Charles Vigil sent us this photo of the great buck that his nephew, David J. Varela Jr., took in New Mexico this year.

David writes, "I am certain this big buck was destined to be mine; I had already seen him that morning, although he didn’t give me a good clear shot. When I saw him run off, I got frustrated because I thought I wouldn’t ever again have the opportunity to bag this trophy buck. After he ran off, we tried to track him but didn’t have any luck, he was gone like the cool breeze that brushed over my face. He had quickly disappeared into the tall pine tress.
We continued following tracks throughout the day, but again had no success. As I heard shots echo through the canyons, the thought of him came to mind, “man I hope it’s not him they have shot.” The day was coming to an end really quickly and we hadn’t seen anything except some turkeys and a few elk. I told my dad perhaps we should circle back where we had seen him earlier in the day. He agreed, so we headed back to the top where we started off. We sat and scouted the area for some time; I had lost all hope when suddenly I heard some rustling in the bush across the way. As I looked closer, there he was again, he walked out to the open meadow next to the creek! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, was it fait? I have no idea. An adrenaline rush came over me, I began to sweat. Dad said “calm down,” I slowly lifted my rifle to prepare for the shot. He was eating and suddenly lifted his head, changed directions leaving me without a shot...he had sensed something.
I thought, “Oh no, he’s going to take off again.” He looked around cautiously moved a couple of feet but oddly, continued to eat. One more time he lifted his head and made direct eye contact with me, it was at that moment I knew he was all mine. It was over in a matter of seconds. We tracked the blood trail for about ten yards and there he was. Man, what a day!"