Third rifle season rolled around and I had found one pocket of deer on public ground the week prior to season. I go in opening morning and they are nowhere to be found with several people in the area. So me being a little crazy and I guess liking hard work packed on in another mile or two and started glassing. It wasn't long and I saw a couple does and then a good rack with high forks. They were probably 600 yards off so I bust it down and up a few ridges to cut the distance. I pop up about 200 yards from where the deer were with no deer to be seen. I start glassing again and notice the does coming up a ridge about 300 yards out. I see a tall rack coming up behind them so I range an opening at 305 yards and shoot when the buck steps into it. He acts like he's not hit and runs up about 10 yards and stops. I shoot again and he goes down. I was very excited as this was the longest shot I have ever taken at an animal. I'm use to hunting public land in MS with your long shots being 200 yards. Just then another buck pops up on the ridge and it's the buck I thought I had shot. Not knowing if it was the same buck or not I decided to take the ethical route and go over and see if I had shot another buck. After crossing another valley and back up the other ridge I found my buck. It wasn't the one I was planning to shoot but was still happy with my first ever mule deer.