I have hunted California for a lot of years and never shot a deer. Last year for my 40th birthday my wife gave me the green light on a guided hunt in Montana.

Every evening while going back to the lodge my guide and I drove through a hill area that bordered his Indian reservation. We saw deer every time but it was to dark to shoot. It was day five of a seven day hunt and I was getting tired of going back to the lodge empty handed, So I told my guide I wanted to hunt this area in the morning.

It was now day six. The temp was at fourty and raining hard!
The plan was to take our wheeler to the top of the mountian and set up to glass. I knew we could catch deer moving early in the afternoon and pull a sneak while moving down the mountain.

It was now 2pm and still pouring rain. My guide was tired of glassing and told me to walk down a mile long ridge to see if I could find somthing to shoot and that he would pick me up at the bottom of the mountain. I told him no and that I wanted to sit here until at least 4pm. At that point he got up and said that he would be back in about an hour or so and started walking down the ridge.
While sitting and glassing I started thanking God for the opportunity of just being there. By the time my guide came back it had stoped raining. IT was 3:30 or so and we saw a deer about about a thousand yards down in a vally, it was a small buck. He was moving up the mountain. my guide said well? Then I said its day six and i want some meet. The plan was to sidehill the mountain and cut him off at the ridge. We started our stalk and about half way across the mountain we jumped up a buck that was in the vally below us. the buck started up the opposite side and skylined.
The buck was a little 3x4 but that was all right with me. As I sat down on my butt and set up my shooting sticks, my guide ranged him at 305 yrd's. After 2 shots and both of them missing the buck vanished over the ridge. My heart sunk and I just hung my head. My guide got up and said let's go find him. I said I want to sit here for a minute. As he started to walk off I just sat there and started to thank God for for his goodness.
I was just thankful for getting off a couple shots and also allowing me to have this guided hunt.

As I was talking to god I put two more rounds in my 7mm and looked back up on the ridge, just then my buck walk up and skylined again. I said to myself this cant be happening. Just then I had an all knowing feeling that God was providing me with this as my first deer ever.
My guide was about fourty yrd's on the side of me. He turned around to see if I was going to follow him. He saw me pointing up at the buck and he took a few steps back and covered his ears. I knew that was my green light to shoot! finely after 20 years of hunting (Deer Down!) " God does and will give you the desires of your heart "

(Good things come to those who wait)