And we think we can fool them.
 

For the 3rd time this year i have a nice encounter with a big buck, and even though i use what i believe to be proper scent control, and play the wind the best i can they just seem to know what tree to not go by.

Anyway Saturday morning, come into the woods 1 hour before sunrise, set my stand up 150yrds from where i last set it up the hill a ways. 1 small buck comes out 30 min after i set up and he is down the hill 20-30 yards from the tree i just took my stand off. 1.5 hours later i see a doe and fawn break the hill 80 yards out in front of me, 2 min later a here a grunt, then snapping straight out in front of me slightly to my right in some thick saplings that still have leaves. another doe and fawn, with a spike giving chase, the doe and fawn run right under my tree, and the spike does the same but stops under me and grunts, but it is a higher pitched grunt than i heard, that cant be what i heard, he takes off after the other doe and fawn that are on top of the hill 20 yards to my left. Now i hear it again a deeper grunt down the hill and here he comes a big 6 heading right for my tree, stops under me also smells my cable lock and stands there. all this and i am still sitting because it happened so fast. So a mke my way to my feet with the stand creeking in the cold :hit: and he is on alert now but still under me, wait till he is 10 yards out draw and fire and WACK my limb hit the rail to my stand and my arrow flies like i just threw it with my left hand. he jumps 10 yards stops looks all around I grab for another arrow make sure i am clear of the stand he is at 25yrds settle the pin and FLLLAAAWWWAAAPP, (Forgot i still have my grunt tube hanging around my neck which i put there to reach down and pic up my bow) miss right under him. he goes 5 yards and is looking all over, but he is fine now cause i give up. makes his way back the way he came. i sit depressed now. call my brother tell him the story, say i am sitting 1 more hour and thats it. 11:15 i hear some snapping in the thick stuff the does came from earlier. stand up grab my bow and wait, couple min go by the snapping is coming, and now i see bone, it an 8 point 125-130 inch, he is going to come right in on the does trail YES. I am pumped wind is in my favor, i have never walked anywhere, near where he is coming out, and i just had does and bucks come right through there to under my stand, its a done deal i just got to shoot. WRONG, For some mystical reason and for the third time this season he stops dead in his track 20 yards out but to thick to try with a bow, cuts out to 55yrds, and CIRLCES MY TREE TO A TEE. He walks a total of 100+yards to get behind me, wind me and then make his way cautiously off towards the front of the hill. What is the deal, how do they do it?

But thats why i love it i guess!

good read..idk man i guess thats just hunting

have you tried spraying a cover scent on the tree your in? I spray special golden estrus on the tree I am in and on any branches or trees within reach when I get to my final height, it has really helped me out....give it a try.

When I hear people say Deer are dumb and Does are the dumbest of all I wonder where their hunting. All the ones I have come up against except the Bucks when their distracted by a hot Doe are hard to kill most of the time. I've been nailed twice trying to take out big Does so far. They are amazing in my book for sure.

Great story. I have had people say to me that hunting is not a fair sport. I tell them they are 100% right, the deer are way better at this game than us bow hunters! In my opinion it is encounters just like mbruizer187 had that keep us comming back to the tree stand day after day, year after year. Once again, great story, and best of luck the rest of the season.