Funny you should say that bloodtracker. This buck did jump up and scare the "you know what" out of me. I finished him (which turned out was not neccessary) and then the adrenaline stopped and the fatigue set in. I was a basket case after that. It was all I could do to turn his head because of his neck size to get a decent photo. Being new to killing big deer (I am used to California Black Tails), I took allot of photos. This was one of the later photos. I could not hardly drag this animal at all. I have better photos on my web site at www.valleyguideservice.com. Thanks for all the great comments mmr's. Glad I was able to share it with everyone.
Rumor has it these eastern MT bucks can jump up several times after lethal shots. I've always been taught to approach cautiously and give the bleeding some time to take effect, but in these cases it actually would have been better to sprint right to the buck, gun-ready, before bullet shock wears off. Not that I would do that.....What the heck is going on up there???
Seriously i think they're already on an adrenalin rush with the rut, and this can lead to a scenario like this. Over the years I've seen this come-back-from-the-dead scenario 3 or 4 times, including one last Fri., always during the rut. It really makes you think.....