Went out to the new lease in Bandera county Friday evening. Got in a tree a few minutes before th feeder went off, since I don't have a blind out there yet. I wasn't expecting much but hogs to come in, especially after hearing lots of chatter not to far off. As I'm sitting in the tree a young doe comes in and she's eating corn about 20 mins after the feeder goes off. She hangs out for a while,before a narrow basket framed 8 showed up. He was nice but a little young, I watched them for about 30 minutes before they finally decided they were full. After that I assumed the night was done, the neighbors by the sound of gunfire were having a great evening. As I'm siting there waiting for final hunting light to fade I hear something coming in. I can't see it coming in because a branch is blocking my view. I do see that it has a big body so I get anxious to see what it is. Finally it clears the branch and I see a wide antlered buck with atleast 10 pts making a beeline for the feeder. With it being late I have reservations with shooting him, but agree to shoot if he gives me a good broadside presentation. As I'm watching him he hits the feeder then immediately turns and starts heading toward the tree I'm in. At this point I figure hes about to bust me and make a run for it. So I sit patiently and after a few seconds I can't see him any longer. So I carefully lean forward and find that he has stopped to graze but is almost facing me. No problem I'll just enjoy the show and let him leave because I figure he's not gonna give me a shot opportunity. As I get comfortable against the trunk I see he has turned broadside and is moving slow into a better field of view. I'm watching him thinking this is it, so he moves about a foot more and stops. I lean to the side of the trunk and brace the barrel of my .270 on a branch and get him in my sights. He's standing still and I know this is my opportunity, so I aim towards the top of his shoulder and squeeze the trigger. I see him hop and kick his leg indicating he'S been hit and he books it. Well that branch that blocks my view earlier does it again and I can't see where he's headed to. I quickly get down from the tree to see what direction he's headed but see nothing. For the next 2+ hours that's the theme of my night, no blood no deer I see nothing. I walked all over the ranch looking even look in the road for any sign he crossed it, but nothing changes. Defeated and upset I have no choice but to leave and head to Kerrville where I'm staying for the night. Over the hour drive I keep replying th shot in my head wondering if my shot was bad and I missed or gut shot him. I decide to come back in the morning to see if maybe he's wounded and will come back, see if I can find blood, or get some pics on cam to give me an idea of where he ran towards. I get up early and make the drive back to Medina, get back in the tree and sit for the feeder to go off. As I'm waiting same doe from the evening before comes back as does a 4 PT. After a few minutes an 8 comes out and quickly passes through. No other deer come out though. At 0900 I get down and have to scare the doe and 4 PT of so I can look for blood. After a few minutes I find blood where i hit him but that's it. At this point I get frustrated and start walking the ranch again looking near water bedding areas and nothing. I have to stop because some buddies were heading out and I needed to meet them at the gate and help them get set up. When we are done I ask if they mind helping me look one more time. As we start walking spread apart not 70 yds from where I hit him he's lying under a tree. I must have walked past that tree 4 or 5 times but never looked under it. Glad we were able to find it. Sorry for the long read.

I'd rather be lucky than good any day haha

Great buck congrats

That's a great animal. Glad you didn't give up looking for him! Congratulations.

Glad you found him. Great buck!!!

Beautiful Buck

Nice buck and great ultimate recovery...

Your perseverance paid off! Congratulations!

Really nice buck. Glad you found him.

Thanks guys he's my best buck to date!

Glad you found him. Very pretty buck.

Great buck sir.

nice buck, thanks for the long read, glad you found him!
okihuntr

Excellent buck for that area!

Just scored him, first time scoring mind you, but before deductions I got him at 143.

Very nice! What was the inside spread?

Where'd you end up hitting him?

Very nice buck. So glad you found him before the coyotes did.

Just for future reference...anytime you think you've made a 'good' shot on a deer (no reason to think you didn't on this one) it will be dead within 150 yds. of where you hit it, more times than not.

So it is best to concentrate your efforts in a radius no larger than that. Take your time and be thorough. No need to cover the whole ranch right at first.

Congratulations.

Heckuva Bandera co buck. Major props!!

I hit him through his shoulder, decimated his heart/lungs. I initially looked within 100 yds of the direction he ran knowing he would be ther, but didn't see him. Doesn't help that majority of the area is covered in thigh to wais high grass. I couldn't imagine he would attempt to come back to the feeder but he turned to head back and fell. His inside spread was 17 7/8. Very happy with him, generally don't shoot deer that late in the evening. Don't know that I'll do it again for a while.

Here's what's left of his heart, his lungs were smalls chunks.

Great write up, really great buck.