Before I forget, we are going to have a Thursday show this week.  We have lots of material already from this past weekend that we couldn't squeeze into today's show, so we have an action-packed episode scheduled for Thursday.

This what it looked like at the instant I pulled the trigger.  He was 30 yards away, not look at us, appearing fairly relaxed, curious almost. Well that didn't last long.  Bummer!

Here is what happened:

1.   Plans can sometimes actually work.  We waited until the wind was right.  Saturday morning it was from the west, perfect for where we thought the buck was living. 

2.   We had a trail camera about 200 yards from the location of the stand and every time we got the buck on the camera it appeared he was approaching from the direction of a ditch that was about 120 yards west of the stand.  It is a thick, deep draw and that is where we figured he was living.

3.   Shortly after sunrise Saturday morning a different mature buck chased a doe down into that draw.  He stood at the edge staring in and after a few minutes , he flagged his tail and took off back up and over the ridge from where he had come.  We knew something was up, because the doe never left with him.  She was still there.  Why did he run off?  Hmmm. The Great 8 maybe?

4.   About 10 minutes later we heard some horrendous grunting down in the ditch.  I asked Chad if the farmer had moved his cattle out yet - that is how deep that grunt sounded.  I was serious.  Then the buck did it again and it was for sure a deer.  Had to be the Great 8, right?

5.   Soon the doe ran out of the draw.  The Great 8 came out a short distance and stopped, turned and walked back in.  We were filming him at this point. 

6.   I decided not to call again because I had already called at the other mature buck (Chad wanted to shoot the other one) and I knew the Great 8 had to have heard it.

7.   30 minutes later I saw antlers coming up the ridge; the buck was swinging about 40 to 50 yards north of us. 

8.   He turned and headed straight toward us, hit something in the brush he didn't like and then backed out.  He was in the process of circling around to the east side (downwind) when I stopped him with a grunt.

9.   The Great 8 never locked on to the source of the grunt; he was looking fairly casual.  I aimed center lung with the 30 yard pin and triggered the shot. 

10.   He dropped at least 8 to 10 inches at the sound of the shot as he loaded his legs to bust out.  The arrow hit him very high.

11.   He blew out of there and I knew already what was going to happen next - no buck.

Here is what I learned:

1.   Every other mature buck I have stopped in this part of the country with a soft mouth grunt stood there stalk still until the arrow hit him.  Some of them have been as far 40 yards away.  Plenty of time for them to react, but they didn't.  This one dropped a mile, for some reason.  Very bad luck.  I am not sure I could have anticipated his reaction in any way.  He was not overly alert.  It was just bad luck that he reacted this way. 

2.   About half our does drop at the shot, but almost none of our bucks.  Makes the decision on where to aim a very tough one.  I have shot at does, had them duck at 40 yards, dropping completely under the arrow.  Then they come sneaking back to the same spot - all alert - where I shoot them for the second time, again aiming for center-lung.  Often they don't drop and I kill them cold.  Explain that to me.  It is almost like a coin toss trying to figure out what to do on these Midwest deer.

3.   I will certainly aim low-lung on all future shots at bucks I have stopped for the shot, especially those past 20 yards.  Watch, the next one will actually spring into the air and I'll shoot under him! 

I am very depressed about this outcome.  We looked and followed drops of blood for about 300 yards before the blood stopped.  He never bedded.  The buck deserved a clean kill.  But he is a huge, tough old warrior and I hope to see him again this season.  Who knows.  It makes me sick.