It all started early March, when I saw a buck I was after survive all the hunts last yr. I hunted him in my spot for 4 days during the archery hunt without success. All summer long checking cameras and packing in salt with high hopes for August. July gets here and the bucks are looking good and ahead of schedule for antler growth from the yrs past. Now I have a problem, the deer/sheep results come out and I happen to get lucky and draw a sheep tag. My focus changes to my sheep tag from the early archery deer season. Still checking cameras and replenishing the salt, I decide to only hunt a couple days of opening weekend to save my vacation time for the sheep hunt. I will not be picky on what buck to shoot. Well a couple weeks before the archery season opens up my buddy checks cams and finds cattle everywhere. The cattle have pretty much destroyed my area and all the bigger bucks I have been seeing stop coming in. Opening morning comes, I still decide to sit my spot to hopefully get lucky and have a decent buck comes in. Around 9am I can see a couple bucks down below me walking around but just passing through. I lose sight of them. After a couple minutes all of a sudden one of the bucks a smaller 3 pt comes running back towards me. I decide if he gives me a shot opportunity, I will take it. Well it happened and I flat out choked, rushed the shot and my arrow sailed right over his back. I get out of blind to find arrow just to be double sure it was a clean miss. Frustrated and pissed at myself for not taking my time I leave area figuring it was busted out. Get to new spot replaying my screw up in my head, not 10 mins goes by a spike comes in. Im still mad so I decide im shooting this spike to punch my tag. I range 42 yds, draw back, I cant release. I decide to just shoot him with my cell phone. Sitting under my tree 20 mins goes by since spike came in, eating some crackers I catch something on my left side. Oh crap, its him, thought it was a different buck I had on cam with big eye guards that was on my short list of shooters. He has me pegged as I reach for my bow. We have a stare off which seemed like forever. He puts his head down, I attach release and start drawing only to be pegged again. Another stare down ensues, im starting to cramp up. He finally puts head down and commits to water. I finish my draw cycle and have to lean back and to the side to get a good clearing for the shot. I settle my 30 yd pin, release, thwack! Buck jumps up, turns and takes off jumping a fence. I see him bleeding as he's running away. Im ecstatic, I redeemed myself from earlier. I give him an hour before I go look. I go get arrow, its full of blood. Start blood trailing with only a few drops on the ground then it just opens up. The buck only went about 50 yds from where I shot him and expired. It wasnt the buck I thought it was but I definitely wasnt disappointed. Dale at Wild Heritage Taxidermy taped him out at 104 2/8" gross. Finally hit that 100' mark. Thanks for reading, im not good at writing stories. Now onto the sheep scouting. 21 Days apart
