huntingkidPA

i was out tonight in a new spot that i had scouted but never hunted. Lots of deer signs, scrapes, big rubs, and fresh tracks. I was down in a little valley with a marsh were they bed and i was on the edge of the hardwood where they hop on the trail to get to the field and heavy pines.

I had never seen deer here before so i set up on the combination of a few heavy trails. well at 6:40 pm a 9 point came trottin in, mouth open, looked like he was runnin a doe or comin into that doe estrous. Well he came in the trail from the feeding area to the bedding area, which was a straight on shot to me. I was about 15 feet up in a tree and he came down the ridge and i had drawed on him when he was 50 yards away and he spotted me at about 15. it was a straight on shot and since he was elevated on the ridge i wasn't out of his view up high enough in the tree (since i was in the valley) and he spotted me. I didn't want to risk wounding him. i ended up getting spotted and had to hold my draw for a couple minutes, staying as still as possible. He did see me and was looking at me, but he just walked away with his tail horizontal, occasionally looking back. He never stomped his foot or snorted.

He definitely knew something was up but he didn't completely bust me and run away. then i had another 7 point come in 5 minutes later that i passed on. I waited abuot 20 minutes after i last saw them before going back to the truck. I'm going to give this stand a break for about 5-7 days i think. Did i mess up this spot right now? should i wait longer to hunt it again? i know once the rut is in anything can happen but its the early stages of the pre rut right now. what would you do?