Spent two weeks in 10a and managed these two bucks on the third day within 5 minutes of each other. It was about 5-7 degrees out. My hunting partner and I split up for our morning hunt and right as I was setting up to rattle I heard him shoot in the distance. I rattled, set the horns down, and asked the Lord if he was willing to bless us both with a buck that morning. Seconds later I heard a deer running in from behind me, crashing and tearing the woods up. I had to stand up flip around and put the gun up so I would be making as little noise and movement as possible. He popped up over the ridge at about 30' and for a second I didn't think he was big enough. He turned broadside and I could see he was better than I thought. I thought about a headshot but since there was snow on the ground I just double lunged him. To my surprise he took off like a gutshot deer
and ran 150 yds before piling up. Not a drop of blood for 75 yds.
Perfect shot just didn't bleed right away. I'll remember that on future shots. Our 13 yr old sons joined us for the second week but were unable to connect. It was still a blessed time in the woods with them. We taped out my buck at 158 2/8".
