Hey guys. Thanks for the kind words. It's been an interesting season. I'll have to admit that this isn't the first buck I have shot at this season. I zipped a shaft right under the chest of a beauty of a buck with a nice palmated right beam and lots of stickers at 23 yards on Oct. 24th. I had estimated the shot to be around 20 and just fell a little short. He only jumped about 10 yards and never spooked, but no shot opportunity presented itself after that.
Now, rewind to Nov. 2008. I had this 5x4 at 40 yards last year, the Friday after Thanksgiving. He walked by and went on the neighbors property. Shortly thereafter I heard a couple shotgun blasts. The does came back but no buck. I figured someone had whacked him in the doe season. I checked a trailcam a few days later and had happened to get a pic of him the night before I thought he was shot. Then in January I found his 5 pt. side. So, fast forward to the morning of Nov. 7, 2009. At around 7 am I heard leaves rustle to my left and behind me. Here he came on a slow, methodical walk. It looked as though he was going to pass behind me but fortunately he angled passed at 10 yards. He paused right in front of my stand to sniff the doe pee I had put out where I wanted them to stop. When he stopped, his near leg went forward. I told myself to make this one count and pick a spot. The shot hit the near side lung and heart. Death run consisted of him running in to 2 trees, getting up and then swan diving into the creek, all in about 80 yards. I ended up sitting for another 2 hours to see what else may show up. Only one small 4x4 came by and he spent quite a bit of time smelling the bloody arrow in front of the stand. Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I had to get down and take a look. I said a prayer of thanks to God for blessing me with a fine animal and for allowing me to harvest him quickly. Dang I love this time of year! Good luck.