I came close guys, I was doing a stalk during lunch last Friday at a friend's grandad's old farm. This is a 30 acre farm that's going to pines and has about 80 acres of timbered land on the north side and housing and a golf course on the other sides. It'smore isolated than it sounds. Anyway, no ones been hunting it (with permission) for years and I was in the area and decide to spend my lunch doing something better than stuffing my face. I suited up and started sneaking around keeping the wind in my face to the best of my ability. Lots of sign and I skirted around a field that was mostly young pines and dropped down to a creek bottom. There was a distinct deer path and some big rubs. I moved just off the creek bottom because that was mostly hardwood saplings and bathed in light and entered the darker hardwood/pines 40 yards away paralleling the creek. I was looking at trees trying to decide where I'd set a stand for this weekend and 10 yards ahead I saw the dark form of the backside of a deer raise from his bed. He was on the other side of a pine blowdown and his front half was obscured by a latice-work of limbs and trunk. I froze. I could see his main beams as he moved his head and they were wide and thick,holding close to 5" or better diameter throughout the whole length of the beams. I couldn't make out tines but I was concentrating on finding an opening to thread an arrow through. I knew it was hopeless. I would have to move 20' to my right to get on the same side of the log as he was in order to clearly shoot at his vitals. The wind was in my favor and I don't think he knew what disturbed him. I saw him look around and turn his head away from me and I had a fleeting hope he may turn around offering a broadside shot at his vitals. After about 30 sec. he remembered he had an important appointment somewhere else and he was late! I tried to bleat him to a stop and draw but he kept going through the thick stuff. It was close and a blast! Maybe I'll get a rematch this weekend.