I was sitting in a shooting house over one of my green fields in box stand . This green field is about a 3/4 acre planting half in whitetail extreme and the other half in a annual blend. I work hard with my deer. I plant spring and fall. I give them mineral licks in the off season and feed them year round when possible. I also knew from trail cams that there was nice buck that I deemed a shooter. I had been doing my normal all day sit on the first day of muzzle loader. I had just relieved myself into a bottle and was relaxing in the warm sun when I looked up an saw a buck on the other side of the field. I saw him from the side and he looked high at first. I raised my smoke pole and when I did it hit the box stand. The buck who was making a scrape looked at me. I had a "OH CRAP" moment and immediately knew the buck had me. Without a conscious thought, I had pulled back the trigger and BOOM went the gun.
I trust my muzzle loader and was a little surprised at the buck running off. The blood was heavy in the field then tapered off as he exited. I went and got a light and went to work tracking. I do best most of the times when I follow it from first blood and just follow the trail. This day was no exception. I followed the guy and he surprisingly made it about 100 yards in my thick woods. I realized when I found the buck that I had "Ground checked" the wrong buck.
Allot of people are happy to shoot any buck. I however about have as much fun trying to grow them as I do hunting them. I do however think I was looking for the big buck I had seen earlier on trail cams. My desire to shoot the big buck for the wall pushed me into shooting a buck that I would have loved to let walk.
This year has had allot of ups and downs for me. I have tried to practise QDMA for years. This was a six point that I shot but really had no excuse for shooting. I had this long story about how I had come to this point but in the end I enjoyed my hunt. Between us, I would rather go two years and not kill a buck, rather than shot two mediocre bucks back to back. I am however proud of the buck I grew and the hunt I enjoyed. The buck had been named "Working Man" as I knew him from previous trail cam pictures.
Moral of the story----- Don't get too excited.. Don't take yourself too seriously and try to enjoy every day in the field.
