Nothing to Hang on the Wall, but I got Steaks

[rufus]

Working for the school, I get a 5 day Thanksgiving break here in Indiana, and the weather could not have been better. I was able to hunt the amazing piece of property my friend leases all weekend. I ended my buck season way too early into on Thursday morning. If anyone knows me, they know I will not shoot it if I won't hang it on my wall. Well, Thursday morning there was a very dense fog that set in. The stand I use is 20 yards from the Pigeon River in a wetlands area so the fog was even more dense than that. I could see about 50 yards total in all directions. I could hear a lot of movement, including some grunting in the field east of me, but could not see a thing. The 400 acre property next to where I am hunting has not had a hunter on it ever (unless they were trespassing) so it is like hunting next to a wildlife refuge. The deer stay pretty comfortable all season. I get mostly used to watching deer not cross the property line, but every once in a while a hot doe will make a big ole buck make a mistake. Well, I had decided I would take the first big doe I saw and then wait for my big ole buck to show up the rest of the weekend. At about 9 am I heard footsteps getting closer and out of the fog came a very large doe with twins in tow. They did not appear to have any buck bucks folllowing them so I decided to take this doe. I placed the crosshairs on her and squeezed the trigger. She only went about 20 yards and fell over. She was a very big doe pushing the 150 pound mark and I could already smell the salami. I called my buddy on the phone and he said just to wait about 30 minutes till the fog cleared and we would take care of her. I told him that was fine and put another slug in the chamber just in case mossyhorns came running by. Well about 5 minutes later about 10 more does crossed the line and very nervously trotted by me at about 30 yards. I could hear a lot of grunting behind them and I just knew in my mind the one I was waiting for was getting ready to step into view. Well after approximately a 2.5 second wait I got a glimpse of horns in the fog and brush corssing the property line. I saw a long 7-8 inch tine and did not even focus on anything else, I knew he was a wallhanger and this was my chance. I picked up the gun and put the crosshairs on his chest as soon as he stepped out of the brush. Well I squeezed the trigger and he instantly buckled and noseplowed to within 15 yards of my stand. To my amazement right in front of me layed a very large bodied 6 pointer that had a 8 inch G-2 on his left antler. Besides the one 8 inch G-2 the rest of the horns were typical scrubby. He was about 10 inches inside with about 13 inch main beams . I thought I had me a wallhanger and I shot some good eating instead. Due to our one buck rule in Indiana I am done for the season. I can still harvest two more does, but I may just bring the boat back out and fish till the water gets hard. I hope everyone gets the deer of their dreams. God Bless and Good Hunting
rufus