Lots of clouds where I hunted yesterday. Moon wasn' t much of a factor. Deer were everywhere!! I saw 19 and killed by 9:45A. Deer were really feeding heavily on acorns and were moving back and forth accross the ridges. Passed on a 5 inch spike in velvet at 28 yards and killed a doe ( she was dry) at 20 yards. The impact the muzzy made was unbelievable. It went through the front shoulder, exited the brisket, then completely sliced through the front leg bones, slicing them in half and causing a compound fracture. She went 40 yards and piled up. Had to get on her quickly because of the heat. Didn' t hunt in the afternoon. Shooting for Saturday, but will have to see what happens with the hurricane.

On opening morning, the biggest 4 legged creatures I saw were my neighbor' s two dogs running through the area I was hunting. [:@]

That same evening, I was approaching my stand on another property and saw a hunter already in place hunting the same field. And an unnoccupied ladder stand was standing near my tree as well. I spooked a doe in the field on the way in and saw another one approaching my tree before I was finished hanging the stand (it was still early afternoon by the way). At around 6pm, I saw a small buck (6 point) walking on a trail that led to where the ladder stand was. When he got close to the stand, I heard the unmistakeable sound of a bow being shot! The little buck came racing toward me and fell right under my stand where he died! [][:' (]

When the hunter got down and started looking (he waited 10 mins), I yelled to him and told him where it was. I knew the stand was no good now anyway since he was going to eventually walk there while tracking his deer. He was thankful for the help saying the blood trail wasn' t very good. He also informed me that he and at least one or two buddies had permission to hunt there and were planning on goose hunting, muzzleloading and shotgun hunting it--talk about ruining it.

I set up my stand for the next morning and sat in it during the remaining few minutes of light. Never even heard the doe walk right under me. She caught the scent of me and departed.[:' (]

Dang Dave, how many people hunt that spot? Sounds like you had an interesting day.

I wish I knew Rick. It seems that there' s a lot of people over there giving permission to whoever asks. It' s turned my favorite spot--which once had great trophy potential--into an overhunted small area with lots of small deer. It' s a shame, I' ve hunted it for 20 years and wonder how much longer it' ll be worth the drive. Sadly, I may be looking at my last days of hunting there [:' (]