Thanks for the kind thoughts, guys. One thing that was interesting after I shot this buck was how the other bucks reacted to it. You know how a yearling doe will usually stick around after you pop her mom? If you sit there she'll usually walk up and sniff her (something that can tug on the heartstrings of most of us). Well, yesterday this12 (13?) pointer was with 2 other bucks--an 8 and a spike. After the bigger deer went down, the spike wouldn't leave. He stayed around for at least 30 minutes and several times went up and checked the dead buck. The 8-pointer, who ran off at first after the shot, later circled back and did the same thing.
It was an interesting thing to watch, which was unexpected to me considering the rut is still going on in that few bucks run around together at this time of year.
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