The bucks were about a 100 yards from where I was sitting at the tree line. I watched the deer through my binocs, and was amazed to see his chin was flat on the ground and was fast asleep. His antlers were sticking up above the grass, almost hiding the other deer. After standing still for almost an hour, I watched the deer stand up one by one to stretch and then lay back down. 45 minutes later the big buck stood up. He was Magnificent! He had tall tines and deep forks. I called him Skyscraper!
I found a solid rest on a branch and fired a shot. "Oh NO! Not Again!" I was thinking as I backed out, not wanting to continue to try and use a faulty weapon. Luckily the bucks seemed to pay no attention to the noise, as they stayed put. On my way out I was just praying he would stay around.
With my second chance gone, I stayed out of the area, this time for 2 days. I also took my rifle to the range and learned I was out 5 feet low and 4 feet left. So I switched to my 30-06, which was accurate when fired.
The next day, I hoped today would be the day everything would come together! I went to my hunting area well before daylight, and after hunting for 5 hours, decided to walk around to the tree stand I have set up. Once up in the tree stand, my stomach started to growl and with the first bite of my sandwich, I looked up and there HE was.
He was about 600 yards out. So I immediately climbed down and dropped my pack.
The Stalk Was On!
Everything was perfect. There was lots of time left in the day and the wind was blowing in my face. I watched the 3 bucks bed down just fifty yards from were I missed days earlier. I slowly crawled my way until I was around 100 yards from the group. Not one of them noticed me as they were paying attention to a coyote in the other direction.
Once again I waited. After about an hour, Skyscraper stood. I quickly found him in the center of my scope, said a quick prayer, and squeezed the trigger.
This time I found my mark! I heard the faint smacking sound as the bullet hit and watched as he hunched up and then took off. He only went 30 yards before piling up.
I was filled with anxiety, wanting to put my hands on that awesome rack! I didn't wait long, quickly making my way up to the fallen monarch and gave him a final shot.
I couldn't believe he stayed in the same area after I had shot at him so many times! Skyscraper is my biggest buck to date, and he ended up with a green score of 167 7/8 B&C.