The day started off with a lot of nervous energy as Don would call it. Don was suppose to meet me at my house at 515, needless to say he was late and around 525 I was blowing his phone up. I was so pumped up to get to the stand this morning I was pacing back and forth until I was able to get a hold of him. 530 finally came and I was jumping in his truck and we were off to one of our favorite stands we call the upper hill side set. The set sits on the top side of strip of woods that is only 80 yards wide and is situated between two major bedding areas, it is a perfect travel corridor. This set is perfect for any southerly wind or east wind, so with the winds out of the south we new we were golden for the morning hunt. With daylight approaching we finally were getting settled in our stands. Right off the bat there was a little chasing on the bottom side of hill but it was still to dark to see what they were. Then a few does worked there way from the top side of the hill towards the bottom about 75 yards away. I think at this time we looked at each other and new that it was going to be a good morning. This was the first time we had been in this set this year so we new the deer were not pressured at all. Over the past few years we have learned to stay off this hill side until we see some bucks chasing does. This patience was about the pay off and we had no clue. After the does worked away Don got my attention and there was more deer working towards us but this time they were in a cover crop field and about 100 yards away. The five deer single filed by us staying 100 yards out. Once the deer were out of sight I turned to Don and said "All we need is for a shooter to walk down this fence row scent checking this hill side and it will all be over with". At that time I was kind of joking thinking it would never happen that way because it would just be to easy. As soon as I said it I turned around and looked down the hill. Not 5 seconds later I turned back to Don and noticed a buck pick his head up only 40 yards out along the same fence I had mentioned just 15 seconds ago. I told Don "Shooter, shooter, shooter and I am not joking". At this time the deer had became a little alert, I don't know if he had heard me tell Don that he was there or if he just sensed something wasn't right. After a few nervous seconds the buck turned and crossed the fence. Knowing he was going to hit the ridge in the field and he would be out of range I decided to try and take him before he got there. He inched his way towards my opening and I asked Don if he was on him, not hearing him say yes I asked again. Once again not hearing him say yes or no, the buck finally hit my opening. Not being able to hear Don didn't have me worried at all. I knew he was on the buck because if wasn't he would have been saying NO loud enough for me to hear him. After hunting and filming together the past few years we have became confident enough in each others filming ability that at times in the heat of the moment we don't have to communicate. Sooner or later it will get us in trouble but it has been OK so far. As soon as he hit my opening I did the old mouth grunt and he threw his head up. Using an adjustable single pin I had already set it for where I thought he was going to walk which was 35 yards. I buried the pin right at his heart and squeezed the trigger off. Watching the Nockturnal lighted nock sail towards him I knew it was going to be close, then the buck started to drop. At the same time he dropped he had turned a little and I watched the Nockturnal nock disappear. The mature buck turned and jumped the fence and ran down the hill. Not hearing him crash I was a little worried but being able to see where the arrow had went in I thought it looked good. I did however have to ask Don just to make sure. After things settled down I ranged where he was standing to see if I was close because I knew he had dropped a little and I might have gotten lucky. When I hit the range finder it said 42 yards and I had the pin set for 35. I don't know if it was luck or I was just that good but I am banking on it being a lot of luck. Letting the buck set for about an hour we tracked him up. After a short track job we found him about 80 yards from the stand. He is a main frame 8 with an extra brow and a kicker coming off one of his brows. This is not a huge antlered buck but a big 4 1/2 year old and that is what we are after. All in all its a good buck and a great hunt as well as one of the fastest hunts I have ever been on. We were not on stand but 1 hr. and we got the job done. We are not sure at this time if we have any history with this buck, but will be going back and looking at trail photos and video to see if by any chance we do. I would like to give a big thanks to Don for being there this morning even after a long week at work.
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