I loved tracking ,getting old but still try.Bow season located a nice buck on state land. Hunted him to no avail bow season.Yr 1998.1st day of shotgun went to my area early . a new snow ,about an inch ,but frozen to a noisy crust.I picked up a bunch of tracks going into a very thick area right at daylight.1 of the tracks was large and i suspected my buck was with this bunch. I followed as causously as i could ,but jumped them way before i sighted them .The largest of the bunch sepatated .I figured this was the buck.I followed him for hours ,jumping him prob 5 times saw his tail a couple of times but could see no horns . He urinated and at that pt. i was sure of this being a buck . I still needed to see his horns though. I followed at a comfortable walk and he got used to me behind him.Itried cutting him off ,but it was just to noisy . he always managed to stay 2-3 hundreds yds in front of me.That damn crust.It had been drizzling and flurrying all day .I knew the country well and at about 3pm he started following this brook up through the thickets.At this pt i knew if somehow i could close the distance that he was getting very confident of my pace and sound. I also kew that there were ledges coming off a ridge and that the water cascading off the ledge would cover my sound a bit.It was time to make my move . dropped my pack and jacket ,all clothing except my vest and hunting pants . I ran as fast as i could toward these ledges and looking frantically in all directions.That buck was so surprised that he let me run right up to him and plant a slug in his neck.A beautiful 10 pt.scored about 150.WHAT A HUNT ...1 mile or so drag and 6 or so miles back to car on discontinued roads.At that pt i didnt mind though . I was so happy.