Well this story has a happy ending. At least for me anyway. I shot a 7 pointer tonight that we believe was the one my wife missed last night. He came out at the same place at the same time as last night. This time he turned down the field instead of up. He was cruising the woodline right at dark and I could only see about the top 1/3 of him due to the slope of the field. I got on him the best I could and dropped him in his tracks with a neck shot. I don't know that I meant to hit him in the neck, but it was so rushed that I can't say for sure where I was aiming. That is not like me, but I really wanted him after what happened last night.

The good news is, he dropped in his tracks which is a good thing. I did not want to have to track a deer after dark in the rain. Oh yea, did I mention it was raining? My wife saw a doe in thefield when she got home and I did to an hour later. So we decided to give it a shot but this time I was up to bat. I didn't use my BP gun though, I used my Browning BAR 30-06. I have a ton of confidence in that gun. In fact, me and Mr. Browning get along real well. He almost always drops deer in their tracks with a 165 gr Nosler Partition.

To wrap up, my wife was maybe more excited than I was. I have hunted for 6 weeks, 4 with a bow and 2 with a BP rifle without even a shot. This was the first time out with my 30-06. My wife was really happy to know she missed the deer clean last night too. While we can't be 100% sure, we are confident this is the same deer based on the antlers and size and time of day of his appearance.