Got up this morning and prepped. 5:00 out the door and on my way. 5:20 made it to the stand that usually takes 10 minutes to walk to. 5:25 all settled in. Not a cloud in the sky and more stars are blazing than I've seen in decades. Winds out of the East. Perfect early morning. I watch a meteor shower to the South. God it's beautiful out here. Off to the south I hear a couple of bucks sparring. There's an owl off to the Southeast hooting. I continue to watch and listen. The stars to the East start fading in the predawn. I'll be able to shoot soon if it keeps going this way. Wind picks up a little and I see the flash of my trail cam to the East (about 500 yards away). My ears go on alert and I start straining to see better. My nose is running and I dare not sniffle for fear there may be deer along the farm lane. I hear the snapping of twigs off to the Southwest and am totally motionless. I feel my sinuses start to drain down the back of my throat and start swallowing to keep from coughing. Too late, I feel and hear my lungs start to rattle. If I don't do something soon, I'm going to have a coughing fit. I raise my right hand to my mouth and exhale hoping to clear my lungs quietly. Not quiet enough! As soon as I exhale, I hear a deer snort behind me. I don't move. It snorts again and stomps. Then a deer or multiple deer start blowing to the Southwest of me. The deer behind me goes crashing off through the underbrush. Everything goes quiet. I sit there and watch the sun come up to the East and what should be a magnificant sight is somehow diminished by knowing I am not going to see another deer this morning. I sit there another 30 minutes and the mood to hunt this morning has completely vanished. I think I'll walk home and take some antihistimines and try again this afternoon. I climb down and start walking. I hear a black powder rifle go off to the North, another fires to the South. I hope they had a better experience than me. I get home and my wife is waiting for me. She hands me a hot mug of coffee. She quietly listens to my experience and is empathetic to my mood. I have to re-evaluate this morning. I did not get a shot, but came home to a loving wife. Not too bad a morning after all.

I know the feeling well. Nothing like aloud unplannedcough or dropping a pack or quiver out of the stand or a buckle hitting a metal thermos ect at the wrong moment to put a damper on a hunt.
I like sneaking into my stand when its as dark as my wifes heart outand then the closer I get the more large dry broken branches I step on. Just this week I leaned on a 30 foot tree just to rearange a few things for the final stalk in. That tree came down so loud in the quiet woods I just about turned around and went home.