I've had this deer on camera for over a month in another location. Two weeks ago he started showing up where I killed him because there's more does in the area. I started getting daylight pictures of him during the mornings. I could only hunt on the weekends and this particular weekend was going to be cooler. I knew the rut has kicked in and the deer would be moving that particular morning. Around 8 a.m. I had a 4-pointer standing 25 yards from my stand. After 5 minutes he acted like he'd seen a ghost and got out of there. I looked back the way he had just looked and saw a bigger-bodied deer. He stepped into a clearing about 50 yards and I confirmed it was the deer that I was after. My wind was right and I had the thermals helping my scent but he acted like something wasn't right and changed his course of travel behind my stand. I had a clearing at 15 yards that he was going to step in and I readied my bow. As he stepped into the clearing I drew my bow but I was shaking so bad I couldn't take the shot. I had one last chance at 18 yards just ahead of him. As he stepped into that clearing I released the arrow and he took off. I felt like I had hit him a little farther back and confirmed it when I got down and noticed the color of the blood and its contents. I called my brother and a friend with a tracking dog and they both advised me to give the deer at least 8 hours. I met my friend Jeff Andrews with his dog Copper later that afternoon. Copper made quick work of the trail and we found the deer within 10 minutes as he had only run about 150 yards and expired beside a creek.
