Congrats on a great story and a beautiful buck. At 71 I can relate to your wife's instructions. But I'll bet it felt good to be able to get him to the canoe.
Nice buck. Great story. Congratulations.Most of my deer seem to be at sunset. A couple years ago, faced a similar problem as you with the darkness. My solution was to put a small reflective tac on the tree beside my deer. It worked so well, I've done it several times since.