Climbed into a cantering Oak (which didn't look too crooked in the dark, but sure was tricky climbing!) and settled in by 6:15.

Nothing but squirrels until 8:55. 9:00 am rolls around and I pack up the gear, drop the bow, and start climbing down in the Summitt. I'm 4 feet from the ground, cutting one of the labels off the safety harness (which I've been meaning to do for about a month, just keep forgetting), look to my right and there stand 4 mature does looking in my direction. It's not bad enough that my bow is lying on the ground, mere feet away, but now the foot platform is angled upwards at about a 35 degree angle. Too make matters worse, these deer are upwind and can't see me through some hemlock boughs.

They just milled around, knowing something was wrong, but unable to locate the source. Meanwhile, I'm trying my damnest to conjure up a way of retrieving my bow (at the end of a 20 foot haul line, with 15 feet of that already on the ground) without spooking the ladies. Needless to say, after 10 minutes of this, both my mind and legs were in agony.

The does finally wandered off out of sight, and I literally fell off the platform, my thighs and calves trembling. Coincidentally, they obviously were not out of earshot, as they bounded into the nearby pasture and jumped the fence.

I bemoaned my bad fortune, and blamed it on Cardeer's necklace. Deer never sneak up on a hunter when they're 5 feet off the ground in a climber!!

Went back this afternoon and had 3 deer on a secondary path about 60 yards away. Been playing with a rather large 9-10 point, had him grunting and ripping brush this morning and afternoon, but the necklace hasn't seduced him yet. I think it's working on his pappa' <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

S&R