Boy did I have a fun afternoon yesterday!

Sitting in my stand just enjoying nature and in anticipation for the future possibilities. From behind me steps out this buck........Enough to get the heart pumping but not quite a shooter( Around a 115-120" nine point) I let him walk by at 10 yards and couldn't help to smile......A couple of years ago I would never have let that buck walk. As he walked away I had to grunt at him just to see what he would do...........He just looked back then sniffed a licking branch, urinated on his tarsal glands and slowly walked away!
Around 20 minutes later I hear something behind me walking through the river.......I slowly turn to look.....A shooter for me is a buck that instantly when you see it you go "WOW nice buck" to yourself! He was probably a good 130 class eight. Long G1's,G2's and G3's around 17-18 wide, and decent mass! So he crosses the river and stops on the other side. There was a good shooting lane where he stopped but I didn't expect to shoot that way so I never ranged it previously. I said well hes got to be 35 yards. I didn't want to risk it so I pulled out the range finder and he was standing at 34 yards eating some foliage. So I draw back and am just getting the pin settled on his chest when he takes astep to me. Now theres no good shot so I just held it and was hoping another lane would open up, but one never did so I let down. As he walked away I grunted at him. He turned and looked, instantly his hair stood up on his back and he walked away bull legged and grunted three or four times back at me. As he disappeared in the trees I took out the rattling antlers and worked them some...........That got him going but he wouldn't come back. He stood in the woods grunting and beating on some trees.

What and awesome night in the deer woods

yesterday am I had a big 10 chasing a doe. they stopped @ about 40yds & i had several opprotunities for shots @ 40-45 yds. i passed BECAUSE if for no other reason than it was a big deer and you just don't want to make any mistakes on a deer like that. It was the biggest deer I've seen on this property and i wanted to take him in the worst way, but I knew the odds were less than 100% so i passed. I pracitice out to 50-60 yds w/ good results, but a deer can turn into a moving target in a split second so I will not take a shot over 30 yards. I hate reading about people taking longer shots because it was a big deer. That is when I feel it is imperative that you wait for a perfect shot or let them walk.

Right thing to do!
Yea, some guys can shoot the eyeballs out of a deer target at 80 yards but to try it on an actual deer is "slightly" unethical. I don't care what anyone says, those long shots are bad judgement. Hunt before you shoot. Get them in close and make a clean kill.

My second day out I had a real nice buck come up behindme it was still light out definitly would have been my biggest buck anyway by the time he was slightly quartering away at 15 yards presenting a shot nice shot it was just to dark. I didn't want to make a bad shot. I second guessed myself but I think I made the right decision could have easly took the shot and mad a bad one.

I shot two doe on Sunday evening. Both within 45 minutes of each other, and both fell dead within 30 yards from the stand and within my sight.

No need to blood trail either, however, the next morning, I decided to go back and pretend to blood trail the two deer. THe first doe had spotty blood but a pretty easy blood trail (quartering away shot, nicked the top of the guts, blew out left lung, and exited thru her left front leg. total pass thru)

the 2nd doe's blood trail was NON-EXISTENT, until the spot wherethe double lung shot doe collapsed. Of course that was only 25 yards from where I shot her.