When I got to Dusty, he was as white as a ghost. He thought for sure I was lion food. We were both very excited about the buck but very nervous about leaving him there with the lion.
When we pulled into camp my two good friend Tim and Mike were there waiting for us to return. They had just dropped by to see how the hunt was going. I think Tim knew something big had happened the minute he saw me.. I told him I had just shot the buck of my dreams but had to give him some time.
Later we picked up the blood trail and excitedly went down the hill. My heart began to sink as I saw the blood trail thinned to almost nothing. The wound had clotted closed! My
I don’ t think Tim and Mike were prepared for the story we told them because they just sat there with their mouths open in awe. As I sat there listening to them talk about what had happened the“ what ifs” began to set in. I just knew that lion was feeding on my deer. They all assured me that we were going to find my buck in one piece.
. mind wasn’ t 100 %. I was starting to only assume the worst. Tim pulled us all together and told us to stay close and let’ s stay on this blood trail. We did just that and we started finding drops here and there. As we were going down a steep hill Mike found some really good blood. Lots of it! The downhill walk must have opened the wound up again. Tim didn’ t want to say anything at first but I don’ t think he could hold it in any longer. He said,“ What is that?”“ Give me your binoculars.” Before I could get them off, Dusty saw the buck and said“ It’ s HIM!”
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