What's going on this year? Out of probably 15 - 20 sits, I've seen a total of six deer. Three bucks and three does. The strange thing is that it's early season and every buck I've seen has been at or before 6:00 pm.
After getting my first bow buck on 1 October (Arkansas opener) I killed the only doe I saw in Arkansas on the morning of the 3rd (I didn't mention that, did I? Sorry, I didn't get any pictures.)
I got home from work at 4:20 and was on a new stand location on my home property by 5:00. At around 6:00, I caught movement to my left and the first thing I focused on was antler... huge antler. Then I saw the body of the buck. This fella was a brute! I couldn't tell how many points he had, but it was a HUGE rack. He was 40 yards out in some thick cover walking parallel to my stand towards a field. I knew that if he turned right or went into the field, I wasn't going to get a shot, but if he turned left he was mine. Unfortunately, he turned right. In my opinion, it's too early to try to call him back, so I watched him walk away. God, I was trembling as the adrenalin rush started to fade. All I could think was "thank God he didn't know I was there".
Now I know his trail. All I wanted to do was get out of there without anything happening. About a half hour later, a doe and a good sized fawn appear and browse right to my stand. Talk about beautiful shots! They got a pass from me this time though. There's no way I was going to shoot one and have to go stomping around following a blood trail at night after having seen that bruiser.
It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but Wednesday I'll leave work a bit early, scramble home, re-position my stand based on the wind direction and forecast and hope he walks the same path. If he does, I've got a shot at him. If I get this guy, it'll definitely be one heck of a year for me.
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There are people who will always come up with reasons why you can't legally do what you want to do. Ignore them.
Almost scored again!
