Last year I took my wife to Georgia and dropped her off, and hauled butt back home. Everything was packed for a weekender and it was still a one and a half hour drive after I got home and left the Volvo for the truck.

It was around noon when I got to the woods, and set up camp. I ate a quick lunch, then went to my favorite spot, a half mile away.

Some logging roads intersected forming a "T" shape and in the middle of it was a briar patch seven to eight feet across and almost four feet high. I sat in this blind with two shooting lanes and waited. I heard several deer moving in the thick growth of five year old pines, however none came out of the dense treeline.

Three hours later, my stomach rumbling from hunger, I returned to camp and built a fire. All I put on it was small sticks so it would build fast and gives some hot coals for supper. While I waited I got the food from the cooler and put the chicken on a spit.

This was no ordinary bird. It was a rotisserie chicken from Publix grocery store. I also had baked beans and potato salad. Ice cold Coca-cola to wash it all down. The coals grew hot and I placed my yardbird over the heat with loving care, the beans and tater salad were heated on the Coleman stove. Yum-yum!

Well. After the burps and farts were over I went for an evening hunt. All I saw were a hen turkey, a few squirrels, a coon and a possum. As it got dark I headed back in, fighting the spiderwebs with eightlegged freaks the size of your hand. I wondered if tomorrow would be a bust just like today.

Back at camp I stoked the fire and popped open a cold beer and wondered what tomorrow would bring. My eyes grew heavy so I set the alarm on my pager so I would wake up at 5:30 am.

BEEP,BEEP,BEEP. Time to get up and make the coffee. Pull out the bacon and eggs Build a small fire to warm my toes. Can you believe this? It's Florida and there is frost on the ground! UUMMM, smell the bacon cooking! Go ahead, toss the eggs in with them. It's only bacon grease!

After eating and ...well... you know, taking the morning porcelain bus ride, I hiked in a half mile to my favorite spot.

Just after legal shooting hours a doe walks into view from down the logging road. Straight toward me. at five yards away she turns and walks down a trail. Afew minutes later it happens again, and again! They are not traveling in groups. I see one every few minutes.

Boy howdy! a spike just showed up. He didn't come down the road. He just stops and sniffs the air. Then he takes a few steps and stops. He sniffs the air again. He is now fifteen yards away. He walks towards me again and stops. Once more he sniffs the air. Slowly he turns his eyes toward me. Did he see me? Evidently not because he takes a few more steps, sniff and jerks his head in my direction. As he lowers his head and looks right at me he leaps straight up and runs right passed me! Dang! Busted!

As I thought that I might as well pack up and go back to camp a strange noise floated through the air. I looked down the road just in time to see a huge buck step out of the tree line.

One point,2,3,4 don't count the points! It'll only mess you up! stop shaking leg! 5,6,7, don't even look at the rack!

Before I knew it he was only ten yards away! He stopped and sniffed the air. Slowly he looks left, then looks right. He sniffs the air again. He just walked toward me again. He is only five yards away! Thats only fifteen feet. I could spit on him.He sniffed the air again, and spun around looking in the other direction.

I slowly drew my bow. A "texas heart shot" is better than no shot at all.

Well he must have heard me or my bow 'cause he spun around again and stared right into my eyes. He step toward me and then turned broadside to walk down the trail toward the does. All I heard was my pager going BEEP,BEEP,BEEP.

DANG!

Tim to get up and make the coffe! Wow, what a dream!

FOOLPROOF?
Never underestimate the power of a fool!