I woke up early and got all set up to stay out for the day. I walk outside and just a little ways past my house I put some doe urine on a rag and I dragged it down the main path of the cow pasture out to my stand in the corner. I was a little noisy as everything was frozen and leaves crunched, etc. I jumped 2 bedded deer by my stand and got all set up and hung the rag in a nearby tree.

Not one minute after I sat down I saw a buck coming down the trail that I dragged on. I didn't think this dragging thing would work, especially in the cow pen. I didn't think there were deer in there. How wrong I was. It was still too dark to see what he was and he stopped at the trail and looked at me. He didn't come closer. I grunted a couple times but he just went under the fence and walked away. I heard and saw several other deer in the brush. One of which was a really decent sized buck. I grunted but none of them came in.

After a few minutes, another buck comes running down the trail and cuts through the brush headed straight towards me. It was a dandy 8 pointer, tall and wide w/ a nice basket rack and a big body. It cut across and was going to turn away from me so I took a shot at about 30 yards away when it was walking. I watched my arrow sail WAY over its back..must have been 5 feet above the buck.

I was disgusted with myself and my dad's old bow. This thing is at least 15 years old with no stabilizer bar, old pulleys and string, noisey as hell, and only like 50% letoff. No excuses though. I just am not good at shooting.

I watched the buck jump the fence then walk through the brush and out of my sight after he passed into some oaks.

About 45 minutes after that (rough guess), ANOTHER buck comes walking down the SAME trail. This one was a little smaller, a 6 pointer, but its main beams were really wide and long. I was going to take him. He cut down the same path that the last buck did and stopped right when I was standing up and about to draw. He looked at me, saw my breath in the air, then I looked him in the eyes. Bad move. He bolted behind a brush pile and I, like some sort of idiot, took a wild pot shot at him. WAY over his back again.

I was pretty depressed at this point as this corner of the cow pasture was SWARMING with bucks and the ladder stand that they all walked past was broken because some ******* decided to unscrew the screws out of the tree.

I got all my stuff ready to climb down when I see a doe and a yearling walk down the same path that I dragged the rag on. The doe saw me in my stand, even from a ways away and through the brush, and after a while of stomping and sniffing they bolted.

I got out of the tree, got my rag, and walked back towards the house. I saw another doe on the trail that I dragged the rag on. I hid behind a brush pile before she saw me but she didn't walk my way. I ended up spooking her when I started walking towards the house.

This was all between 6 and 8 o'clock.

I'm VERY VERY disappointed. If I decide to keep putting time towards bowhunting, I will take another old compound bow I have (or maybe just bite the bullet and buy a newer one for cheap if I can) and go to the local archery shop and get fixed up with a sight and other goodies and practice w/ my friends at indoor 3D targets, etc.

I can't shoot instinctive anymore. I was fairly accurate when I practiced but I didn't practice often enough and I had very limited range. Plus with the adrenaline rush when a buck is walking right towards you, you almost NEED a sight w/ pins to guide you.

I wonder if that stand is ruined now. Maybe I'll never see those bucks again. OR maybe there will be lots more this weekend? Rifle season starts on saturday. I think I will use the same strategy but I'm not sure where I'll sit. I might be better off behind a brush pile. But I would be very visible to wherever my back is turned.