One look was all it took . I knew the deer and was blown away at how big he got in just two years . I quickly grabbed my camera and told Dusty to take as many pictures and video as he could because I am probably going to screw up this stalk .
On my way down the hill I looked up at the sun and realized I only had two hours of daylight left . I had to make a half mile circle around the buck to get the wind right . When I got to where I could see Dusty up on the rim I stopped to take my boots off and glass . I was much closer to the deer than I thought . As I snuck up the draw I finally caught a glimpse of the giant buck feeding straight away from me with his right antler bobbing back and forth showing off 9 super heavy points . I was only 86 yards from him and he didn ’ t have a clue I was there . I snuck closer and closer .
At 50 yards I got myself ready for a broadside shot . Just then I caught some movement to the right . There was a mountain lion sneaking up on the buck I was going to shoot ! You have got to be kidding me ! The buck of my dreams in bow range and a lion is going to run him off ???!!!
A lot of scenarios were running through mind at this point . Do I shoot the lion ? Do I shoot the buck ? Before I could act on either , the lion jumped on the buck . They rolled around for about 5 or 6 seconds but the big bodied buck was able to get away dragging the lion by his hind quarters . The buck pulled away but the lion was hot on his heels . They were running right at me ! At 30 yards I drew my bow . I think the lion saw me at this point and stopped dead in his tracks . The buck on the other hand didn ’ t and ran full speed right at me . I held my ground at full draw and watched as he got closer . Just when I thought he was going to run me over , the buck jumped right over the top of me and landed about 5 yards on the other side of me . I quickly spun around put my pin on him and shot him . Knowing there was a lion behind me I quickly turned around and got another arrow ready . He was nowhere to be found .
At this point I didn ’ t care about the lion anymore . When I shot the buck he was quartering away hard and I was sure I shot him in the liver hoping I caught a lung on the opposite side . I followed the blood trail for about 60 yards and decided I better give the buck some time . I tagged the tree with the last sign of blood and headed back to meet up with Dusty .
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