The alarm clock sounded at 5:00 in the morning on Thursday, October 14th. I rolled over and turned it off, knowing I had to be out in the woods by 6:00 a.m. I got up exited and put on my new mossy oak camo that I had just bought. My camo was cold because I had to let it sit outside overnight so deer would not notice a human smell. I grabbed my bow and made sure all of the equipment I needed was in the case and set out to the car.
When was in the car, I put on my scent blockers that make me smell like dirt. I knew then that I was ready to drive down the road to where I hunt. There were a few deer that ran out in front of me during my drive, so I hoped that I would get a big buck. I hopped out of the car and uncased my bow; the smell of the fresh morning air was amazing. I could hear the sounds of raccoons rustling around in the leaves.

I started walking to a stand that I had never hunted in before. When the bow stand was in sight, I emptied a pocket full of corn on to the ground and dumped some code red next to it. Code Red is a professional scent that attracts big bucks. Then it was time for me to go up the stand and wait for a deer.

I was waiting in my stand, listening to many sounds, looking in the distance and trying to see something, anything. I had almost given up hope, when suddenly; I heard the sound of a twig breaking. I looked in that direction and I saw a fork buck chasing a doe. That had not been what I was hoping for, knowing that I had seen a big buck earlier in the year. Ten minutes later, I heard a loud snort, and there came a massive eight pointer. My heart was pounding when I picked up my bow and waited for it to come within range. It was at forty yards when I knew that I had to take a shot. I pulled my bow back, took aim, and shot. I heard the arrow hit a branch; surprisingly it also hit the deer.
Thirty minutes later, I eagerly climbed down and went to the spot that I had shot at the deer. I found the arrow with blood and long white hairs on it. This means, that the deer was shot down low. I looked at the ground and saw spatters of blood. So, I started to follow the trail of blood. It was easy to follow due to the quarter size drops of blood. I had been following the trail for a while when I came up to a big swamp. There was about one to two feet of water in it, so I knew I was going to get wet. I entered the swamp; it was hard to walk through. My feet were sinking down, and getting caught on the roots, of the swamp plants. I had been in the swamp for ten minutes; already I couldn’t feel my feet and legs, because they were so cold. I knew I had to get out of the swamp soon or I wouldn’t be able to walk. I could see dry spots so I knew I was on the edge of the swamp close to land. I walked on the trail of blood thirty yards, till I hit dry land. When I got there I noticed that the whole time I was in the swamp, I had been getting bitten by some type of bug. I looked down and I had about ten leaches attached to my legs. I pulled them off frantically. It was beginning to get dark so I knew it was about six o’clock. So I only had about to two hours of light remaining. I knew that I would have to start a fire, and stay the night.

I gathered some twigs and branches so I could start a fire, and sleep next to it for the night. The leaves were dry, so it only took about ten minutes to get a nice roaring fire. I was wet so I took off my shoes and socks, so they would dry through the night. So I layed there by the fire all through the night, listening to coyotes, and the sound of an owl nearby. I was warm on the side that was closest to the fire, but my other side remained cold. I had to keep tossing and turning throughout the night to stay warm. I would have to say that I dosed off sometime around twelve, but I wasn’t sure because I didn’t have a watch.
Friday morning I woke up to the sound of a wood pecker pounding on a tree above me. The coals of the fire glowed dark red. There was a cloud of fog near the ground in the distance. I made sure the fire had been properly put out. My shoes and socks were dry; so I put them back on, and then got ready to continue the trail of blood. I had walked only about fifty yards were I found a big puddle of blood. This is where my big buck had bedded down and spent his night. It was odd, I had been so close to him all night, and I didn’t know. I continued following the blood, finding an occasional buck rub on small trees. I walked past many corn fields, but I still didn’t see my buck. I could tell he was slowing down, because he couldn’t walk straight any more. I reached down and felt the blood, it was warm. He couldn’t be too far ahead of me.
I was heading up a big hill when I caught eye of an old bow stand. When I got to the top of the hill I saw some movement at the bottom of the hill, I stopped to take a breath. I looked down the hill and saw some movement, so I started to sneak down the hill. It was hard trying to sneak in between small trees. It got worse when the small trees turned into prickly ash, here my hands and arms got all tore up. My blood mixed in with the trail of deer blood.
Then I saw my big buck right as I stepped on a twig. The deer slowly went up the hill in front of me. I was running now trying to catch up to it, and then I fell down. The breath had been knocked out of me. There was another stand hanging above me in a tree. I walked around the corner, and there he was. He was on the ground dead, getting gutted out by another hunter.