Venhaus sat in his stand nearly an hour thinking the buck was down, but when he searched the area, there was no blood to be found. He started searching the area where the deer ran and still didn’t see any sign the animal was hit.

“I started to get frustrated thinking that I missed the buck,” Venhaus said. “I kept looking for another 15 minutes, but all I found was hair. I assumed I grazed the animal. I was really discouraged.”

Venhaus decided to leave the stand . . . As he unloaded his shotgun, he spotted a doe. . . but she spotted Venhaus and ran. Then his luck changed.

Around midmorning, his brothers met him at the stand. Adam informed them that he shot an 8-pointer and had already recovered it, so the trio looked further for any indication of a hit on Venhaus’ buck. After searching for a while, they came up empty. It looked like a grazing shot that only drew hair. They dragged Adam’s 8- pointer back to the truck, then headed back home to hang the deer and grab some lunch.

When they returned that afternoon, temperatures had warmed into the low 50s and it was windy.

“Not ideal weather for hunting, since the deer normally bed down at those types of conditions,” Venhaus said. “I sat in the same stand for several more hours without seeing one deer. The hopes of getting one were diminishing by the minute. It was getting close to 5 p.m. and the sun was beginning to set, so I figured the hunt was lost.”

Venhaus decided to leave the stand and get a head start back to his four-wheeler. As he began unloading his shotgun, he spotted a doe out of the corner of his eye. But the doe spotted Venhaus and ran. Then his luck changed.

“I looked a little closer at the spot where I first spotted the doe and I could make out the antlers of another deer bedded in the brush,” he said. “I couldn’t see the entire body, but the rack alone made me realize that he was big.”

The deer was about 50 yards away and Venhaus slowly loaded a shell into his shotgun, trying not to make too much noise.

“When the chamber closed, it startled the deer and he got up,” he said. “I aimed as quickly as possible, but when I went to pull the trigger, wouldn’t you know it, the safety was still on. I quickly aimed a second time and slowly pulled the trigger.”

The shot knocked the deer down but didn’t kill it. Venhaus could hear the animal moving around in the brush, trying to get back up. He loaded another shell and waited to see if the deer would get up. When it did, he fired a second, lethal, shot.

“Who knows how long the two deer were there,” Venhaus said. “I guess when I ejected the shells, the doe heard it and took off running. I thought the buck was going to get up and take off, too, but he didn’t. He just laid there. I was lucky to get a shot off.”

Venhaus waited in his stand for a little bit before getting down. His brothers heard the shooting and came over to see if he had gotten anything.