I didnt' tell this story last year, but since the topic has come up I'll post it. It isn't exactly something to come home bragging about it, but it is actual events.

Opening day of gun season a friend of mine shot a high 140's buck. We were out on a little celebratory run that evening when we ran into a mutual friend. He was also celebrating. Said he had shot a nice buck that night. We asked him where it was, and he mentioned it was still in the woods. He figured it was gut shot, and had given it a few hours. After a short amount of convincing we decided to do a recovery.

There was five guys and one woman. Everyone had flashlights. One had a knife. Because it was after shooting hours, we knew we wouldn't be able to put the buck down with a gun if it were still alive. So after a short walk, the buck is spotted bedded down at a distance of only 25 yards, but completely alert. Not the smartest thing to do, but I moved in on the buck and grabbed the antlers. As he pushed me back, I sprawled and put his nose into the ground. My friend came in from the side and continued to stab the buck in the heart/lungs. The woman cried, the one guy got sick, another sat there with flashlight in hands, the hunter was elated, myself and my best friends high-fived for tackling this 150 class buck.

Here's the kicker. When I grabbed this deer by the horns I did so under the impression that it was on it's death bed after being gut shot. As it turns out, the buck was merely shot in the front elbows of both legs. The deer was nowhere near being on it's death bed. Kind of a cruel and weird story, but true nonetheless.