It is at times like this that you realize that things happen for a reason. I went out in the woods Sat morning feeling good about all that was happening. The rut was still going good, the temps were around 30 degrees and the wind was perfect. I knew this was going to be a great hunt.
Well the morning was going slower than I thaught, the only thing moving was squirls around my stand. At 7:15 I heard a shot come from what I thaught was my brother’s stand. This put me on alert because I knew this could be just what was needed to get the deer moving. Anyway, about ten minutes later, I hear a deer coming from the top of the ridge behind me. I turn to see what looks to be a shooter eight, or maybe a ten. It takes a few minutes for the deer to clear the brush and saplings and present a good look. While waiting for the deer to reach a shooting lane, I had a while to take a good long look at the deer. It was clear to see that the deer had been shot, due to the blood around the hind quarters, but it did not appear to be fatal. Upon further thaught, I figured it would be best to try to take a good shot and finish the deer off rather than have it die slowly in the woods. I proceeded to shoot and the deer ran off down the hill.
I waited for a few moments and figured it was time to go check on the deer. After reaching the spot, it was clear it was a solid shot, blood everywhere. I thaught it should be anywhere close. I ended up tracking the deerfor about three hundred yards until it jumped a fence to the neighbors land. I was in shock becuse it was clear from the blood, foam, mucus and what looked like lung material that I had a solid shot. Anyway, I went disapointed back to my stand to wait for a doe and the oppertunity to go to the neighbors and ask for permission to track the deer.
Five minutes later a man from the next property over is at the edge of the woods yelling at me to come here. I thought for sure that they had located the deer and wanted me to come and tag it. I was excited because it had been a number of years since I had last shot at a buck, and though it was not huge, it was still exciting to consider. 
When I reached there to talk to the man, I come to find out tthat his yong boy had shot the deer and they had been tracking it. The father talked about how the boy was sooo excited because he had only shot one other buck before, he was younger. Upon hearing this, I knew the right tthing to do was to explain how I had tracked the deer to the edge of their property and the I knew the deer was dead due to the amount of blood I had seen and the other factors. The father thanked me and said he would come get me if they needed me. I knew that I would not have that deer to tage later that day and it was hard to swallow, but I knew it to be more important that the sport grew in the young boy, than me having a buck to tag. 
After getting back in my stand and settling back in, I had a sense of pride from what had just happened. This kept me going for the next hour of hunting.
At about nine, I heard some more deer coming down the ridge in front of me. It turned out tto be three doe. I continued watching them as they ate in the area around me. After they left, I was still in high alert because I knew very well that a buck could be close by. About ten minutes later, he came down the same path as the doe and he was nice. I knew this was the deer I wanted. I quickly stopped looking at the antlers and focused on the shot. I put two good ones in him and he went right down. Ten yards from where I shot at him. 
When I got over there, I saw how big he really was. It turned out to be a nine pointer with nice mass and a cool rack. It turned out to be the talk of the registration stantion in Boscobel Sat and sunday while I was ther. Very cool. Anyway, here are some pics. Take care and stay safe for all of you still hunting.
Bassman
You did the right thing and were rewarded an hour later… 
