I shot a buck at about 200 yards with a 270 that's zeroed at that range. I've made this shot at this location several times in the past, but somehow I shot low and hit both front legs and skimmed the breast bone. At first I thought I'd missed him because I couldn't find any blood or hair. I searched for about 30 minutes and finally found some leaves that didn't look right. Following the disturbed leaves eventually lead to blood. I followed the disturbed leaves and pockets of blood all over a ridge until the trail went down into a thick creek bed. The buck jumped up and started crashing through the growth, so I backed off and circled around the direction I thought he would head to cut him off. I started working my way down the creek bed towards the last place I'd seen him and spotted him hiding in some thick growth. By this time he was at the edge of the property. My concern was that he'd get in an area I couldn't track and die a slow death. I'd switched to a lever 35rem for the tracking job. He was bedded down and all I could see was his neck and head about 30 yards away. I wanted to move to a better vantage point but feared he would jump up again and be lost or off the property. I didn't care about the rack as much as I did him not suffering, so I took a shot at his neck. His head went down and then back up looking at me with blood pouring out on the ground. I put a second round in about the same place and walked over to him. He raised his head and just looked at me with blood pouring out. I put a fourth round right between his eyes. He laid there doing the death throws. At that point I just wanted to lay down my rifle and walk away from all of it. What he went through has taken all of the joy out of this season. This is the most personal kill I've ever had in 3 decades of hunting. I think it's because we just stared at each other from 5 feet apart. This put my tracking skills to the test and I'm proud of the fact I never gave up, but I regret ever pulling the trigger.