So it's the last day of bow season last year, and despite a bad weather report, me and my buddy are determined to go out. In the early morning things seem fine, but about the time I get settled in my pine tree the rain starts. Soon after the wind kicks up. But I have a harness and an un-filled doe tag, so I just sit tight and ride the tree hoping for the best.

After a couple hours, about the time the rain finally soaks through to my skin and I'm starting to think that no deer is going to be out in a Nor'Easter, I hear a crash and two doe come running into the open, stop and look behind them, the bigger one only 10 feet from my tree!

Half-befuddled I draw, but the angle is steep, and I have to quickly aim and release. I hear the thunk of the arrow hitting the ground and the doe dart into the thick. So I'm cursing for letting myself be taken by surprise, for not taking more time to set up the shot, etc. etc. Meanwhile I'm wondering what spooked these deer to me. Just about that time I see a woman far off walking her two dogs down the firetrail - in the rain!

So I'm grumbling that this woman and her dogs made a bad day worse by clearing the woods, and I'm looking at my arrow laying on the ground by my tree, and something about it just doesn't seem right. My buddy calls me and says he's calling it a day, and I say come on over, and see if he can't kick those two doe back to me.

Meanwhile my arrow laying there is still nagging me, and I'm thinking - shouldn't it be sticking into the ground, not laying flat? Then I hear my buddy on the radio - "Dude... there's a dead deer out here!" So I get down and sure enough - not 10 yards into the thick is my doe - the arrow had passed clean though her, slicing her lungs.

Its amazing how fast a bad day can turn into a good one!