Been mostly duck hunting lately so I figured with a day off I'd try to get on a buck. Headed up the mountain with @DanSanDiego and on the hike up we bumped a doe and buck right away. The buck was about 10 yards but by the time I got my gun ready he was bouncing away. I tried a running shot around 25 yards and thought I smoked him. I expected to find him piled up but he was nowhere to be found and with no blood trail either, I knew I blew it bad. I almost gave up at that point thinking the area is ruined but we decided to stick it out for another hour or so. We split up; Dan went to an area he's seen deer and I hiked further up to a canyon I've been before and liked. Sat down around 0745 and told myself that if I don't see anything by 0830, I'd head home and wallow in my frustration for the earlier miss. Then, right at 0815 a buck walks out from the ridge across the canyon and I'm shaking since no one ever gets a second chance buck and I'll really kick myself if I miss this one too. I steadied and shot, and he immediately ran into the canyon straight at me. Not wanting to miss my second chance, I shot him again in full stride and saw him pile up in some brush. His neck was pretty thick, had a broken antler, and he stunk like hell, so the rut is full tilt. Can't wait for some grilled backstraps!
