My first buck

I've taken a lot of bucks over the years. The one I can remember the details about the most was my first one. When I was young my granddad always had a garden. I would go help him work in the garden. I would notice all the tracks of the deer coming into his garden at night. One of them always stood out to me more than all the rest. It was a nice sized buck track. What was unique about this track was it had a split off one side of the hoof like a small finger jutting out. I saw this same track for about 5 years. I was determined to harvest this buck. I would scout all my hunting woods to find any buck sign. For anyone who don't know what scouting is. It is like looking for clues or signs left by the deer to tell where they travel. I searched where the buck I was after was entering and leaving the garden. I hunted in that direction without any luck. For 5 years this buck escaped me. Until one day I stopped beside a mud hole and looked at the ground. There in the mud was a foot print of the deer I was after. It was heading to another patch of woods from where I had been hunting. I went to a funnel in this area. There was buck sign everywhere. Deer season came that year and I took a week off to hunt. I hunted from the ground so I found me a point where the funnel crossed between to cliffs. The first morning , the wind was blowing the wrong way and I spooked the deer. The next day I was back, the wind was blowing perfectly straight up the between two cliffs forming a funnel. I smelled a wet horse smell and heard deer grunting. I was in a perfect set up. I knew it was my day. Then the wind shifted . All I heard was deer blowing their alarm. I had to react fast or miss my chance. I climbed over the side of the cliff. About 15 feet below me was the bottom. There I went around the base to meet the deer leaving from the funnel. We met and I killed a nice 8 point. My first buck, I can remember it like it was yesterday. When I checked his feet one had the split I was after.