Wonderful, encouraging report, Drift, thank you. I’m really happy for you, and although it can be time consuming, butchering your own deer ensures that you end up eating your deer, and not someone else’s. I’ve seen too many deer processors cut corners to take my deer there any longer. So much of your deer is turned into baloney, which the processor sells. Anyhow, great job. And it shows how tough deer can be. Yesterday I killed a buck with an antique rifle shooting a high velocity round. First shot was in his left side and cut the top of his lungs. He ran uphill 60 yards and acted as if nothing had happened. I shot him again from the other side, hitting right behind his shoulder and taking out the top of his heart and lower lungs. He literally just stood there like I had missed, and at 135 yards, I thought I had missed. I was disgusted and frustrated. Just as i was beating myself up, he toppled over like a felled tree — slow and deliberate. Incredible how much punishment some deer can take.