Mike - sounds like you're having a lot of action, hope you can seal the deal on one of those big Iowa brutes. I'm locked up in this office like a caged rat.

Troy - it's no less safe in PA with the bow than it is with the rifle - either way, you just try to find an isolated woodpatch or escape route and sit there waiting for deer, hoping that nobody opens fire in your direction. I'm sure it's a lot like where you're at. Nothing says "Hello! Good Morning" like the report of a 300 Ultra Mag about 80 yards up over the bank. Invariably, at the crack of a rifle, I almost jump out of my treestand. You're just never expecting that. Just tie off with the harness and go about business as usual. Prepare for the orange invasion, and try not to over-react when people do stupid stuff (shooting at illegal bucks, shooting without seeing what's beyond their target, driving deer away from you, walking right through your setup,hunting from the quad, shooting from the roads,taking a dump, shooting at random objects, etc...) Oh yeah, we've got some real nobel prize winners.

A few years back, I did have a guy shooting at a button fawn that was walking directly under my stand (okay, maybe 10 yards out). He fired one time, missed, then was cycling the pump to bring a follow-up shot. I started screaming like a maniac, and then he stopped. He was an older guy who says that he didn't see me up in the treetop, despite the orange vest and hat. I should have known it was coming, because I saw him posted up on the ridge, and I saw the deer come through. Then, all at once, I saw a flash of orange as he scrambled for his rifle and got a rest off the tree. I just kinda stood and swung myself behind the tree just as he fired. Fun.