More deer pictures....

Now this deer has a story behind it. I got this 7 pointer the same year I got the 10 pointer. This one I got during the 1997 bow season. I never worked so hard for a deer. When he came in around 7:30am he was very cautious. My stand was limited to a few good shots. The area was extremely thick. He first headed right to an open lane I had made but he seemed to know something was up and he stopped in the thick. I was using a grunt call which ended up saving the day. He turned and headed back from where he came from so I grunted. I dont know if he didnt hear me or what but he kept walking. I grunted louder, nothing. Is he deaf? I let a loud one go....he stopped and looked back. He began walking parallel to me and then to my surprise he started shredding a sapling! I have never seen this so this was awesome! After thrashing the small tree, he began angling towards me. He was moving to another lane I had opened up so I drew my bow and got set. He was moving at a good pace, and I took the shot while he was moving. I was not a good shot but I put an arrow through him. I knew it was a gut shot so I waited and then walked home to call my buddy to help track him. So anyway I tracked that deer for 5 hours that afternoon, we saw him once. I figured we blew it and we headed home. I hunted the area again and I couldnt resist looking again(who could). Now I began thinking. It was 4 days after I hit the buck. I figured maybe crows would be swarmming his carcass if he was down somewhere. Well on the 4th day I went looking again. I was able to track him for about half a mile. He found a brook. This is it I thought. Then I heard a racket upstream...I looked and saw a huge swarm of crows sitting low in the trees and swooping down. My heart jumped. Is it him? I didnt waste any time getting over there and what I found was the half-eaten carcass of my buck! Coyotes had done a number on him. He wasnt even rotting yet. This was my first nice buck with a bow so I wanted to mount the head but all I could salvage was what is in the picture. Well at least I can say I got him.