It happened to me last night. I was on stand and I heard deer RUNNING down the trail at full speed. I turned to look and there they were stopped at the base of my tree. Clear shot but they were on full alert. They stood there for about five minutes looking around. So I didn't budge. It was the first time I hunted this tree and I didn't want to spoil it. They will be back! Then at dark a 6 point walked by, kinda cool! All in all a good hunt. Remember don't force it! JMO!

Yep, I agree with Cardeer. Next time.

Even though you weren't able to connect today you at least come away with some lessons learned. It's situations like these that help us become better hunters.

Hey, we all make mistakes. The point is that you realized and admit yours and are willing to try again for another opportunity.

The trail I walked in on was the one with the briars. Yeah, I could've gone in there before the season and cleared the briars from my approach path, but the deer are already in there during the day and going in there spooks them because it's a pretty small chunk (less than 5 acres) of land surrounded by fields. I figured I would just clear them as I went in this morning since I hoped to be there before the deer. The trail is clear now. I wanted my first trip there to be a total surprise to the deer.

As for the vines I tried to shoot through . . . that has always been there and always will be there. There is no way to get to them from the way they're positioned. Yeah, they're in the way, but there's nothing I can do to improve that.

My stands go in and out with me every trip. They're portable, so I move them to wherever I'm hunting.

Give it a few days and you may have another shot at him.Where ws he the first time you saw him?If there are any trees near where you first located him then i would probably set up a stand close to that spot.He should still be on a feeding pattern and you may get another crack at him sooner if you try to get closer.
We all have made mistakes that we painstakingly admit to making.But this is a forever learning sport and we have to learn to addapt to the situation and try to get things right for the next time.
Good luck with this buck.Definately sounds like a buck of a lifetime./

Why is it this man has to keep coming back into this thread and explain himself. I have known Dave for many years and he is a top notch bow hunter taking multipul deer evey year. He said it was a mistake and is no dought all over himself for it. This happens all the time in most any thread that is about an unsuccessful hunt.People just tend to pick it apart.If you can't give encourageing commentsafter an admited mistakewhy not just keep them to yourself, after all he didn't have to say anything about the shot. I know people that won't even post a pic of thier deer because if it doesn't meet someones standards they will berate you.
Dave, get back on buddy and if you need help to close off the other end give me a call. Have bow will travel

Dave,

You could've drawn, or at least gotten ready, at 100 yards when you noticed he was on a rope.

As you know, deer do not have good vision. At 100 yards, he would not have spooked (IMO) with slight movement 20 feet off the ground.

I'm just curious...from this tree, how do you normally draw and release if your so skylined?

Perhaps you had the "monster fever"...[8D]

Hey DaveH! I think most of us have made bad decisions on shots before. I have. And I can't say that I won't in the future. Even if you practice all the time and in different situations like I do, you will, at some time overestimated your abilities. We're human.

No offensestrut, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that. Granted they may not have eye sight like an antelope, but they do see very well. That is part of the reason that camo is a huge industry. You ever hunted mulies out in the plains, they will see you from several hundred yards.

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Hey wait a second here! It looks to me like well over half the posts are encouraging or at least sympathetic to his situation.

You know anytime you post something, someone is gonna slam you. It's the way of the boards. Most of us board veterans (like you yourself md) know this, and rarely post publicly about things that didn't go our way.

You may have a few people you trust soley based on the integrity of thier replies and postsand PM or email them when you need real advise. But if you post it on the board it's buyer beware!