Saturday, i go out for my 1st day of deer season. i have my son and my brother to help the old cripple out . my brother was early to go out, while the two of us were late, 7:30 - 8:00ish. while i was going up to my ground blind, i seen two white-tails that were going away from me. i sit down in my blind and wait. all of a sudden, my phone vibrates and it is my brother. he seen a huge 8 pt and a doe that were going to my stand....early. oh well. 9:00 comes by and it's time to drink decaf tea (decaf coffee makes bad heartburn, decaf is good for my heart). 9:30ish, 6 doe comes by my stand about 40ish yards away. i have my TC Encore in a 23" MGM barrel in 444 Marlin with 280gr WFN GC and Reloder 7 going roughly 1947fps. i pick up and sight it on a doe and decided not to shoot. 10 - 15 minutes later, i can no longer see them. 10:00 it's time for decaf tea. while waiting for it to cool, 3 doe show up at about 35ish yards. it is 2 fawns and a yearling doe. not enuff meat to worry about, so i let them go. 10:30ish a doe shows up. i looked her over and she was to my standards so it was time to shoot her. it took me about 10 minutes to place a shot behind the shoulder. she was about 40ish yards and standing broadside when i took the shoot. after i shot, i could see blood coming out and the side that i shot her was covered in blood. she ran about 15ish yards and then gave up and died.

a message was sent to my son and brother that i got one. my son came by about 15 minutes later and he dressed the doe, while i went for Polaris. my brother shows up and tells me i should have came early because of the huge 8pt. "oh well," i tell him, "next time."

a 145 - 150 lbs doe, guesstimate