I've been very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to hunt some very nice places. I killed my best buck ever yesterday and am still shaking as I try to recap this story. The ranch was known to produce some very nice deer so I was told to "be patient" throughout my hunt. At first light, two big bodied deer were at the feeder milling around for corn however they soon wandered off before it spun the morning breakfast. A few nice deer came in particularly a nice mainframe "8" with some trash. I was tempted to drill him but decided to be patient. The gamble paid off as the two bigger deer made their way back in and were about 50 yards out when a loud boom (from a rifle hunter) scattered everything in sight. No!!!! I was sick watching them trot off but luckily they made their way back in. The bigger buck was reallly nervous and stayed on the outskirts of the feeder. He finally came in and started to nibble corn only to jump and start making his way back to the brush. He was quarteriing away from me so I figured it was now or never. I drew the Heli-M and sent a Muzzy through the rib cage and watched it exit through his front shoulder! OMG...I was shaking like crazy knowing that I had just arrowed the best deer of my life! The shot was a tad low so he wasn't bleeding as much as I thought!
After what seemed like an eternity, I got out, retrieved my arrow and started the recovery. There was very sparce blood for about 100 yards then the unthinkable happens: I jumped him laying in the brush ahead of me
. My heart sinks and that sick feeling sets in. We back out and decide to give him some time. When we resumed the tracking job, one of the guides suggested we work our way up near the creek/pond. There was hardly any blood anymore so I was losing hope and we were about to back out and call in the tracking dogs. As we walked the creek bank, my guide spotted a deer submerged in the water. All we could see was a belly so we were'nt sure if it was him. As we got closer and started to "fish" the deer out...Big antlers started to appear! All I could do was drop my head and Thank the Lord for leading us to this absolutely magnificent buck. Had we waited an hour longer, I'm sure he would have sank and never been found. The shot was low as I thought so I just barely clipped his heart but he was bleeding internally. When it was all said and done...I was now holding a 13-point buck with split G-2 and a kicker. He was very heavy with a 22" spread and scored a whopping 178 6/8! I'm still in disbelief and this has been a dream season for me so far...but there's still a few more hunts left on the calendar! 
Good Hunting to you all!
K-Man
After what seemed like an eternity, I got out, retrieved my arrow and started the recovery. There was very sparce blood for about 100 yards then the unthinkable happens: I jumped him laying in the brush ahead of me
. My heart sinks and that sick feeling sets in. We back out and decide to give him some time. When we resumed the tracking job, one of the guides suggested we work our way up near the creek/pond. There was hardly any blood anymore so I was losing hope and we were about to back out and call in the tracking dogs. As we walked the creek bank, my guide spotted a deer submerged in the water. All we could see was a belly so we were'nt sure if it was him. As we got closer and started to "fish" the deer out...Big antlers started to appear! All I could do was drop my head and Thank the Lord for leading us to this absolutely magnificent buck. Had we waited an hour longer, I'm sure he would have sank and never been found. The shot was low as I thought so I just barely clipped his heart but he was bleeding internally. When it was all said and done...I was now holding a 13-point buck with split G-2 and a kicker. He was very heavy with a 22" spread and scored a whopping 178 6/8! I'm still in disbelief and this has been a dream season for me so far...but there's still a few more hunts left on the calendar! Good Hunting to you all!
K-Man
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