I think most people are asking legit questions. Dave has been nice in answering them. Not a big deal from either side it seems. Most folks are sitting at work, wishing they were dave and had a season open.

I am curious too about strut and rut's question that how do you normally draw on a deer in the area the big one was, and are there other orbetter lanes/drawing areas from the tree that he just didn't walk thru? Sometimes they just walk thru the area that is the worst spot for the setup.

Very true. My comments were just an observation and opinion, nothing more. hope you get that brute Dave.

You have got to trust your instincts and then go over all of the details after the fact like you have.There is nothing more you could have done,hind sight is always 20/20.I can't possibly find any criticism,you have already dealt with what you would have done differently.
I have not yet established the ability to move tree's in to the spot that I want them to be.I like to hunt out of hemlocks for the back round cover that they provide,but some times I go into hardwoods because of the obvious,them being where I feel I need to be.If I had a gagger coming in directly at me from that distance with nothing between us I wouldn't have moved either.
Good luck to you! I hope you get another crack at him!

DWD,

no offense taken. However, I do research on ruminants, and can attest that they have very poor eyesight. The camo industry is at best a good farse...it's been well proven that deer see mostly in dichromatic vision, mostly blues and yellows. That fluorscent orange vest we don in the fall looks like a big lemon to deer.

With that said, camoflauge allows us to blend in better, ie. when we move we look like the natural surroundings.

You cannot compare plains hunting with up in a tree, period. A 6ft figure moving with no background does not compare to slight movement up in a tree.That would be similar to determining if a prairie dog sticks his head up with a whitetail in the brush flicking their ear...big difference.

Iwasn't stating that the deer would not have seen the movement. He probably would have. But if the movement wasslight and gradual, it most likely wouldnot have alerted the deer to a foreign body at that distance. As Dave is a seasoned hunter, he chose caution.

I've been in the same situation. You see a monster buck, workingin the distance, with no inclination in your mind he's within shooting range. After not moving for 10 minutes and watching the animal work his way in, watching the rack grow logarithmically in size, you then realize that the beast is within 40 yards and very shootable. Onlyproblem is your bow is either in the holder or on your lap, and when you could have movedis now well past.

So you suck it up and freeze...

But to say at 100 yards you can'treposition your bow and prepare to draw...well, let mejust say if I waited for a deer to go behind a tree everytime Imoved my bow, I would have wasted countless efforts in the past 20 years...

S&R

Hey I probably would've tried him too. If you hadn't hit the vine you'd have made a good hit right? Don't beat yourself up and keep at it . You'll get another chance hopefully

Man i hate it when that happens[:@][:@][:@].

Dont let it get to you DaveH there will be more chances as these temperatures drop Good Luck

TUFF BREAK...IT seems as he was "BEING REELED IN " you could have drawn and held...........at 5o yards ..I dont think heed a spotted movement........next time be ready....study long ......study wrong
Them antlers put you in a TRANCE....HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ..made you forget your mission

Your only as good as 5 seconds after your last miss.

Now that sucks. Well, I doubt you scared that big boy that bad. Move to another spot for a few days and then try him again. When to draw is always a big deal. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we get it right but the critter makes it wrong. As far as squeezing an arrow through.....if I have a hole I'll take the shot. I figure it's going to hit what I see in the hole or miss all together. I'm afraid I'd have to taken the shot too. I may have drawn a little sooner... but that might have been wrong too. Depends on what happens next. Next time Dave. At least he's around.