Definitely a story behind him. I was very surprised with his weight too. I struggled to get him in the truck b/c I have a torn ACL and two torn menisci in my right knee. He's at a taxidermist in Florence for a shoulder mount and I'll see him again around July.

This might be the best story I've read on here.

Congrats, WV. That is a fantastic deer.

Follow-up question: Why did that buck lay down twice when you hit him the first time. That wound looks like it would have just scared the tar out of him. Must have been the shock of the bullet.

Animals react that way to pain. I've seen livestock do similar when hurt too.


edited to say: I can't tell ya'll how tickled I am about this. WV is a really great guy...I could tell how much he had agonized over this whole thing. Doing the right thing by the deer was important to him, and I admire him for that!

I'm glad you like the story. I keep asking myself the same thing; I only wish I knew. I could've hit him on the first shot. I'm usually a pretty good shot, but things changed when he came out. If I was a bettin' man, I'd say it's him. There's another mark on his hind leg. I'm not 100% that it's him; I wouldn't be completely surprised to find another set of antlers. Everything came together. I fell in a bucket of poop and came out smelling like a rose. The other weird thing is that those two shots that brought him down had no noticeable exit wounds. The 7mm mag just destroyed just about every organ in his body. Thanks for kudos, RockinU. I hate to see animals suffer and I hate losing a deer.

Congratulations! It's sad how many guys will shoot an animal and then just give up if they don't DRT.

Great ending to this story. Doesn't always work out like this. I appreciate the fact that you never gave up and did everything in your power to find and get that deer. I wish every hunter was a diligent as you.