lol

[Team Anzac]

I know what 180" whitey's look like...

[Slash8]

I saw one back in 1999 near Genesee. Biggest damn Whitetail deer I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't walking however I was driving home from a morning hunt at a nearby farm and spotted him in a hay field with a bunch of does. No permission was being granted on the property I saw him on because I asked. That deer still haunts me to this day. Every other deer I thought was big was not, when compared to that brute. I always wondered if anyone was lucky enough to harvest him.

[graybeard]

I can't really say it was a 180 class but it was much bigger than the one on I put on the ground.

I was hunting a couple of years back in the middle of the rut. I shot a very respectable white tail buck.
As I was approaching my downed buck a huge white tail buck (bigger than mine) approached my buck and was locking up his horns with him; fighting with it.....

I was about 50 yards away when the live buck saw me a ran off about 100 yards away and then he just stood there as I began to dress my buck out. He later just walked off...

The question running through my head was should I have waited in hopes to harvest the big deer even though I never saw him or take the one I did. The ol' "one in the hand or two in the bush" saying....

That was different but still a great day to be in the field with an interesting story....
My white tail taped out at 158.....

[The moose]

Man I would love to see some of the pictures of the deer from this thread. Crazy.

Opening morning this year I had a very large WT at 12 yards. too bad it was about 15 mins before legal light.....

I know where he lives, just need to be in right spot at right time.

[pikeslayer22]

Lots of gross 180's and a few that have netted it. Do 90% of my hunting walking

[Stubb]

A sibling's first whitetail and second deer ever grossed over 180". A real feat especially for the area we hunt. I've hunted for 25 years and have never seen a WT even close to that. I would be thrilled with a 160".

[Flight01]

I think most guys are talking 180"+ gross score.The one I saw in saskbush I can't say would NET over 180" Typical ....lol

This happens often. As well as that holy crap moment....
You see the buck you have little time to study but think he may go 180...
Ends up being a 170 gross and a 165 net...

Either way still a super awesome buck.

Biggest I’ve seen shot we thought was 165 ended up 152 gross and 146 net.

Biggest I saw on the hoof was very symmetrical. I had lots of time to study he was across the road from where I had permission on posted land...:angry3:

He would have been shy of 180. Maybe 170+ and net 170

[hiway mike]

Man I would love to see some of the pictures of the deer from this thread. Crazy.



.


I like this discussion about big deer. Will add some pics in hopes that others will do the same.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/c2d3ceee23c7de73c00c0609e5c9ac33.jpg
First pic is my archery buck from 2016.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/a6b9b349a8b830b900f008965437e39c.jpg
2nd pic is a deer I scouted with some friends in 2014. A buddy arrowed it.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/afd75f0f7dc68cb1a319aacbb99e22a7.jpg
3rd pic is both of the racks together.




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[MK2750]

I have shot mature deer while still hunting that would be every bit as cagy as a high scoring deer. I have shot numerous 150s, one close to 170. Several of these were in high pressure areas and at the top of their game. No where near 180 but some very old and wise characters. So IMO you certainly can score on a high quality deer still hunting but most of us need a bunch of luck to cross paths with a book+ deer.

Nearly 30 years ago I was driving down a wood road toward a slough to go duck hunting. It was well before daylight. A White Tail walked out of the ditch and started walking directly down the road in front of me at about 50 yards. He had double drop tines, one with a club, that were well over a foot long and were out there wider than his hips. I snapped on the high beams and he freezes, first looks over his shoulder at me and then turns towards me as if to say "Just try it!" He sniffed the road an then just walked off. Not only were the antlers impressive but the body on this deer was absolutely massive.

I have never even seen a picture of a deer more massive/impressive and this was my only encounter with a true world class deer. This with spending a way more time in the bush than most people could imagine. I believe many more are dreamed about than ever walked up on. Most stories I have heard about book+ deer, that I can actually verify as being shot, involved a lot more luck than hunting skill.

[dfrobert]

Sounds like a few of the experts doubt what all the other hunters have seen.

Biggest one I've seen was a non-typical giant that would of grossed way over 200". He was standing less than 75 yards off our back road on my way from hockey practice one night in the dark. I thought it was the fish and wildlife decoy until he popped his tale up and ran off!!! Earlier that fall just after the crops came off while running my dog we crested a hill in a cut barley field. There was a couple small pockets of bush in the bottom of the field and we spotted a buck making a rub on a tree. The dog decided to put the run on the buck, the buck was so focused on the damn dog chasing him he ran directly up the hill towards me then veered off across the field when he spotted me. All I seen was 6x6 tall and massive. 180plus all day.
We also had a couple monsters show up at night in my parents pasture during the rut and chase the does or chew on the hay bales.

Theres a 179" and change hanging on my basement wall. Seen a few bigger now but nothing like the bowzone had 20-25 years ago.

[Kurt505]

I like this discussion about big deer. Will add some pics in hopes that others will do the same.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/c2d3ceee23c7de73c00c0609e5c9ac33.jpg
First pic is my archery buck from 2016.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/a6b9b349a8b830b900f008965437e39c.jpg
2nd pic is a deer I scouted with some friends in 2014. A buddy arrowed it.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171023/afd75f0f7dc68cb1a319aacbb99e22a7.jpg
3rd pic is both of the racks together.




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Awesome bucks, I'd like to see some pics of 180+ bucks too.

This one only scores 173

https://i.imgur.com/gRKDWJX.png

[dfrobert]

^^^^heck of a 4x5

[spot and stock]

A few over the years

[Kurt505]

A few over the years

Just a guess but 182 on the left, 178 on the right? (Gross)

[spot and stock]

Almost bang on the left buck(183) right went 187 gross if I remember right. the left buck has a ton of deductions ended up 171 and the right buck net 181.

[The moose]

this thread is looking even better with pictures! well done guys.

[The Spruce]

180 Class Whitetails. First you have to find one scouting, that is not easy.
IMO the best way to "fluke" one (shoot one that one has no knowledge of), is simply time in the field. Driving, walking, flying, crawling, sitting, hopping on one leg, doesn't matter, time in the bush, time in new areas.

IMO sitting in a tree stand is a waste of time unless you have a certain deer scouted, or know that bush deer will frequent an area come rut (this is how I have shot my best deer).

I have seen 8-10 180"+ deer in all my years in the bush. Keep in mind I hunt, trap, and fish like it is going out of style. I get a good 200+ days in the field a year in some capacity, maybe more. I have never shot one, had one that was close, but a deduction monster.

-Walking deer over 180", 2. One spooked no shot (was after him, He never moved in daylight again after that). The other one was on my drive way, and disappeared that hunting season.
-Sitting/Stand deer over 180", 0. Those would have been shot.
-Quadding Deer over 180", 1. He was almost close enough to poke in the eye, but reverted back to His ghostly self when the bike stopped.
-Driving Deer over 180", 6+. Can't remember them all, shot and missed a 200"+ giant non-typical when I was a young jumpy guy by Whitecourt. The rest were either no shot, or no permission. All (If possible) were perused for the rest of that season. You can find them putting on miles, but will seldom if ever get an ethical shot at them.

Spruce

[Bergerboy]

The only time I have seen 180" plus Whitetail are in museums or a Bass Pro shop. In the wild? Doubt I have seen anything over 160.

[antelope whisperer]

I managed to take this one walking back to camp after climbing out of my blind just before last light. Fortunately I was still walking in hunt mode and not hoofing it back to the warmth of camp! He's not a 180 but he has some nice mass and an interesting rack.

[Twisted Canuck]

A friend's 16 year old son got his first buck last year and it went over...it's not like they don't exist. Think he said it grossed 182ish"...Net, who knows...it's snotty.

[stob]

3 at 200 +/- ( one of these was by myself when I punched him out of bullrushes pheasant hunting ) the other 2 my dogs bumped while pheasant hunting ... nocturnal beasts I assume... I have had a 140 &160 muley follow me around in bottom land while I hunted birds in the past too

[whitetail Junkie]

Lots of gross 180's and a few that have netted it. Do 90% of my hunting walking

Mostly walking :confused0074:......That's awesome!

[whitetail Junkie]

A friend's 16 year old son got his first buck last year and it went over...it's not like they don't exist. Think he said it grossed 182ish"...Net, who knows...it's snotty.

That's an awesome buck...wow!

[whitetail Junkie]

I managed to take this one walking back to camp after climbing out of my blind just before last light. Fortunately I was still walking in hunt mode and not hoofing it back to the warmth of camp! He's not a 180 but he has some nice mass and an interesting rack.

Awesome buck and short story...never know how the chips are going to fall!

[silver]

I can say I have not seen one walking.

I did get a brief look at one on posted land in season but he was untouchable. Was good to see him a few times for a few years. Every time I saw him after that there was no season.

This was 25 or 30 years ago, I lived on a secluded acreage, lots of bush around, but I could see about 700 yards to the south across some pasture. I had a spotting scope set up, and one day in August there were 6 bucks going across the pasture. Two of them I could see had four points, plus a brow tine, and the beam length was four to six inches. The others had five points plus a brow tine. When they are walking from right to left at 600 yards, I couldn't see the brow tine, I just presumed it was there. Three out of the four had 5 main tines of about 6 inches.

The last one, the one I had seen a few times, had 5 main tines of about 8 to 10 inches.

Talking to other hunters, a guy has to be fairly careful what you say. I did get one other guy to admit to seeing him. He came up with enough details to convince me we were talking about the same animal. When I didn't see him for a few years , I started asking around. One neighbour said he was pushing bush in the area concerned, got a shot at a really good one, but lost his tracks in the blowing snow.

I would have to say he was real close to the Hanson buck, but you know, deer track soup is mighty poor eating.

[badbrass]

Ive seen 3, one never made it 192 5/8 NT
I guess they say it's a double throat? Which is special!
https://i.imgur.com/YAz54Pr.jpg

[elkchaser]

Never ! 150 is about the biggest deer I have ever seem on the hoof . Even thoughts of them make my heart race .

[lromanchuk]

Ive seen 3, one never made it 192 5/8 NT
I guess they say it's a double throat? Which is special!
https://i.imgur.com/YAz54Pr.jpg

Nice work.. He's a beauty.

[Big Lou]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171024/a30f91429f02ec1543427ce858815124.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171024/cd774d59336414e33940e8c09100cdf9.jpg

I’m pretty sure this is the largest I’ve seen while actively hunting. I came home October 31st. Checked cams Nov 1 and he was very regular and in legal light for about a week previous. I could have killed him that evening with the slug gun. Watched him feed for about an hour but I got cocky and figured I’d kill him with the bow. I’m positive he watched me hang the stand the next day. Went completely nocturnal after that and I didn’t see him for over a year. Killed him that next fall. A lot smaller at 163”. Tale of the teeth puts him 8+ years old but most likely 9.5. I know where his sheds are and that landowner will not let anyone on for any reason. It breaks me. I’d do a lot of bad things to see how big he was in his prime.

I’ve seen my fair share of 180+ deer via touring backroads and spending a considerable amount of time in northern Alberta when deer numbers were insane. The bulk of them have been just random and a lot of miles in between but I’ve seen some real pigs. Other than the one I shared pictures of, I think I’ve only seen one other that would for sure break 180” while hunting.


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[Bushleague]

I saw one 11 years ago while I was tracking a moose south of Red Earth, I don't know if he was 180 but deffinatly over 160. When I first saw him he was looking at me from between two poplars, all I could see were his brow tines and I remember thinking he was a pretty big fork horn. Then he stepped casually stepped out from behind the tree about 60 yards from me and I could see the whole rack... unfortunately I had hung my tag on a nice 4x5 a few weeks earlier.

[Red Bullets]

Over 40+ years of parkland hunting I have known 3 whitetails that were definitely 180 or better.

One of those big bucks ended up teaching me lots about deer hunting and tracking. He never did present himself during my hunts but I played a few rounds of hide and seek with him. I first saw him across a valley during pre season scouting. That buck was a loner. His bed was by itself and the bed was probably as old as him. The bed was no where near any well used deer trails. His bed was on a point overlooking a heavily treed valley 120 yards from a year round water source. Only a dozen smaller trees on his bed point. That buck used the most obscure trails to and from his bed. He didn't have to move very far for everything he needed. That buck eluded me the whole hunting season and the following spring I was able to find one side of his dropped antlers(pic 1). The antler I found was a clean 5 point with 84 inches of mass. He was a typical and wide so I'm guessing he was in the mid to high 180's. Sadly the following spring the landowner decided to build a home 250 yards from that bucks bed. I couldn't hunt that property after that but the landowner did tell me about seeing that buck a few times over the next 4 years. I'd bet that buck died of old age.

Another time I found a set of dropped antlers that were so nice I had a shoulder mount done with them. That set would have likely scored around 190. (pic2)

When I was guiding a few years ago I put a hunter on my personal favorite hunting spot in a ground stand. I myself had been successful there before with 150 class bucks. At high noon he shot a 5x5 182 typical with 4 inches of deductions. (pic3)

[curtisb]

Seen one that would have went 180+.
248, late August of 2006.
Scouting right near my house. Seen hide nor hair of one since.

[Greasemonkey]

I’ve seen 2 ever the first I was watching a lease site and seen a doe walk across the gas line connecting to it walked down to investigate it was a nice trail so I sat there watching toward the lease site well not 1/2 hour later right where I was sitting before I watch the biggest buck walk out into this lease site it was some 700 yards away I ran as fast as I could hopping to get a glimpse of him walking down a connecting line but he was gone worst mistake I have ever made hunting I still see him in my dreams he had everything, the other was actually driving me and my dad where on our way back to camp for lunch and I said I’d drive so put my gun away he kept his out(unloaded of course) we crested this hill on this old oil lease road and there he was not 80yards away I stopped my dad grabbed his binos to look at him and I say wtf are you doing shoot him well he gets out loads his gun a floor plate ruger and sits down to get a shot well mr buck walks into the trees never to be seen again, I still kick myself for putting my gun away oh well.

[Desert Eagle]

I have seen one while out walking. We were in a pasture with strips of trees. Just happened to see a doe running around. As it happened there was a buck right on her. He was easily 180". I had closed my tag on a very respectable buck at that point and the guy I was with only purchased a supplemental tag. .

Through the years we have spotted quite a few while driving around, most not in season. One was in season and there was unfortunate circumstances that I wasn't able to harvest him... even after 3 chances.