After getting in way too early, I was sitting with about 45 minutes before legal shooting light. I did have a buck chase a doe about 75 yards from me up and over the ridge, so I couldn't see them. Then at about 7:45am, two deer ran up behind me about 60-70 yards away, with their tails up, like they were spooked. I thought, "they couldn't have gotten my wind. Is there a coyote chasing them? Is the neighbor's wife out walking her dogs?" Then it dawned on me that it could be a buck bumping/chasing them. No later than thinking that thought, did I hear some more leaves crunching further below me to the S-SW. I waited to spot movement. There it was - a little doe. I still don't know if it was a fawn or a yearling doe, but once I saw the buck step out behind her, I saw how badly he dwarfed her! Either this deer was an easy 220 dressed, or this was a tiny doe. Maybe both!
As soon as he came out from behind a big maple tree, I could see that it was the big 8 point. What a stud! They skirted behind the scrape that was 38 yards below me to the south. They came up and over that little rise and were heading down and below me, but not on the right trail. I was sitting above a trail that would have taken them to about 20-25 yards, but instead, they took their own. By the time they were perpendicular to the tree, they were at 43 yards. I ranged the doe as she entered into the open gap. I dropped my rangefinder and drew back. I had to mouth bleat twice to stop him. When I punched my release it seemed to take forever to get to him. It was arching and going to hit low, but at the last second, he ducked and ducked right into the arrow. I probably would've missed him cleanly had he not ducked.
I hit him, but it seemed about 3-4 inches behind the shoulder and about 4-5 inches lower than I'd want it, given my severe angle from above. The arrow stuck and he took off running. It all happened so fast (as it always does) that it was hard to see how much penetration the arrow got and whether the shaft made it up into the chest cavity, or if it lodged between the belly hide and the rib cage. I was on cloud 9 for about 25-30 minutes. I climbed down and tried to gather my thoughts. I texted Jena, dad, Mitch, and Dan. Everything was picture-perfect until I started to try to find blood.
I eventually found blood by just trailing him. He started bleeding after about 30 yards and it seemed to increase with each bound. He worked his way up another ridge and as he ascended the hill, the blood trail got to be less and less. He crossed a four-wheeler trail and that was the neighbor's property line, so I backed out.
