First of all, thanks to everyone for your comments in the live from the stand thread. I had this deer on camera early in the year but only one time after shedding velvet. It had been 79 days since I had got a picture of him but figured he was still alive, because at one time he disappeared for a month earlier in the year.
My son took a very respectable 9 point on the third or fourth day of gun season and I kept hunting. I finally got some pics of two other nice deer at my 20-acre farm and hunted there a couple of days, but kept thinking about this deer. Finally, I went back and decided to spend the rest of the season on a hope and prayer. I passed several decent deer – including a big 8 pointer in the 140 range.
This morning I was in the blind before daylight, and the day started slow. By 8 AM I hadn’t seen a single deer but finally saw a doe and fawn. I was trying to look in all directions and took my eyes away from the plot for a minute. When I turned back, I saw the rear of a deer cross the edge and enter the NWSG field. I believe the deer had just come and checked a scrape at the edge of the plot.
I thought to myself that I would at least get my gun up just in case it might be one I wanted. It was walking toward a shooting land so I focused my attention there. The grass was so tall that I couldn’t see anything moving in it. Suddenly he stepped out in the lane and stopped briefly. I saw it was him and pulled the trigger quickly. The shot was roughly 200 yards. I was shooting a 300 magnum, so the recoil kept me from seeing which direction he went, but I had faith I had made a perfect double lung shot. The blood trail though the native grass was very good, and in a few minutes, I found him about 50 yards from where I shot him. The lungs were a mess, so I don’t know how he went that far.
Gross score is 186+ and typical net is 174+, so we have a Booner.
PS: Just saw a trail cam pic today that a guy 1.8 miles away had of him 4 days ago, so I am very blessed. Another guy told me that he came close to running over this deer a few days ago about a mile from where I live. I give God the glory and thank my friend from NC who had been praying for me to get this deer.
