I took my dad deer hunting about 3 years ago after he bought his first muzzleloader. He took a decent 8 point on his brother's property for his first deer in 50 years.
Last year around Thanksgiving, he had a knee replaced for the 2nd time and had a difficult recovery. This season, I wanted to get him out to hunt, but was limited to keeping him within 100 yards of the truck due to his knees and getting winded with much more exertion. We set up in a blind numerous times throughout the season. He missed a broadside shot on a doe the first time out. We hunted about 4 hours at a time until his knees started getting stiff sitting in a camp chair in the blind. A couple of weeks ago, on the 3rd 4 hour hunt in 3 days, he took a little button buck to be able to put some meat in the freezer and say he didn't get skunked. He had seen pics on my trail cameras and had hoped to take one of the 8 points we had pics of.
Saturday morning we were back in the blind by 6:00 AM. It was overcast, which hid the otherwise bright moon. The woods didn't lighten up until around 7 AM. We watched as many as 5 squirrels at a time scampering around where we had put out some corn on Tuesday PM (1 hr drive each way to dump a bucket of corn and go home). We were watching the squirrels when my dad said "there's one coming in." I looked to my left, where the button buck had come in a couple of weeks prior. I picked up my binocluars and found that it was one of the 8 points. I told dad that it was an 8 point and to get ready to take a shot if he came out in the open. The buck took his time and began to angle up the hill above where we hoped he would go. He did come out in the open and I told dad if he got a clear shot to take him. A couple of moments later - BOOM! The deer tipped over in his tracks. I could tell he was spine shot the way he dropped. He turned a bit and tried to get up on his front legs, then dropped and went still. The angle of the shot hit the spine and angled down through a lung. He wasn't going anywhere. He didn't have a huge rack, but had a nice body for an AR deer. The processor guessed him at 90-100 lbs dressed and said he was a 3 year old deer. Dad managed to walk down the ravine and back out as I drug the deer. He called 3 different people as I dressed the deer out. I could hear him telling them "he dropped like a rock". As we drove out, dad told me "thanks for letting me be your hunting partner."
I went by mom and dad's house last night to drop off some Christmas presents. Mom told me that dad stopped at least 4 different people at church yesterday to tell them about his deer. She said that he normally is in his recliner by 7pm, but he was out in his shop painting some Christmas ornaments that he had carved for some friends. She said he had more energy since his hunt than she has seen in quite some time.
I can confidently say this has been a successful deer season. My digital camera battery had died, so we only got pics on our cell phones. If he can remember how to find pictures on his phone, I have a feeling a few folks will see them.
