Well today I got up at 430 to get ready for a monring in the woods.. I went outside and the wind was blowing real hard so I decided against climbing into a tree... I reset my alarm for 9 so i could run some errands and then drive half an hour to the college campus to work on some CAD drawings. I got over there and they never unlocked the computer lab so I headed back home. I decided to wax my bowstring and head out to the woods since the wind died down... I figured I had 2 hours to hunt since I had to work at 4. So it was still windy and i walked very quietly down to my stand. I got to my stand, attached my rope to my bow and headed up the tree. I was about 12 feet up and I had this feeling that I was being watched. I looked over to my right and there he was!!! It looked to be a wide 8 point but I couldn't really tell. The guys that are putting the siding on our new house had told me before I went down that yesterday they saw a monster buck walk north of the house down the trail twords my stand... Back to me in the tree. I was 12 feet up and he was just staring at me. I was thinking to myself what to do now. I sat there motionless making sure not to move a muscle. He looked away and I decided to make a move. I steped down a step and then he looked back twords me. Still not spooked..... He puts his head down and I take another step and then he looks again. This went on for about 5 minutes till i finally reached the ground. I slowly crouched down and took the rope off my bow. I knocked an arrow and put my release on the loop. He starts walking twords the creek and I knew he was gonna jump it because there was a high bank on the side that I was on. He was 40 yards away and hidden in the trees so I made my move to some cover. Just as I thought he jumped the creek and he made another couple bounds and then jumped over a downed cottonwood tree. My heart sunk because I thought he was gone. Well I was wrong. He stoped just 5 feet past the tree and had his head down. Wind was in my face so it helped cover any crunching leaves. I tried a doe bleat and he didn't respond. I then decided to stalk him. He then started walking further west and I was close on his trail, carefull to be quiet as possible. I got within 25 yards of him but he was in thick cover. So I thought that if i could keep this distance on him, maybe he will get out in the open and give me a shot. This went on for about 25 minutes. Next thing I know, he crossed into more thick cover on the neighbors property and he was out of reach.

It was an unforgetable experiece, but I wish it could have turned out my way. I learned a valuable lesson today.. Always look before you climb into your stand!!! You never know if the buck of a lifetime is watching!!!