It's not over yet! I'm on a buck that would bump us up another spot in the rankings. I had him with a group of 3 other bucks in bow range last night. A small 7 point was first in line. Right behind him was another buck with a normal 4 point side on his right and a 12 inch spike on his left. The next buck was a really nice wide heavy racked 6 point. I had passed him back in September and posted pics in the live from the saddle thread, but with 3 days of season left I was going to try to shoot him. That was until I saw the buck behind him in the thick cover, a big main frame 8 point with deep forked g2's. He stood there like a statue, using the other bucks as pawns and watching their every movement for several minutes before stepping out of the sea of greenbriar. The 2 smaller bucks had worked their way past me and were dangerously close to getting downwind. The big 6 point was standing at 15 yards watching the 2 smaller bucks. I knew I was running out of time until one of them busted me, but I just needed the big one to take a few more steps. Unfortunately before he did that one of the smaller bucks got a whiff of me and started trotting off, taking the other bucks with him. I drew the bow and stayed on the big one hoping he would stop and give me a shot but he didn't. The big 6 did stop right next to a tree I had pre-ranged at 33 yards, quartering away. I swung the bow towards him, settled my 30 yard pin mid body, and had pressure on my release as he started walking again. 30 yards is about my max range right now so that was a wrap.
I don't think either of the bigger bucks saw or smelled me, so I'm gonna make a slight adjustment and hunt the same area tonight. It's the coldest day of the season so far, and we have about 6 inches and counting of fresh snow on the ground, so hopefully they'll be on their feet again!