Got this guy last year. Quite the find, as we have worked hard at managing the land to have deer this size. When I first started hunting here (16 yrs ago) all we really ran into on the land were 4-6 pointers, with a rare 8 every now and then. We worked hard at letting all the bigger/typical deer pass on by for many years, tagging only the deer with poor racks. The last couple of years, have been doing amazing. The gene pool running through the deer now, is the best that it has been since before I started going to the lease. I grew up seeing and tagging mostly smaller/deformed bucks.
Day Of The Hunt: We were getting towards the end of our week long visit to our ranch. We got into the stand around 2pm, as it was a very active area for most of the day. Not on this day though. Our local Turkeys did not stop by on their way to their roost, nor did the resident doe and yearlings stop by for their evening snack. Usually on a day such as this, we would get out of the stand and walk around to see if the bucks were running the does out on the hill sides. We wisely chose to stay in our spot though. Not long after the vanished below the horizon, we had a doe run from one tree line to another in the pasture off to our right. A couple of minutes after, this eye opener came walking out, fallowing the does trail. He was not covering ground very fast, so we waited for him to make his was to a certain clearing before hitting the grunt call. He finally came up to a good area, we grunted, he stopped, and the shot was made.
I knew that I had placed a good shot on the deer, there was no doubt in my mind. Me and my father though, we made the mistake of not watching the deer run after shooting. We were so excited and happy about the moment, all we could do is rejoice. About ten minutes after the shot, we went out to where we were certain the deer was standing at the time of impact. At this point, the stars were already starting to show, and the light was becoming very limited. We scouted a squar mile area in the direction the buck was facing, trying to find any sign of blood. After a couple of hours we decided to head back to camp to eat food, as we were starting to run on empty. We talked about waiting to find the deer with fresh light in the air the next moring, but by the end of our meal, we got out of our camo and headed to Bass Pro to pick up new/brighter lights. We made it back into the pasture, determined to find the deer. There was no way either of us could sleep easily otherwise.
We expanded the area we felt that he had taken his last breath in, up and down the hill country, in and out of cedar bushed, everywhere. After a few more hours went by, it was now past mid night.. Yes, I know, some of you are wondering why we were still looking for this deer. Either way though, there was no morning hunt for us the next day. We went back to the area where the deer was on impact, and walked out further from the stand as we did originally. After about fifteen minutes, we found it. The single drop of blood that we had been praying for all night, shortly after that, a second drop. Now we had a line of direction, which went from drops, to puddles rather quickly. This deer did not run straight of the tree line it was originally heading for though. It immediately made a horse shoe back to the tree line it came out from. After realizing the deers intentions after being shot (only 15 yrds into the trail) I raised up my light and scanned the field, and there he was. He ran about 40 yards, but as it was in a half circle, only 23 yards from the first blood spot, and in a straight line with the angle of my shot from the stand. So there we were, deer at hand, and smiles from ear to ear.
I hope that some of you enjoyed this story. I feel there are some things that could be taken from it. If you are a management minded hunter, after time it will pay off. (We saw a lot of deer around this size on this trip) This was the second year we aloud one another to start harvesting them after a 15 year stretch of letting anything nice pass by. Also, keep your eye on the deer after you shoot. This was the first time we were too excited to do so, and it bit us in the back end pretty good. We were walking through that area for over six hours! If we had only kept an eye out, we would have seen him drop just a few yards past where he was hit..
Stay safe, and happy hunting.