On Friday, November 28th Brenner caught movement of deer moving about 30 yards away from him. The buck was on the trail of a hot doe. With 25 mph winds it was hard for the buck to hear Brenner as he tried to get the brute to stop. 

As the deer entered the shooting lane Brenner squeezed the trigger of his muzzleloader and the buck took off. He ran down the ridge and stumbled as Brenner tried to quietly reload. The deer got up and moved off about 80 yards, bedding dowm behind a huge red oak. 

Darkness was starting to settle in so Brenner headed back to his truck to call his step father and uncle. The trio headed back to the ridge and followed a sparse blood trail for 200 yards without finding a bed or the buck. Experience told the hunters it was best to back off and resume the search in the morning. 

With permission from a neighbor the trio picked up the trail the next morning and found several beds from the buck and it seemed as if the deer was shot through the brisket. As they tracked the deer through the snow they could tell the buck was on the run. The deer crossed a hayfield and headed towards an old stand of overgrown Christmas trees. 

Now there were several more buck beds and lots of blood. The trio split up - one hunter tracked the buck while the other two circled around the sides to cut off the buck if it should try to escape. As Brennen worked his way through the thick brush branches started snapping ahead of him as the buck emerged from its bed. One more shot from his muzzleloader put the brute down.