After work I got settled into my Northern Mo stand at 3:45. I immediately saw a small buck working a couple of does off in the distance. 4:35 I saw a descent 8 coming straight to me. I passed him because he was just an 8 and let him go underneath of my stand unaware of anything. He got 10 yards past me and I changed my mind -- he got BIGGER. At around 7-10 yards I pulled and stopped him with a " baa" from the old mouth. he turned slightly and I released.

The angle of the deer was about 1:30 to 2' oclock position. I aimed for the last rib wich would of put the arrow coming out in front of the front opposite shoulder. Right through the boiler room. Having everything " burned" into my mind, I hit the last rib, but about 1/3rd of the way up, vs. 2/3rds. The deer bolted, through semi-grown up brush about 70 yards and stopped, hunched his back, and stood there looking straight or in my direction for 37 minutes. He then jumped the fence and slowly moved into " to thick to see anything" territory.

I shoot 72 pounds, 30 1/4" 2315' s w/ 125 spitfires. The arrow only penetrated about 5-7 inches and remained lodged solid in the deer until he dissappeared. My only guess is that at the deer' s angle, and shot placement, my arrow had to " try" and bust through anywhere from 3-6 ribs. My set-up has alot of K/E, but that is a mighty task for any set-up. And I am hoping that my heads held together and did thier job. Since he hunched up, he' s telling me that I got mainly stomach. He' s as good as on the wall, but I am choosing to pursue him in the morning. The temp is supposed to get to 28 or so tonight. I stayed in my stand until dark looking for signs and saw a doe get 50 yards downwind from where I last saw him and BOLT. I also saw 2 screech owls perch directly over top of the last known position at last light. I think I am doing the right thing by waiting ' til first light tomorrow. It will be one hell of a gutting job, but the meat should be good -- right?

Let me know what you all think.

BOB