"This time, I thought the buck was gone for sure," Combs noted. "But after five jumps, the deer stopped behind several trees, about 20 yards away. Although I was in shooting position, all I could see was the buck's nose and rear end."

Not sure what the deer would do next, Combs continued to stand and hold his bow at full draw. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the deer took a cautious step forward

"It took about four or five steps for the buck to move out from behind the trees," Combs said. "The instant I had an open shot opportunity, I touched my release. I use Lumenok nocks on my arrows and I watched the red glow disappear into the deer's side."

At the shot, the buck lunged forward and quickly vanished into the trees and brush.

Until now, the hunter had managed to remain relatively calm. But with the hunt over, his nerves and excitement level made him need to sit for several minutes before trying to climb out of the stand.

The hunter remained standing, listening to the sounds of the deer running across the distant hillside.

"Knowing where my arrow hit, I couldn't believe how far the buck ran," Combs recalled. "However, I was pretty sure I did hear the deer go down.

"Just as I started to sit down, I heard something move behind the stand and spotted the big 10-pointer slipping back down the drain. In all the excitement, I had completely lost track of the second buck."

Until now, the hunter had managed to remain relatively calm. But with the hunt over, his nerves and excitement level made him need to sit for several minutes before trying to climb out of the stand.

During that time, he called his wife Jackie to tell her the good news.

After reaching the ground and retrieving his arrow, Combs tried to follow the deer's blood trail. But thick ground vegetation made the going extremely difficult.

Wanting to find the buck before dark, the hunter finally decided to leave the trail and walk to where he had heard the deer fall.

"By this time, I had gotten hot, in addition to being excited -- and somehow, managed to get completely disoriented," Combs said.

"After ending up in an area of woods far removed from where I was trying to go, I walked back to my stand and took a couple of minutes to calm down."

His second search attempt ended successfully as he located the big whitetail lying just over an adjacent ridgetop. Amazingly, the buck had traveled over 150 yards after being shot.