Well Saturday morning came and after missing a very large doe I had all but written it off as the last and worst case scenario for the end of my hunting season before the orange army hit the woods here in Indiana.  

The day broke with a light frost and sunshining in through the mix of yellows and oranges that covered the trees this last in the season.  After listening to deer skirt around the tree I was in before daylight I thought maybe this was going to be the day to redeem myself from a miss the day before.  As the sun started to shine through i heard what I thought was a cough.  I looked up and saw a large doe that appeared to be choking on an acorn or something.  She proceeded to clear her throat like one of those old people that have smoked for 50 years and cant hardly breathe anymore.  Then she meandered my way.  As she began to come into the opening she looked right up at me.  I guess at two yards its not hard to see a large growth on the side of a tree.  She turned a 90 and started walking away from me to go down a trail that led her over the edge of a ravine then she turned back to head the direction she was intending to go before she busted me.  Draw pick a spot let it fly........ right over her back.

Lots of words came to mind and a few probably slipped out but thats for me and the trees to know.  She took off and I hung my bow still a little dejected that I had missed the same way twice in two days.  After cooling off and trying to draw some learning experience from that miss I heard the unmistakable sound of a grunt.  There it was again... burrrp  burrrp.  Through my binocs I could see a good deer working out of a bedding set aside field and coming into the logging road.  Looks like a good deer, lets give it a go and from there it was auto pilot.  I never considered not shooting him again.  If he gave me a shot I was going to end my buck hunting season on this deer in Indiana.  As he followed the same path of the doe he stopped in the same spot and looked right at me.  Instead of bounding away he turned slowly and started to follow her route around the perimeter.  At fifteen yards he cleared the last branch with leaves on it and I let it go.  B   E  A utiful.  After going down a ridge and up the other side he began to get wobbly and dropped right there in site.  A clean pass thru shot through the heart (my first heart shot and pass through).  So ends my buck hunting season.  He isnt the biggest deer I have seen this year but for some reason my brain triggered the response to shoot this buck.  
My bow is a 58# home brew custom jobby shooting Beman ICS Venture Carbon Shafts with 100 grain inserts supporting a 160 grain snuffer broadhead.  I could not be happier with the way the snuffer performed.  It broke two ribs and still pushed all the way through and stuck in the ground on the other side.

he's a beauty,congrats!

Hey, congrats Dustin.Beautiful buck.Not a bad end to the season in my book.

                  Ed  

Thanks for taking me on your hunt. Nice story.  I bet the doe also knows your words along with you and the trees.   :D  

Congrats on a fine buck. Nice looking bow as well.  

Very cool! Congratulations! Nice deer and also a beautiful bow! Thanks for sharing it with us. Cheers, Matt

Nice buck, congrats.

David

Good buck.  Thanks for the story.  

That is really awesome. Congratulations. Jawge

Nice deer!  Guess that ol' doe did you a favor.  She gave you a warm up shot.  That doesn't happen to often.  If you had hit her you would have been down your tree tracking when the big boy came by.

Wow that's a dandy. Congrats Dustin      

   

Very nice.

From one Hoosier to another, "Way to go!".

Great story!

Nice one bud!

Congrats!

Great buck, great looking bow as well. Way to hang in there.

Mark

You're not the only one to have shooting issues this year, Dustin, but what a great way to put it together.  Great deer, too.  Congrats!

That'll work!! Nice Job.

Good for you and better than me.  I missed both the buck and the doe today!

hey man nothing wrong with that buck cool .good way to end the hunting season  

Congrats Dustin! That's a good buck and heart shot to boot! Sometimes things happen for a reason you know,the two missed shots may have set you up to concentrate harder on the buck    Congrats again, I'll count the orange vests Saturday while your sleeping in because you got your buck