ORIGINAL: quiksilver

Well boys, I had my chance tonight. Long story, but I just pounded a really, reallynice buck - took an ugly shot, got almost zero penetration. Headed out now to track.

I was set on a field edge, watching a forkhorn in the distance, when he started acting funny. At first, I couldn't figure out what he was so edgy about, b/c I had the wind, and was in good cover.... Well, I started to put 2+2 together and realized that there might be another deer in play... Well, I tilted my binos away from my eyes and quickly found that the source ofForkie's anxiety was standing 15 yards, quartering toward my tree - a solid 120+" 5x5. I about puked.

When the big guy picked his head up to eyeball the youngster, I got to full draw,but the buck showed absolutely no interest in giving me any more vitals to shoot at, so I held for a while, and opted to take the quartering-toward shot. My arrowhit right on my mark. Thinking back, I probably held a little high, but there was a steep downhill angle. I'm guessing the arrow caught the tight spot between the spine and right shoulder blade - at this point, I'm just praying that I got some shaft through there and into the chest cavity with a couple inches of broadhead.

He took my arrow, but I'm guessing I got about 8" of penetration. From what I saw, at least. Things happen fast.

Really solid 3 year old, great character, boxy frame, just a great, great buck for my area. I'll be sick if there is no recovery . . . and I'm not feeling very good about it, to be honest.

It just sucks, b/c I hit exactly where I was aiming - there's just a lot of big bone structure in there, and I wasn't able to sneak it through.

I shot him at 6:00. At this point, he's had 4 hours. If I bump him, I'm backing out and going back in tomorrow night. However, just by the very nature of the shot, he'll either be there, or he won't. If the bone stopped my arrow before it got into the cavity, he'll be fine. IfI got a couple inchs of arrowinto the front lobes of the lungs, he should be laying within a couple hundred yards.

I'm comfortable with the whole thing. I took the shot I had, and executed it. I knew there were a lot of bones in play, and took the gamble. If I tried to let down my draw, I would have exposed myself to a whole new series of potential potholes. Ugh. Win some, lose some. He's probably either dead right now or laying in his bed with a sore-ass shoulder, wondering what in the hell just happened. Time will tell boys. If he's down, I'll be happier than a pig in new mud. It's all in the hands of the man upstairs at this point. Wish me luck...