Thanks guys!
Haven't stretched a tape, but all the eye's I've had on him so far would guess 4 1/2 years. A few said 3 1/2 too. Could he have gotten bigger? Surely. Only problem is the rifle hunting pressure is insane around here. Most deer never make it this old. If he's 4 1/2... he's a dinosaur.
It happened so fast that I had no time to even think about it. He is my biggest bow deer to date, by twice or better. He came stomping through with his nose on the ground at a near trot he was moving so fast. I only had about a 20yd window to shoot him and he was covering it at light speed. I grunt-stopped him as I was reaching for my bow. He looked toward the base of my tree, then looked forward. I swung my bow into position and as I was going to draw back he made like he was going to take a step, so I grunted again while hauling my bow string back as quickly as I could. He made one step, and stopped again looking back over his shoulder toward the base of my tree. He was quartering away with his right side facing me. The arrow found its mark perfectly, which is amazing considering how fast it all went down. I was literally on auto-pilot. He donkey-kicked and ran off, so I knew I had a good vital hit.
Normally I see the deer coming for a ways, so I have time to get ready and line up a calculated precise shot. Not today. It was all over so fast that after I loosed the arrow, the adrenaline shot almost shook me out of the tree. I literally had to wait a few minutes to calm myself enough to climb out of the tree safely. Twenty seven feet is a long way to fall!
Upon gutting, I found two perfect X's in each lung. High on the right side and low on the left toward the front. Couldn't have made a better shot on the lungs.
Needless to say, I'm on cloud nine. Bowhunting gets me jacked up like nothing else in the first place, but when I get an opportunity at a deer like this it makes me thank God for this life. ... and I did, before I even got out of the tree.
