I saw several small bucks on opening weekend (Nov 6 -7 here in North Texas) that were running around harrassing the does... the young bucks always seem to start rutting first in my areas. This seven point was the first buck that I had seen since then. All I knew was that he was "outside the ears", and I had to make a quick decision on whether to shoot or not.
The stand where I shot him is at the junction of two natural gas pipelines that cross.... I call it the X stand, and it has shots out to 300 yards in 4 directions. You have to be quick, because the pipeline clearings are only about 40 feet across, and the deer cross very quickly. Unless the deer are walking down the pipeline, you don't have much time to judge their size / quality. I'm happy with him, but there are bigger deer that I have on camera. Maybe next year...
When I was looking for the blood trail, I was working a pattern up and down the pipeline clearing for about 40 yards, back and forth, trying to find the point of impact and the start of the blood trail. I kept noticing at the same place that I smelled a strong musky odor, so I just went into the woods at that spot and started looking. I found him almost immediately, just inside the woods. He didn't go more than 20 yards from where I shot him.
Without the smell, I might have never found him... he bled out completely internally. I loaded him in the truck to take him to my field dressing spot... didn't leave a drop of blood in the truck or on me until after I opened him up. Interesting, as I hit him where I wanted, not too high. I shoot a 30-06 with 150 grain core-lockt bullets.... only the one entry hole, the bullet shattered on the opposite shoulder blade and did not exit the deer.
