Today I decided to set up my ground blind in a totally new place. I get there in the afternoon about 1:30 and clear the leaves and move a few branches around to break up my outline. I set down on my trusty milk crate and enjoy the warm sunshine. With muzzleloader and jr./sr. antlerless going on there are numerous shots around the area and I figured they would be sending the deer thru. I wait an hour and nothing but a three point spike wanders by. I was getting sleepy and I really wanted to curl up on the ground and take a nap. So I got out my cell phone and started checking out the games.
Suddenly I hear the crashing of leaves on the top of the hill. I put the cell phone down and look up to see a doe running by. Then I hear more footsteps and I see antlers. Whoa, big antlers! Turns out to be the big boy I saw the other day. He' s limping! Limping really bad. His left front shoulder is injured. Well, he stays out of bow range and walks into the thick stuff and beds down about 50 yards away. I get my binoculars and check him out. He' s definitely a 10-point with a perfect rack. He looks like he' s panting. I get all excited thinking that he' s going to expire right there. Then I' m thinking about what to do if a hunter comes looking for him. I thought about trying to stalk him by even crawling if I had to. I wait and hour and a half. Then I see a deer about 15 yards to his right. It was probably a doe but I' m not sure because it bedded down too. So I think " oh well, there goes my stalk. I' ll get busted if I even make a move" . Fifteen minutes later I see the buck jump to his feet. Suddenly him and the doe are spooked. The doe took off over the hill and the buck is headed right at me! I was caught off guard. I grab my bow and bring it up just as he is 15 feet in front of me. He stops when he sees me - right behind a small bush!!! Well, I knew I was busted alright so I drew the bow. I knew he was going to take off and I considered taking a chance to shoot thru the bush. He decided to cut off to the right up the hill. I think he had wings! He flew and took the 50 yards in maybe 8 leaps. The only shot I could even consider was at about 40 yards and I wasn' t comfortable at that distance with him moving like that. And just like that he was gone. Couldn' t even tell his shoulder was injured. I went to the top of the hill to see where he went. He apparently crossed the big field and was out of sight. I was so excited even though I didn' t get to shoot him. He was beautiful and his body was huge. I would guess he went 250.
I turn to see someone down to my left. It turns out to be a neighbor. We discussed deer and neighboring property etc. I told him that I watched that deer for two hours and he apologized. He had seen the doe and was following it. He had no idea that I or the buck was there. He told me that him and other neighbors have seen this buck in the field just about every morning. Oh well, I guess we probably won' t see that buck anymore. Wonder how bad that injury was? I hope someone can get him before he possibly dies from his injuries.