Birthday Buck

You hear stories of people who hunt for years and years to only come up empty handed when it comes to harvesting a deer. I myself had been hunting for about 10 years (5-6 of which I may consider serious) and had only a few opportunities in seeing antlered deer in the deer woods. I was blessed about 6 years ago with getting my very first kill, a huge Doe during early muzzleloader. The 10 minute or so encounter hooked me. Fast forward to the end of muzzleloader season 2018. This season, much like any, had been full of learning experiences. A few mistakes turned into the ability to harvest my first buck. I tried out a few different techniques learned through my countless hours of hunting tips on Youtube, some of which worked, and some not so much. One thing I can certainly say is, your gut feeling is pretty accurate when it comes to the deer woods. This is a place in which I feel humans natural instincts can really play a factor. Sitting in a new stand location on the final day of muzzleloader 2018 my hopes were as high as they were opening day. I settled in on the cold, snowy morning Dec. 9th 2018. There was a definite cold front projected for the weekend into early the following week. All signs pointed to great hunting weather. Sitting for only about a half hour, shortly before 8 am, came an adult doe trotting by on the power line in front of me. She was moving just fast enough to get a pass from me. My intuition and 'doe trotting by' experience earlier this season on our annual downstate trip, triggered a feeling that no too long after, another deer would be by. I moved my butt and positioned myself for a good shot in the same direction the doe came from. About 20 seconds went by it seemed, and coming from the exact some deer trail the doe just came by on, a buck. I watched as it trotted in the same manner just out in front of me about 50 yards. It stopped, behind a little bit of brush. A shot would have been possible but something kept my finger still. The buck took a few more steps and stopped again, completely broadside, head up looking towards the doe's exit route. I pulled the trigger. The cloud of smoke and boom rang out. The deer trotted about 20 yards ahead seemingly unnphased. I believe my breath was being held at this point. It stopped behing some bush but i could still see him. He stopped. After a few seconds he began to rock and his feet slowly began to stretch out in front of him. I had finally put my first buck down. I began to breathe again and the adrenaline began flowing! My wife had picked the spot for me that morning, man oh man am I sure glad she did. Birthday Buck down! Happy 31st Birthday to me. Good luck to all, may your blessings be abundant!