I got the buck I had seen in my clover plot back in July. I had only seen him once or twice and "think" I have a fuzzy pic taken of him through a window and screen.
Here's a pic taken after field dressing . . .
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...levant_count=1
Here's the [long] story . . .
It's been a good season so far, I got a nice doe in the 1st legal minute of my 1st morning out -- the season opened earlier than expected and I wasn't aware of it. . . but I digress . . .
I wasn't expecting to go Thursday evening since I had to work, but my last 2 clients of the day (I'm a personal trainer) had to cancel their appointments for health and work reasons. I still wasn't going to go because it was humid and the Ravens were playing that night. But I watched a hunting video that afternoon that showed the host shooting a nice buck in warm conditions right as the sun was setting. I decided to go.
The stand I picked (on my property) has always been good to me and the wind was perfect for it, so I sat there and waited. This next part is important.
I prayed to my Lord that I would see one of the 2 big bucks I had seen during the summer, that I would see him in time and be ready, that he would be completely unaware of my presence and that I would get an unblocked high percentage shot broadside right before sunset.
As I was noticing that it was getting dark earlier than usual due to the impending rain, I slowly turned in time to see one of the two "big boys" heading my way on a trail that goes right past my tree. He was completely unaware that I was there and walked right into an open shooting lane at close range where I drilled him and watched him bolt out of there - I thought I heard a crash but couldn't be sure. I looked at my watched and it was 6:52pm . . . sunset was at 6:53pm!
Since rain was forecast to start at any time, I got down right away to have a look at my arrow. While it didn't look as bloody as expected, I had seen the shot and suspected the crash I heard left him not far away. With the remaining light, I started following where I saw him run, but I didn't see any blood in the dim light. I knew the rain would wash it away if I waited, so I continued. After a few minutes of not seeing any good sign, I again prayed that the Lord would lead me to him since I wasn't having any luck on my own. I took 2 steps and looked up to see a white belly not far ahead!
I took some cell phone pics which were terrible and then field dressed him and dragged him about 50 or so yards to my neighbor's pasture so I could drive to him. My wife got the pic you see here.
Stats: dressed weight 190lbs., 21" spread, 10 points still in velvet.
Note: Our meat grinder stopped working and would not start again before we had finished processing him, so I prayed about that. It started right up! My God answers prayer!