I have to say, My brother got me into handguns and handgun hunting. I never thought it would be so fun. Now, even when I coyote hunt in the late seasons, I look at my .223 encore rifle and think of carrying that thing up and down all the hills and through the brush and just say forget it, I'll risk not getting some long shots and just use my encore as a pistol and carry in a holster. Just try to call them in closer. It is a lot easier to travel through all of that with both hands free.
Congrats to you and your great buck. I too would mount that. That is a real nice deer for upstate NY