Hunter: Sandi Foster
Points: 8 (4L, 4R)
County: Cherokee
Season: 2018-2019
Hunt Story
We were a little late getting in our stands on this morning but we were in no hurry because of the recent rains and heavy fog. Shortly after I settled in for a long day in my stand, I had a small doe show up and feed past where I was sitting. Thirty minutes after she had moved on I noticed movement to my left in the pines. When I first saw it, I thought it was one of the smaller bucks that often visited this site. I decided to play around with it and picked up my grunt call and gave it a couple soft calls. I was shocked when this guy came out of the woods. He walked straight across the hay field I was watching and stopped broadside at 38 yards. I put the crosshairs of my Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter on his shoulder and pulled the trigger. As the smoke cleared I watched this buck make a circle in the field and head back in the same direction in which he came. My first thought was OH PLEASE JESUS let me have made a good shot. I texted my husband and told him I had just shot a big buck and was shaking like a leaf. I wanted to get down immediately and check for blood, but Greg said sit still and we would check soon. Thirty minutes was all a could stand, my nerves were getting the best of me. At the 40-minute mark Greg arrived and got out of the truck. From my stand I simply said move that truck, that's where he was standing when I shot. The truck was politely moved and when Greg got out the second time he walked over and said, "Well you hit him." My heart jumped and my nerves took off again. We found hair and blood where he was standing and started tracking. The blood trail became easier and easier to follow and 10 minutes later I recovered my buck... What a feeling it was to be able to put my hands on this deer.
