Well, for the downer news. The Funky Fork is dead.
I woke up to a text yesterday from my best friend asking "can the funky buck go down?" before I could respond "yes" given he's never killed a buck in Ohio and he's put in his time out there, so he deserves to tag a good one on our farm, I got a follow up text saying "well sorry, I did it".
Come to find out, he was wounded and suffering pretty good. I passed this buck hoping we'd find out what next year would bring and I knew he was in trouble on the farm to the north. Even though the previous lessees of that farm killed 3 target bucks in 3 years there, they didn't gun hunt and made good management decisions. They let their lease lapse and some new folks have moved in and they appear to love gun season. They also take some questionable shot. This shot entered the front of the leg, exited, and skimmed up his side. For that to happen, they had to have taken a head on, uphill shot at him.
I liked this buck and looked forward to building the story a little more. I'm thankful we're not hunting a ghost and that someone I know ended his misery. Wasn't how it was scripted, but it seems 97 out of 100, aren't.