2026 Hog Hunt Day 6 & 7 - Letting Him Walk

Rick and I went out to feed on a very cold low-country South Carolina morning.  When we got to Fish Snatch, Rick looks at me and says, "Take a look.  Don't get lost."  I wasn't too happy that he wasn't going to help since I'm just colorblind enough that finding blood trails is a challenge, let alone dry blood trails.  I understood the pig is likely still running around, and even if not, the chance to find it is remote given the pig's reaction after the shot, but respect for the animal requires a good faith effort.

I spent a chunk of time looking for blood, then following what looked like a scurrying-type path and general small-grid searching.  I would have liked to have spent about 10 times the amount I did, but there were places where it was so thick that a hog could be 10 feet from me and I wouldn't see it; the unrealistic part of me was hoping it would be in one of the open areas.  After a while, I realized it was futile.  

I was surprised that there were a couple of dead hogs in the form of old scattered bones - I know locals often shoot and leave lie since they don't care about hogs (I strongly disagree with this), but there are other interpretations.  I grabbed an old lower jaw bone off the ground and told Rick that it was all that was left of my hog.

With a mix of new people coming in, I moved my stuff around once back in the lodge and had the usual down-time.  Then it was time to head out for the last night of hunting.

I was dropped off on the Zombie Hog Stand.  It was another gorgeous blue-bird day - cool with a biting breeze; I  was dressed well for it.

As I sat down and got situated, I began to have a confidence crisis due to my miss the previous evening.  Part of me was almost hoping not to see anything.  I tend to overthink everything; I swear my brain needs a good therapist more than anything.  I have definitely been overthinking my shooting recently.  And while I had shot hogs at this stand more than once, the distance felt oddly long.

For most of the afternoon, absolutely nothing was moving.  It was a nice afternoon and I was just enjoying the afternoon.

As it started to get dark, movement on the left turned into a boar walking out to the corn.  What to do???  With my setup, I was rock-solid and I did have enough light.  But shooting while a bit unsure of myself???  I put the cross hairs on the pig's head, then backed off, on, off, on, off.

I was not in the right frame of mind.  At some point indecision becomes a decision.  I settled for a picture.

(and yes, I realize this isn't a clean head shot, but gimme a break - lining up the rifle and camera while not dropping either is a bit challenging)

Ethically this felt like 100% the right thing to do; I was at peace with this as darkness claimed the situation.

I was going home with a good chunk of hog meat (room in the freezer at home remains a question).

Some deer came in a chased off the hog which ended my 2026 hunt.  Back in the truck, Claude hadn't seen any pigs.  Denis had seen a bunch, but was holding out for a big boar.

Back in the lodge, Rich and Rich were in camp from Ohio.  They seemed pretty nice, but I only had a chance to talk to them for a short time before Rick and I went to Denis' house for dinner.  It was fun having all of us there to BS and talk about the week (and just about everything else in life).  Denis got a bit distracted and the ribeyes were, ummm, extra, extra well-done.  We all made the best of it.

As I was getting ready to go to sleep, I remembered Rick had not cut my shirt tail.  This may come back to bite me at some point in the future.  Karma is a bitch.

_____________________

I was awake early and ready to be home.  A quick shower and I was out the door.  One of the Rich's was sleeping on the couch so I tried to be extra quiet as I scooted out.

The interior of the Maverick had the lingering smell of smoke from my hunting clothes.  And it wasn't a good smoke smell - a serious cleaning and deodorizing was going to be needed for my camo.

I was glad to be on the road.  I had the roads to myself for several hours.  Bridges and roads appeared to have been pretreated for snow even if the forecast had changed to make freezing precipitation unlikely.

I was listening to River Man by Ben McGrath for most of the ride home.  It was an OK book, but definitely not as good as the review I had previously read about it.  I didn't find Dick Conant (who it is about) as even remotely compelling.  And while McGrath is a good writer, the tone of the book was like that of someone who had worked in New York for far too long and had only recently discovered that there exists people, places and things in flyover country.  As a journalist, McGrath didn't call out as even potential-BS some of what was shared in the book.  I can't believe he hasn't talked to enough people to see this?  I've certainly met my share of characters on some of my epic road trips enough to nod my head at the main-character syndrome half-truths (or sometimes less than half).  The book may factually represent what McGrath saw and heard, but should have been a bit more careful in bleeding reality out of it.

As the book ended, I did reflect a bit more on Dick Conant.  Society is very quick to celebrate eccentric people who throw off the shackles of work-a-day life and travel the world in a canoe.  But we don't often acknowledge that the higher likelihood is eventual tragedy like what almost certainly happened to Conant.

He had saved [100,000 straightened] nails and wasted life. - Donald Hall

And yet (there is always an "and yet"), whether we are talking about Dick Conant, Hall's Washington Woodward, myself, or Ben McGrath, I'm not sure it is fair to call a life wasted if it is/was lived deliberately.

I continued motoring on.  The Saturday traffic was highly tolerable all day.  I was home before 2:00.

S/O and I took care of the pigs shortly after I got home.  Loins were packaged for the grill, all eight quarters will be dynamite on the smoker, and there was enough good trimmings for eight burgers.

Until next year, I'll have some reflection to do after this year's hunt.  Two pigs with one shot.  A miss.  Maybe the first time I've let a pig walk...

2026 Hog Hunt Day 5 - Patience and Hope

Bob and I went with Rick to feed stands.  We also had to get his cellular trail cameras working which involved a rather long and precise hard reset procedure.  I'm not saying the analog world was better (the problems were just different) or that we should or can go back (I may be luddite, but I'm not an atavist), but the frustrations of the digital world are real.

The camera issues were solved throughout the morning.

Back at the lodge, we had a bit of down time before heading out again for the afternoon.  I was once again on the Fish Snatch stand.  Weather was cool and windy but gloriously sunny.  The conditions - mostly the wind - did make me glad I was in a box blind even in my heavier clothes.  

Almost immediately after getting into the blind, a buck walks out.  This had me hopeful that the cool conditions meant animals were moving early and well.  The buck stayed for a while and was joined a bit later by a very large group of deer.  

Deer milled around and worked their way in and out.  In contrast to the first night, I was finding it very easy to stay settled and still.  I felt like I was in my happy place.

It never ceases to amaze me that even when the deer don't know I'm there, they have the ability to look through me.

At around 5:00 all the deer bolted away.  This had me hopeful that something else was coming in.  And it did.  A large boar hog lumbered onto the corn.  But what to do?  He stayed behind the fence that is there for deer season to keep hogs out of bait.  I was not comfortable shooting through the fence as any contact would surely push the bullet on an erratic path.  I had two pigs in the cooler; I had patience.  I watched; adrenaline subsided.

The situation was similar to my 2025 Bear Hunt, where I watched the bear for a very long period of time.  Although it was also different since the question now was a good shot opportunity as opposed to the question of if it was the right animal.

After about 20 minutes, deer came out and were hanging out between me and the boar.  This was when the boar was nearing the edge of the fencing.  The situation was a multi-species Mexican standoff with the boar holding almost all the cards.  The deer became an additional barrier for me.  Patience Beagle...

The deer moved to the far right of the lane and the boar finally cleared the fence.  I still took my time and carefully waited for a clear head shot.  At the shot, the pig dropped and rolled - it looked good.  As I was chambering another round, he got his feet under him and scooted off to the left.  I stared in disbelief and said a few expletives to myself.

I texted Rick; I knew this was not going to make him very happy.

Oddly, the deer were back on the corn within minutes.  They seemed to care less about a 30.06 bullet zipping around and were just appreciative that I ran the boar off.  It was nearing dark, but it was still a long wait, made even longer by the situation.

Rick texted me to come back to the gate.  The unfriendly situation suggests looking in the morning during daylight made more sense.  Temperatures were expected to get down into the upper teens, so the hog would be OK (and it was probably a big enough boar that edibility would be a question).

If I was thinking about Aesop the previous morning, I was now back to Pandora and what remained in her jar - hopeful that the deer I saw staring off to the left at dark was looking at something.  But hope is just as evil as everything else unleashed by Pandora.  Humans just hold on to it...

Bob and Claude had seen only deer; Denis had sat out the night again. 

Denis and Claude were once again gracious and shared their wild pig sausage dinner with me.  Bob was done hunting and had left, so alone in the lodge I went to sleep - overthinking everything.  EVERYTHING!

In the morning, I would either have a hog, or I would get my shirt tail cut.

2026 Hog Hunt Day 4 - Pre-Smoking Pigs

In the strange, terrible wilderness that is my brain, I woke up in the morning thinking about Aesop's fable of the ant and the grasshopper.  The grasshopper spends all summer singing and playing, seemingly whiling away his days.  The ant works hard all summer, storing food for the winter.  In the fall, the grasshopper begs the ant for food.  The ant snuffs at the grasshopper's laziness and says, "No."

The lesson of this is that hard work now pays off later.  Having grown up in a fairly strict Calvinist family, this was a constant lesson.

There are alternative interpretations that the ant is heartless.

This week I'm a grasshopper ... er ... wait ...  I'm bringing home free range pork, so I'm an ant?  Hmmmm...

And I think there needs to be a third insect, since working for the future and living for today are both important.  So maybe we should all be beetles.

After an early morning putzing around the lodge, Rick, Claude and I went out to feed stands.  It was a good time and as usual, almost all the stands were hit.

Back at the lodge, Bob from New Jersey came in.  We talked a bit; he had never hunted hogs before, but had done several other adventurous hunts.  Then it was time to head out for the afternoon.  Denis' back was hurting him to the point he opted to stay home.

Claude and I were dropped off by Kyle's house.  I was in a plastic porta-potty blind behind the small house.  I was pretty sure I had been at this spot twice - I clearly recall once when in a world-famous blind when it was raining sweet gum pods on me and another when two deer came walking down the 2-track right beside me.  I also seem to recall once when pigs came into the field, but stayed far away and never actual came to the corn?  But I was unable to find if that was this stand or I'm thinking of something totally different.

This time was very different.  There had been a controlled burn and it was still smoldering making the area very smokey.  Right behind me was a small spot that was doing more than smoldering as one time I saw flames.  A brief shower did come through, but it was minor enough that it did nothing to the smoldering.  The smell was a bit much, but I guess I didn't have to worry too much about human odor.  Although when the wind blew in the wrong direction it got 100% annoying.  I didn't like it ... at all...

But I toughed it out and figured any pigs that might come in would be already pre-smoked and ready to eat.  I did wonder if I was going to have to invest in an ozone generator when I got home; this is something I've thought about anyway.

There were turkeys in the area when I first got there.  They milled around for a while, but only came into the corn very briefly.

Sadly that was the only animals I saw all night.  Other than the smoke, at least the stand and seat were quite comfortable.

Back at the lodge, I walked down to Denis' house where he and Claude graciously fed me mule deer roast.

The weather is forecast to turn colder which will hopefully bump animal movement up a bit.

2026 Hog Hunt Day 3 - TwoFer

After dropping kids off at school, Rick and I once again went to feed stands.  Almost all of them were hit well and some of the fields had fresh rooting as well.

Back at the lodge I had some down time where I slept a bit and poked around on the computer.  I don't lollygag very well, so being forced to once in a while is not a bad thing.

Soon enough, I was ready for hunting.  Claude and Denis showed up and Rick took all of us out.

Claude and I were dropped off on nearby stands on opposite sides of the road.  I was at the Pet Cemetery stand, passing by it as I quietly made my way in.

The stand was a box blind about five feet off the ground.  To get in was something which was not quite a ladder and not steps, being somehow worse than both.  It was not confidence inspiring while carrying all my hunting crap.  But once inside, I was able to get situated and comfortable very easily.

It was an absolutely bluebird of an afternoon with bright sun, cool temperatures and a bit breezy.  There was lots of noise from critters scurrying about; I'm quite sure most were small birds and squirrels, but gosh they can make a lot of noise sometimes.

At some point I noticed two small deer way over to the left.  I watched them as they milled around.  What were they doing over there?

The went back into the pines and came out a few times as the afternoon went on, always staying far away.

As the sun started to sink lower, it became kind of annoying since it was so bright and the stand faced southwest.  I had to adjust myself and the camo fabric to not be blinded.

The deer started to make their way over to the corn.  At almost the same time, I started to hear pigs to my right in the trees.  I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen; who would blink first.

The two deer got to the corn and several more deer came out to join them in munching.  The sun started to slip below the treeline - a blessing, but also this meant shooting light was sinking quickly.

I heard noise to my right and saw three pigs right on the edge of the field.  They weren't huge and no shot - at least not anything I was willing to take.  The pigs blinked and ran back into the woods.  They must have gathered reinforcements since a few minutes later a few different pigs came out.  These pigs pushed the deer off the corn, running a wide circle around them.

"Good," I said to myself.  I brought my gun up.  Almost instantly a whole wad of pigs ran onto the corn.  "Crap," too many.  With all the pigs in a big wad there was no way to get a clean shot at the head of just one.

I left my gun up, trying to figure out what to do.  Sunset.  Thirty minutes of shooting light left.  Facing the remaining light there was some glare in the scope complicating the picture.  I kept watching through the scope.  The hogs weren't monsters, but were a tender eating size.  I had briefly seen a larger one and heard more pigs to the right, further complicating any decision.

Every once in a while a pig would separate, but pigs constantly dance - too fast for a slow human.  The minutes ticked down; I had memories of the previous year where this same issue meant no shot.

This was a very long (at least 20 minutes) time watching and waiting to get a clean shot.  Finally one out front was facing to the left and I saw a clean head with nothing behind it.  I was rock steady and squeezed the trigger.  At the shot the pigs scattered, running a wide circle close in front of me.

I said a small prayer and looked through the dim light back through the scope.  I saw not one, but two pigs doing the 100-yard dash on the ground.  Uh Oh...

I kept watching.  If the "back" pig wasn't hit great it might get its feet under and skedaddle.  Within a short amount of time, both stopped moving.  At least they didn't die alone...

I texted Rick and watched and waited.  It was too dark to see, and I second-guessed if there were really two pigs?  If I overthink before shooting (I do), I'll do so again after (I will).

Sitting there in the dark, I heard noise.  The pigs came back.  They were indifferent to their friends, now quietly sleeping on the corn.  They noisily ate corn.  

Rick texted me to slip out so we could bump them off quietly by driving in.  I went back to the pet cemetery and waited what felt like a really long time.  I heard several groups of hogs while waiting there in the dark.  There were at least a few different groups of them nearby.

We drove up and Rick and I quickly loaded up two pigs.  Both were under 100 pounds, but would be great quarters for the smoker.  I was a bit surprised that both were fairly clean head shots; the hogs must have been lined up with the back pig also with a messed up lower leg.  No doubt the bullet had broken up by that point in its travels.

Back at the lodge, Rick cleaned and quartered the pigs.  I drove to Dollar General and got a few bags of ice, then went to Denis' house where he and Claude graciously shared their chili.  I felt bad for leaving shortly after, but I was losing steam quickly.

Quite a day.

2026 Hog Hunt Day 2 - Settling In

After an early morning spent putzing around on the computer, I went with Rick to drop off kids for school.  Then after running some Rick errands, we fed up stands.  All but one had been hit well.  It was fun seeing all the stands and one cow pasture had several hogs in it.

There had been a rather grisly murder the previous night in a nearby township the previous night.  And one of Rick's neighbors had got stuck in a ditch while going out to assist the family.  We pulled him out - although I was concerned that Rick might pull the car apart given its state of disrepair.  But all was well.

As an aside, the murder - which was originally believed to be a robbery-gone-wrong - was more likely due to the spouse who also shot himself in the gut in the process.  The world can be a terrible place sometimes.

There was a scheduling mix-up with the other guy coming in to camp, meaning I would likely have the lodge to myself for the week with Denis and Claude staying at Denis' house.  This works just fine for me.

I had some down time at the lodge which allowed me to get a pseudo-nap in.  Then it was off to hunt hogs.

I was dropped off at the Fish Snatch stand.  This stand had treated me well previously so I was hopeful it would again.  I was glad it was a big box blind since I had a hard time sitting still at first.  The air was cool and dry and there was absolutely no wind making the afternoon breathlessly still.  This did force me to calm down and just settle in the for the afternoon since every movement felt unbelievably loud in the still air.

After sitting for a while three bucks popped out onto the corn.  They were followed about 10 minutes later by a whole bunch of does.

The deer milled around the area for a while.  A turkey came walking down the 2-track, and while this same turkey had been nearby when the deer first came out, the deer now seemed bothered by it.  The deer bolted away.

At least I think that is what happened.  I did hear a gunshot from a nearby stand, so pigs were moving and they could have been in the area as well.

About a half an hour later most of the deer came back and stayed in the area until it got too dark to see.  As the light dimmed, I shook my head about how age-related changes have hurt my low light vision; I don't suppose this will get better.

After dark, I packed up as quietly as I could and walked the 2-track back out.  While waiting to get picked up in the still dark evening, I heard a group of pigs to my right.  It is highly possible they were making their way through the pines to my bait pile.

Claude had shot a very large and healthy sow.

Denis had seen a lot of deer, but not pigs.  

The forecast was for a cold night, so after cleaning the hog, we left it hang.

I had a quick noodle bowl and was ready to turn in early.

2026 Hog Hunt Day 1 - Paper Boy

Everything seems ... unsettled.  The world, the US, work, me.  I'm not even sure my mind has grasped that the 2025 calendar has been thrown away.

I survived the first full week of work.  It wasn't terrible and things were in a good enough place.  I'm currently bossless and with the retirement of my shortest-term boss ever.  Technically I report to their boss now, but that gives me a direct reporting relationship to someone over 4300 miles away.

I've also had several subtle reminders of mortality (see - unsettled).  I've been on the edge of a migraine for several days; I'm worried the stress, even if it is "good" stress, of the trip will trigger it.

I kept myself busy on Saturday by packing up for the trip south.  My freezer doesn't have much room, but any change to that is theoretical at this point.  Winter would not be winter without a week spent in South Carolina.

Sunday came and I hit the road early after feeding the dogs and a quick shower.

The weather was cold and windy with some snow squalls, so I was hoping that any slow downs would be on empty roads.  As it was, the few snowy areas had no effect on the roads.

I did not get any kind of glorious sunrise on this trip.

I listened to the book Paper Girl by Beth Macy for almost the entire trip.  I'm not sure this was the best choice given how unsettled I felt, but it was a very engaging read.  It was part politics (at times a bit too much), part memoir, part history, part ... story of Urbana, Ohio and the surrounding area.

I found myself criticizing the author a few times for being so closed-minded and criticizing others for the same behaviors she demonstrated, but it was her story to tell and I thought it was done with honesty, integrity the way a personal memoir should be.  In the end, I think there are two lessons.  One - don't take politics so seriously!  There is NO reason to let it kill friendships or personal relationships.  It just is not that important.  And two - there are no easy answers.  None.  So see lesson one.  Hearing all the family strife, poor life decisions and upheavals in personal relationships sure made me appreciate S/O as well as my siblings.

I ended the drive listening to a recast of This American Life which was similarly unsettling.  This brings me to a third lesson, which is that I'm in South Carolina to hunt wild hogs and I need to get into that mode.

The drive was easy enough.  Traffic remained light through most of the day.  Once south of the snow I definitely wasn't in a hurry which makes the drive even that much easier.

As I got out of the mountains, the snow and cold gave way to sun and quite warm temperatures, but it was still quite windy.

Once at the lodge, I had the place to myself.  I generally farted around a bit before Rick came over.  We went to see Denis and Claude at Denis' house for a short visit before calling it a day with a plan to feed up stands in the morning.

2025 Indiana Deer Hunt - Denny's is for Winners

It seems like everything snuck up on me this fall.  I dutifully went through fall chores, check-marking the to-do list shorter and shorter week by week.  But deer hunting was all of a sudden – here.  I guess things are in a good enough situation, but there are still things I need to get done this year.  My truck is desperate for tires, and I need to get them before the trip to South Carolina which isn’t all that far away.  I haven’t done near enough target shooting recently.  As I age I try to keep up on health appointments, but I'm overdue for one.

Life can be exhausting.  Even on the best days it just keeps going tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow... 

Which is a good reason why I need to step back and sit in a tree for a few days.

A sudden and brutal cold snap a week before Indiana’s deer gun season had me rethinking my sanity.  It came with snow which stuck around longer than it usually does in November.  But overall it was short lived and forecast for the first few days of the season are blessedly warm.

I buzzed out to Mikes Friday after work to put up my stand.  I don't like the extra intrusion right before hunting, but it makes opening day so much easier.  Mike was working on his lawn mower; after putting my stand up, I helped him get the mower belt back on.  Mike said that was good payment on 10 more years of hunting - best job I ever had!

Opening day came with an early morning.  I was up early enough to watch TV with the dogs.  My older girl was so happy to be snoozing under a blanket next to me.  But then it was time for a quick shower and head out the door right at 5:45.  I grabbed a Snickers bar as I headed out for if (when?) I got a deer.

I was in my stand with plenty of dark left.  I had lots of time to sit there in the magical darkness.  I thought back over the last year; it's so easy to get tied up in the everyday business, to relive errors and inelegant moments.  Sitting in the dark in a treestand is like a salve for the soul.

Forecast was for warm temperatures and potentially high winds.  A racoon sidled right past me while still in the dark.  It was followed a few minutes later by a deer; it was too dark to see what it was other than a deer.  This had me thinking it could be a good day.

Daylight slowly came since it was quite cloudy.  Two more racoons came and made their homes in trees right near me.  For quite some time, one of the racoons spent much of its time watching me.

The morning progressed and I saw several deer through the day.  There was one buck in the mix, but he hightailed it into the ravine.  As usually happens, I had a deer go behind me as well.

I thought back to my South Carolina deer hunt.  I've been increasingly kicking myself for not shooting the buck that I could have.  As the afternoon progressed, I was kicking myself even more since all deer movement seemed to stop.  I kept my spirits up until the last couple of hours.  All day sits in the stand are hard.  The wind wasn't making it any easier.  The wind makes hearing deer almost impossible.  And with leaves blowing and everything moving, even seeing deer can sometimes be challenging.  The only thing helping was it was a south wind - bringing temperatures to near 70F.

Right near dark, I saw a deer silhouetted at the far south end - some day I'm going to hunt down there (yeah, right...).  That was the only deer I saw in the afternoon.

As darkness fell, I was looking forward to moving again.  I climbed out of the tree and my legs felt swollen.  I'm used to being very active so sitting all day is painful.

Driving home I looked down at the Snickers Bar I had on the console and said out loud, "Denny's is for winners."*  The candy bar would not get eaten until (and if) I got a deer.  

*This is a reference to the TV Show Community.  I fully admit this reference is a bit obtuse, but sitting in a treestand for 12 hours does both wonderful and terrible things to the mind.

_______________________________________

Sunday came and I again watched some TV with the girls before heading out.  Weather was tolerable with sun and a bit cooler than Saturday, but still windy.  I again had some blessed time in the dark to sit and just be.

Lightness came earlier since the sky was cloudless.  Right at legal shooting light, a buck walked past me.  It was still a bit dark, so I was looking through the scope at it and it just ... vanished.  It was the oddest thing.  I would have heard it run if it was spooked.  It was just gone.  I've had deer sneak in and almost appear out of nowhere, but never one vanish before.  I spent an inordinate amount of time staring where the deer was and the area around there.  As I write this, I can't help but wonder what happened (hopefully not a mental episode)?

Most of the deer I saw on Sunday were bucks.  I had one come from behind me; I don't mind being a contortionist to get the shot, but it does take time.  He was OK, but I let him walk.

Another deer walked the far south end of the property - again just a silhouette in the morning light.

I saw a real nice buck across the ravine.  A short time later I heard the neighbor shoot - couldn't help but wonder if he is gone?

Another deer came up behind me.  I contorted myself and saw he was at least pretty nice, but was already too far away - with brush between him and me.  I watched him anyways as he made his way south.  Right about where I would lose sight of him, he turned and started walking east, then northeast.  He was headed back towards me.  As he got closer, I thought, "This might actually still happen."  But I was worried the wind would push my stink to him and cause him to bolt.  He was behind me to my right, but I was confident I could make the offhand shot work.  He was, oddly, within 20 yards of where I shot my biggest deer ever several years previous.  There was a bit of brush in the way, but it was now or never.  Bang-Flop - good as it gets.  He was on the ground.

I watched him for a bit and he was still moving - I never want to make an animal suffer, but he was behind a deadfall.  I watched for a short time before deciding I had to finish this.  I was quite nervous that he could get his feet under him and run - so I did struggle to wait a few minutes.  I climbed down and walked up to him, giving him the coup de gras.  I hate having to shoot twice, and deer generally can't take a bullet (like wild hogs can), but this one did.

He was brute of a deer - a very respectable 8-point with very good width (outside spread of 19"), good mass.  Maybe a bit short, but still a deer I'm honored to be able to take.  I am very very very fortunate.

I packed out my stuff and hoofed back to field dress him.  Then the real work started.  Every year the drag gets harder and this boy was so big that it took over two hours to drag him out.  He was big enough that he looked ridiculous in my small plastic sled.  The last hill took an hour alone (and even getting it into the truck after that was painful).

I talked with Mike and Mary for a bit before heading home.

As I pulled out of the driveway, I started eating my Snickers.  

_______________________________________

Belated Edit:

While butchering the deer, I found the (initial) bullet lodged in the offside shoulder.  My shot was a bit high - either due to me slightly duffing it or deflection from the brush in the way.  The 95 grain SST bullet did its job as well as it was able - plowing through a shoulder and spine before stopping in the offside shoulder.  I guess I'm not surprised it was an instant drop or that he didn't die quickly; I'm not sure how he could still move at all given the condition of the spine.  I'll take the bang-flop any day, but would still prefer heart/lungs over shoulder with lighter bullets.  The fact that the deer was recovered to look at the bullet (recovered weight of 40grains) is ultimately the most telling tail...