It was a great morning. The wind was right, with my five layers and heat packs on I was comfortable and the weather was great. I jumped two does on the way in (figures
) but got inside my ground blind anyway and settled in.At 8:45 p.m., a buck walks out of the bush. I can tell already that he is missing one side. Then, I realize, it's 'him'. There he is, in half his glory. His left side was intact and his right side was obviously shed.
Then, he has the audacity to stand at 40 yards broadside, as if to mock me.
I let him walk.
It wouldn't have been worth it to let the arrow fly.
I watched him for a good half hour work around that field and ran through all of the encounters I had with him this season. He had never been that close. No matter what I did, or where I thought I could 'cut him off', he always took a different route.
He wins this season. I chose to hunt him and only him, letting many a young buck and doe walk away and he won.
So, that's it. It's time to hang it up, enjoy time with family over Christmas and look forward to turkey season...and hopefully a meeting next Fall (although time will be a luxury, if you have seen my 'next season's already a write off' thread).
I fought the King of the Forest and the King won.
But, I still enjoyed every moment of 'the hunt' and wouldn't burn a tag on a lesser deer even if I could go back and do it all again.
Congrats on another season passed folks. I hope you had as much fun as I did.