arrrrrrggggggggggg

[reeltime]

With the winds and rain last week I gave my best spots a break

for 5 days hoping that the tradition of week 1 November

would hold true and the area would of settled down.

I was not to be disappointed! Saturday with the NW breeze I was

back in my hottest morning set for NW winds, saw 23 different doe's

and fawns! but no bucks! Saturday evening I decided to set that

same stand, something I rarely ever do ( going to, leaving, then

returning to the same stand for the evening) I had never sat that

stand for an evening hunt and had no idea what to expect. Saw 6

doe and 3 different bucks all smaller.

Sunday morning I watched a buck tracking some doe's that had

walked by in the dark, he had his head down tail up wagging back

and forth like a beagle on a rabbit, certainly too small to shoot.

Sunday evening it was raining and the grandkids wanted to go

trick or treating so my evening was already spoken for.

Monday I sat dark to dark, saw 9 deer all day 4 bucks, 2 shooters

but none close enough for a shot. That stand is in a funnel for

doe traffic and I knew with patience it would pay off. I was back

in that stand @ 6:30 Tuesday morning finally with a lot less wind!

8:15 I hear a deer slowly milling through the beech trees, but with

the leaves still on the lower brush I could only make out bits &

pieces of a decent bodied deer. finally he stepped out in the more

open brush and I could see a decent rack knew it was one of the

8's but didn't know which one........turned out to be this one.

the one facing away from the camera.

he walked by at less than 10 yards after a doe had come through

and then commenced to chasing her for the next 3 hours all

around me. it was pretty slow midday and wasn't until early

evening I saw a doe with a fawn that couldn't of been more than

6 weeks old! That little bugger couldn't weigh 25 lbs! and was

covered with spots. saw 9 other doe and 2 bucks. Finally climbed

down at 6:45 after another 2 unknown deer were passing behind

the stand.

Wednesday was probably my slowest morning only seeing 2 doe

after daylight but I did hear a buck chase a doe through behind

me about 7am. grunting up a storm. I never heard or saw another

deer till 1pm. when a small button buck walked right under me.

about 3:00 action started picking up as I could hear deer milling

through the beech and a doe with 2 little ones walked under me.

There were squirrels EVERYWHERE!!! all of a sudden whoomp

right in front of the stand there is a huge barred owl on the ground

with his wings extended standing over where there had just been

a squirrel!! He proceeded to tear his prize apart for his evening

meal. When a deer started getting close he flew up in the hemlock

in front of me about 6 yards away, NEVER heard his wings! They

call them silent killers for a reason I guess. The day ended with

seeing 11 deer, 10 doe & fawns and 1 buck.

Thursday looked like it might be iffy for weather, I climbed up at

6:30 and soon had deer coming through, I saw a wide 8 with short

tines about 8am, then at 9 had a big 6pt come in and milled all

around me for 1/2 hr then bedded down 50 yards from me till 11

when it started sprinkling. He got up and walked farther back in

the woods towards the hemlocks.

I figured it would be a good time to get out and go do some barn

chores and fix a couple of our wood piles and basically give me a

mental break from setting in stand all day.

I was reshowered, fresh camo and back in the tree by 2:00, I

wasn't back in the tree 10 minutes when 2 doe came by.. then

nothing till 4 when 2 more doe came by. it started a light mist but

the woods were still quite noisy and I could hear the turkeys

tearing up the forest floor searching for beechnuts.

By 4:30 it was starting to rain steady and soon I couldn't hear the

squirrels that were right under me, I knew that sign was not good

especially when bow hunting. It was almost 5 and now it was

raining pretty steady and when the water was dripping off my hat

I reached over took the bow off the hanger and took the arrow

off the string and put it back in the quiver. No need for any type

of temptation, pouring rain, arrow, bloodtrail....just not a good

idea to tempt fate!

No sooner did I hang the bow back up, cause I certainly didn't

want to risk getting out of there at prime time and spooking a

buck. I had a doe with 2 little ones go by me at mach 3..... I

thought well either someone is leaving their stand or uuuuurrrpp

dang! nope its a buck chasing!

here he comes right to the tree! for 5-6 minutes he mills all

around me! for 3 minutes he is perfectly broadside at 4 yards!!

it wouldn't have been so bad if it was one of the little bucks but

nnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooo its gotta be the one! I

had to set there and watch rainwater dripping off his antlers!!

this one.

mother nature screwed me big time, I can only hope that by

passing him up yesterday the deer gods will look favorably upon

me and give me another chance when the conditions are right!

I know it woulda, shoulda been a slam dunk shot at 4 yards BUT

anything can happen! make a bad hit and not recover him woulda

been absolutely sickening for me, more than I was so sick over

all that time having him right there but having to will myself into

NOT doing something stupid..

with the rain today I am not even gonna try it,,,,don't tempt fate!

[Gator]

I applaud you on your choice! Too many times slam-dunk shots in poor conditions turn into a nightmare.

Keep the faith: you'll get another chance at a better time!

[FX]

Great report! I 2nd Gator - most wouldn't have made that choice. Hopefully it will pay off for you and you'll get another chance at him. Good luck!!!

Shawn

[chowder]

I gotta admit that the first thought that came to my mind after I read this post was"if this guy is worried about being able to make a 10 yard shot he should be practicing instead of hunting".After I thought about it for a minute though I realized that when we hunt or fish most of us are not really looking for a testosterone edged competition event pitting man against beast but rather a time in which we relax and try to look at the world from a different perspective. After I started to look at it that way it was obvious to me that this fellow, in not taking the shot, did just what he should have because it appealed to his own set of ethical standards and enabled him to enjoy his time hunting.Thank you Lee for the post and for helping me keep my own priorities in line. -Andy