After a pretty gruesome knee injury at the tail end of ski/sled season this year, 2025 was a year with very little scouting/hiking, and aggressive PT trying to get my body right. I was walking with a cane until June 26th!
I used archery season to start putting on the miles and testing my leg out, and by the time rifle season opened I was starting to feel like myself.
With a newborn 2 days before rifle opener last season, and the knee injury this year, I was honestly just grateful to be back on the mountain, so the buck I ran into last night was the icing on the cake. He was in a spot I have wanted to shoot a deer in since first seeing it in '22, and have spent countless hours searching for "the one". Got home at 4AM and could barely sleep, on cloud nine!
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