Most of Saturday was unproductive. We saw a few does and bucks but it wasn't until 4:00 PM when all that would change. We spotted a group of three really nice bucks in the snow. It was my turn to stalk so I headed out around the ridge then came down on the bucks. It took me two long hours in the snow and biting cold but I was finally able to work myself in position for a setup. At 6:00 PM the bucks rose from their beds and headed right to me. I clenched my bow and readied for the shot. The largest buck was now 20 yards away - he would pass by me at 7 yards. But instead of taking my trail he turned and went straight into the sagebrush pasture. Darn! The other two bucks followed. I waited till they were out of sight and made my move. I closed the distance quickly and was suddenly just 30 yards to one of the bucks. All three were shooters so I just picked out the closest and rose up to shoot. I was 25 yards at this point and the buck spotted me but did not run. He was at a hard quartering away angle. I picked my spot and released. I watched the arrow just miss off to the left of the deer. Oh well.

But as the three deer ran up the opposite hillside I realized something was wrong. I hadn't missed my deer - it was hit in the back leg. I couldn't figure out how that could have happened since I saw the arrow off to the side of the deer. The only thing I can think was that the deer must have pivoted on his back left leg just as I shot and my arrow hit it. We tracked the deer to the fence where it had some trouble crossing but finally jumped over to join its two buddies. We could plainly see the three deer together and determined that the wound was probably not fatal. That didn't matter, we were still going to track the deer in the morning.

Here's a picture taken shortly after my shot. The buck in the middle is hit.