Approximately at 8:30 am, I saw the face of a doe peer out from behind a tree to one of my shooting windows. Right behind her: a massive set of tines. This beast of a buck steps out and I know I have to be quick with my shot. I’m hunting from the ground and misjudged the distance. It was a clean miss. I was sick about it even though I thought I did everything right. I knew my opportunity was lost and I had only one hunt left before having to return home. My dad tried to give me hope that somehow he may come back for my last hunt, but I really didn’t think there was a chance. That evening, I was ready to go out a little earlier than normal, still discouraged, but I figured if I’m not out there, I’ll never have a chance. The night was settling in quick, my hope was diminishing and then out stepped a doe. She meandered around my area for a while paying no attention to me or anything else, but she did look back where she came from quite regularly. I then started to hear some grunting from what sounded to be a long ways away and from an indiscernible direction. Left, right, behind me, I had no clue where it was coming from. My heart was racing and breathing increased because of the small chance that this was my brute from this morning. I didn’t want to miss, I didn’t want the hunt to be hindered by darkness. All of a sudden, he stepped out. He came from the same direction he did that very morning. I talked to myself, calmed down, made sure I aimed plenty high enough as he was about 45 yards away now. I released the arrow and knew I took a great shot. I texted my Dad, “I got him, we did it, bullseye, he’s a 10 point”. A light rain/snow mix was falling from the sky and all the rifle camp members had been arriving to camp as this occurred. My dad hustled over to my spot and after some quick searching, found blood and my arrow. We let the rest of the guys no immediately that we were going to need more flashlights and toilet paper. A couple buddies from our camp and my brother came first and we began to follow a blood trail. We weren’t going to lose him this time. We knew we had to move quickly before rain and snow washed away the little drops of rain that scattered the thick woods we marched through. It seemed like it took forever trekking through the most dense oak and pine saplings. It took us about an hour, but when the flashlight found that body up against a tree a mere 150 yards from where I had shot, all my concerns were washed away! I am unquestionably lucky and grateful to have somehow gotten a second shot at such a remarkable buck.