avgjoe

I had something similar happen right after I started bowhunting. It was mid-December, and I got in my stand about 2:00. Within 5 minutes, I saw a group of does about 150 yards away looking right at me. I thought, "no way they can see me, i've never been spotted that far away before." About that time, I heard something running through the woods behind me. Here comes a doe, a good 8 point buck (probably 120-130 class)... and this beast of a buck. He was the biggest bodied deer I have ever seen. He dwarfed theother buck in every aspect. He had at least 12 points, long tines, and it looked like his rack was 2 feet wide. Every time the 8 point would get close, the bruiser would charge him, then come back to the doe. This was all within about 20 yards of my stand. So, Iam shaking like a leaf at this point..... The doe steps out in an opening and pees on the ground about 15 yards from my stand. I try to get an arrow ready, and I drop it..... it falls and hits several limbs on the way down... none of the three even look in my direction. So, I grab another arrow, but there is a smalltree between me and the big buck. I draw, expecting him to walk out there where the doe peed on the ground. He never does... he walks straight away, and I never have a good shot. I grunted and rattled at him, but there was no way he was leaving that doe. I've replayed that moment a thousand times in my head, thinking "what if"... i might have been able to get an arrow through there....... Still one of my best deer hunting memories ever, and I didn't even take a shot. About 10 years later, I get another shot at a once in a lifetime buck, and I capitalize on it. Karma?