Memories of a buck of a lifetime.

I was working third shift at a printing company and had been talking to some of the guys there about deer hunting.One of the guys wanted to go along with me so we decided to go after work this particular night. Work was finally over so we loaded up our hunting gear and headed out to my father-in-laws farm where I had taken a couple of does during archery season but now it was gun season and time to go for some horns if you know what I mean. Anyway we arrive at the farm just before daylight,grabbed our gear and head for the stands I had put up before archery season. One was overlooking a couple of hay fields and a small dry weather creek bed and the other was overlooking a blackberry thicket with a bush hogged trail straight thru the middle of it and deer trails running everywhere across the thicket. Long about 6:30 a.m. I had a really nice 16 point buck with massive horns come up behind me to within 10 yards of my stand. But as luck would have it the buck sensed something wasn't right turned and trotted back up the thick wooded trail to safety. Two steps more and this buck would have been mine but unfortunately the cedar tree I was using for background cover prevented me from getting the shot of my lifetime. Ten minutes later I spotted a herd of deer moving across the edge of the field down below me next to the dry creek bottom and heading toward the stand James was in. As I waited for James to take the shot I anticipated the direction the deer would retreat to safety and figured I might get a shot myself if James missed. Ten minutes and no shot but just then a big doe came bouncing across my blackberry thicket and I knew what was following her so I quickly grabbed my 243 caliber Winchester rifle and realized I had no place for to steady the gun so I quickly wrapped the sling around my arm, took careful aim figured the buck was approximately 250 yards and as I got ready to squeeze the trigger the buck turned straight away from me. Realizing the only shot I had was right up the bum hole I again sighted across the top of the bucks back squeezed the trigger and the buck went down like someone was behind him and pushed him. I climbed down went around the field to my buck and seen I had taken a very nice wide 8 pointer with 13 inches between the main beams and three inch brow tines. I tagged my buck then took my gear to the truck and found James asleep in the truck.I woke James,we got my buck out of the field,loaded it up,went and checked it in then the real work began, cleaning, dressing and packaging the deer for the freezer and of coarse as always tenderloin and homemade biscuits. hmm hmm good. Though I missed a buck of my lifetime I still had a big smile on my face with the 8 pointer I took and the memories of the hunt. Thanks James for letting this one come on to me while you slept in the truck.