I hunt on a lease in Northeast Texas, and if you have ever hunted the area you know that most of the terrain, or at least the woods, are very thick. I have been hunting hard all season long and sometimes I would go several hunts without seeing anything, particularly in October... The hunt began as I walked half a mile to the blind where my dad harvested a big ten point just days earlier. I tossed the corn out in front of the blind about 15-17 yards away from me. The blind is located on an old logging road, so we have a shooting lane that is about the width of a normal highway lane. Woods are on both sides as we have the blind 100 yards in the thicket. The woods on the left of the blind do not provide any shots, and the woods to the the right of the blind have very FEW shots. I settled in my blind and had 30 minutes before first light and another 15 minutes before I would be able to have enough light to shoot. The game camera had pictures of deer showing up around 7 a.m. the past several mornings so I was expecting to see something pretty soon. 7 o'clock came, it was 30 degrees with no wind, and a squirrel made an appearance but the deer were not present. 8'oclock approached quickly and still I had not seen even a doe! I really started praying that God would bring in a big buck for me this morning and the weather seemed perfect for the prayer. At 9 o'clock the deer count was still zero but I knew God was bringing me a deer. At 9:05 I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and as I looked up I saw a big buck at the end of the lane. The buck stood there at 40 yards and was facing me. He began walking slowly right to the golden kernels that were laying on the ground between us. As he was approaching the corn he was still facing me and he turned for the woods. At this point, I was shaking tremendously and I'm pretty sure the buck could of heard my heart beating. I was EXCITED!! God knew that I needed a minute to calm down before shooting this big buck. The buck made a half circle in the woods and appeared to be coming back for the corn. He was standing behind a tree so there was not a shooting opportunity but I could still see part of his figure. Two more steps and he would be out in the lane for a clear shot. As I waited patiently for the buck to step out, all of a sudden he turns around and starts going deeper in to the woods to the right of the blind. God told me to get ready and shoot. At that exact moment the buck stopped. The woods are thick with trees, brush, and small saplings so I couldn't see his entire body. Thankfully God stopped the buck at the perfect spot! His head was behind one tree and his rear end was behind another. All I could see was his mid section up to his front shoulder. At this point he was 15 yards and slightly quartering away. This was the shot! I drew my bow back and as soon as I did he moved his head and looked directly at me. I did not give him a chance, and I released my arrow instantly. Praise the Lord! The arrow looked to have hit him perfectly!! I could not see where he ran because of the thick woods, so all I could do was listen. I heard him run for a short while and then the sound stopped. I did not know if he had ran out of the woods or crashed at that point, but I was surly praying that he was already down. Once my dad got there, I jumped out of the blind and we started tracking. Once we found my arrow we quickly started to follow the blood trail. The Lord lead us straight to my buck about 80 yards away! He is my biggest buck with gun or bow, and my second archery whitetail! I'm super proud of him! His tines are really long...Love him!!
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