You Can Have a Second Chance to take a Buck in January
Day 2: Whether or Not to Shoot at a Buck When You Have a Second Chance
Editor’s Note: To bag a buck during January and possibly have an opportunity for a buck a second time, decide whether or not to shoot.
 In the driving rain, I moved quietly and deliberately down the woods road, while searching for deer on either side. About 50-yards into my stalk, deer appeared. One, large, high-racked buck and two does bounded from cover through a thicket, before I could raise my rifle and take a shot. Once again, as soon as the deer left, I studied the facts of what had happened. Because the wind was in my face, I felt sure that the deer hadn’t picked-up my scent. Watching the animals bound-away, I noticed they didn’t run hard or far and didn’t throw-up their tails.  Usually when deer are spooked by something in the woods that they can’t identify, they’ll run a few yards, stop and look back. I also know that often when a deer’s spooked, there’s still the opportunity to bag him, if he doesn’t smell the hunter’s scent. So I sat down, waited for about a minute and then blew on my deer grunt call, which I considered an act of desperation. However, I also decided I had nothing to lose, because the deer had already left the site.
I looked carefully in the direction that the deer had run toward. In less than 5 minutes, off to my right, I spotted the big buck come bounding back in – only 130 yards or so from me. I realized that if I turned quickly I’d spook the animal and probably not get a good shot. Therefore I sat still and watched. When the deer was 20-yards from me, he turned, jumped across the road and stopped behind some thick brush, which would have been an easy shot, except that all I could see of the animal in the scope was his hindquarters. Now I was faced with a dilemma.
Whether or Not to Shoot:
 The buck standing behind the brush was majestic with more than 8 points in a high, wide, heavy rack. He was also a big-bodied deer, weighing close to, if not exceeding, 200 pounds. But I didn’t have a shot that I knew would down the animal instantly. As I watched the animal’s hindquarters through my scope, I knew that all I had to do was touch the trigger on my .243 rifle. The velocity of the bullet would probably break the animal’s back legs, and then I could jump-up and run to the deer for a better shot before he got away. Even though I felt I might severely cripple the animal enough to take a shot and finish him off, I also realized that deer shot in the hindquarters often managed to elude hunters - only to be found dead weeks later with the meat and the trophy ruined. I faced the decision of whether to take a chancy shot and know that a second shot would be required to put the deer down or to hold my shot and let the deer take two more steps out of that thicket.  Then I’d have a clean neck shot that would down the animal instantly.
I chose to wait for the better shot. For 10 minutes, the deer and I were at a stand-off. I concentrated my vision through the scope in anticipation of the deer’s taking those two fatal steps. But after what seemed like an eternity, I felt a breeze on the back of my neck.
I knew my hunt was over. Instantly the deer picked up my scent and bounded-away. But I’d added another bit of information to my bag of hunting knowledge. Often a hunter gets a second chance at a buck.
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