I finally got a good west wind yesterday to hunt one of my favorite stands. It is a rather overlooked spot, a tight funnel seperated by a main road and my neighbors driveway. The woodlot connects two excellent bedding areas, making it good early season and later on, come November.

The stand is in a clump of four large maple trees, making for ample cover, and the ridge is loaded with oak trees, making it quite a hotspot. I also have a mock scrape near the stand that the deer have been actively working since September.

I climbed into the stand around 4:30, figuring I' d have a good hour to wait for any action. I passed the time by getting rained on and watching squirrels [:-].

Around 5:45, I noticed the squirrels we' re getting pretty worked up and thought they could possibly see deer coming. Then, at 5:50 like magic there they we' re. A big mature doe and her two fawns, walking the trail that parallels the hilltop. I lifted the bow from the hanger and prepared for the shot.

As the lead doe' s head passed behind a maple I drew my Hoyt HavocTec and when she emerged from behind the tree and was clear of some brush I bleated to stop her. Suprise! She immediately locked up and stared through me. I carefully aimed for her heart with my 30 yard pin. Before I knew it, the bow went off and the Snyper-tipped arrow was on it' s way. " WHOP!" I heard the arrow hit home, but for some reason, couldn' t see where it had hit. I watched her run up to the edge of a thicket, then heard her crash as soon as she went out of sight.

As soon as things calmed down the wind and rain intensified, so I decided to climb down and go recover her. I walked over to where she stood and found my arrow, covered with lung blood. With the rain, there was no hope of following a bloodtrail. I walked over to where she was and couldn' t locate her, so I hustled home. I returned with my Dad, climbed the stand and directed him to where I' d last seen the deer. He found her immediately. She' d only gone about 40 yards. She was fully mature and big, 130 lbs. field dressed. One of the biggest does I' ve killed.

Two things that I am absolutely stoked about this season, ASAT 3D camo and the Rocky Mt. Snyper mechanical heads.

First the ASAT. As I said, when the deer stopped, she looked through me. This has been happening all season. I' ve also had close encounters with wild turkeys, including a big double-bearded gobbler I walked to within 40 yards of in a cut cornfield. In previous years while wearing " other" camo patterns, I' ve had deer look up at me and flee the scene instantly. I' m confident ASAT is everything people on this board told me it was. It' s terrific!

The Snypers? I' ve always been leary of mechanical heads, but when Rocky Mt. introduced the Snyper two years ago, they had my attention. I' ve been shooting the companies Titanium 100' s for two years and this year decided to try the Snyper. The head did an amazing job on this deer. The shot was actually 26 yards, and the hit was a little high, but the head still got both lungs. The entrance hole was wicked! Had it not been for the rain, I' m sure the bloodtrail would' ve been fun to follow!

Well, my season is off to a good start. I' m ready to hunt bucks, and in 3 weeks I' m off to Illinois for a week [8D].

Tyler