Awesome and frustrating morning.

Climbed a tree just before daylight this morning. I start seeing deer before it's even good and light. At about 7:00 I notice antlers in the weeds about 60 yards in front of me. They disappear. After getting my binoculars I can see that he has laid down and it's "the deer" I've been hunting. After about a hour a doe gets up right in front of him. It appears he has her sequestered and isn't about to leave her. she feeds my way for about 10 yards and lays back down. Another hour passes. She gets up and starts feeding my way again. The big buck is now 40 yards away. and lays down again. In a little while in comes a 6 pointer, the big buck postures and the little buck sulks away. About now I feel the demise of bow-hunters. The wind shifts and I feel it on the back of my neck. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eek.gif

I'm in a dilemma. I practice at 40 yards all the time, but I owe it to the deer to not take a shot I'm don't feel 100% in. I take my chances on them not winding me. In a few min the doe gets nervous and backtracks. The buck follows her into bedding cover. By the time they leave I've been within 60 yards of a fully mature buck (5+ years old) for close to 4 hours and have never even drawn my bow. I'm drained. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif

At least he's still alive and there are 7 more weeks of bow season. Now if all this hunting doesn't get me divorced http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif

Good luck on getting a shot in the next 7 weeks.
Good choice on holding off on a shot you were not 100% sure about. It is a tough thing to do, but better to get another chance at him rather than make a less than ideal shot. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

That'd be a tough one, 40 is my limit, under perfect conditions. At least you had an encounter with a mature buck, Ive hunted 26 of the last 29 days, a few all day sits, and yet to see a mature buck... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mikemac10 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> At least you had an encounter with a mature buck, Ive hunted 26 of the last 29 days, a few all day sits, and yet to see a mature buck... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>
I've seen 2 mature bucks all season from a stand. Out of 24 or so different bucks I've seen. I had "Tag Stew" last year, trying to kill this buck. I'm go to settle for nothing less this year. I figure me or one of my sons will get him in Dec. We've been close the last 2 weekends after not seeing him for a month.

I'll have to hand it to KY, since they have gone to a one buck per year limit. People have gotten better about letting the younger deer walk.

DEAD DOWN WIND will cure that, trust me !! It's the most awesome cover up scent we have ever used. We have had deer and hogs feeding right underneath us, and if you dont know how good a hog smells in reference to a deer, you cant imagine. This is the first year we have used it and we have seen how well it really works. Dont be shy with it though, use it liberally and bring the small 12oz bottle up in the stand with you and spray yourself down every couple hours. Hope this helps, good luck and cant wait to see the pictures !!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif

"the deer"
thought he got poached? this the one that was your neighbors had seen??

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jseasor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">"the deer"
thought he got poached? this the one that was your neighbors had seen??

</TD></TR></TABLE>
This is the huge 8. The 10 with a drop was poached http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/sick.gif . All the taxidermists have been contacted on it so we can give the name law enforcment.

This is a big, big, big 8. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eek.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BADAZZTRITON &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">DEAD DOWN WIND will cure that, trust me !! It's the most awesome cover up scent we have ever used. We have had deer and hogs feeding right underneath us, and if you dont know how good a hog smells in reference to a deer, you cant imagine. This is the first year we have used it and we have seen how well it really works. Dont be shy with it though, use it liberally and bring the small 12oz bottle up in the stand with you and spray yourself down every couple hours. Hope this helps, good luck and cant wait to see the pictures !!! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agreee dead down wind is awesome. It's what I normally use. The bottle in the truck was empty, my son had the other bottle and I used sent sheild. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthdown.gif