Guess it was time, I haven't missed a deer in a good while. I did yesterday. I've passed a few shots so far this season that I wasn't comfortable with. Yesterday morning at grey dawn I was sitting 14' up a tree in my climber on a brushy saddle between two huge hollows. The saddle is on an oak ridge that saddles over to a big round knob which is a grown up thicket that deer bed up in. On each side is a several mile long timbered hollow. This is close to 3/4 mile from a gravel conservation trail.
The temperature was 39* at daylight. Walking in there were Screech Owls carrying on, a Great Horned doing his thing and turkeys yelping on both sides of the main ridge. It was sunny and the wind came up to about ten mph about 9:30. A bazillion squirrels kept me constantly scanning. It's close and tight here with only one place to shoot over twenty yards. After standing in my climber all morning I decided to take a break and have a couple slices of deer sausage and a swig of water. Sure enough...
Five minutes after sitting down I listened to yet another squirrel straight behind my tree rustling the leaves. I peeked around the tree just in case ya know, and sure enough I saw a big old fat square headed doe walking in a line that would take her about 5 yards beside me. I got stood up in my stand, dumped my sausage into my seat just as the doe hit my scent trail where I walked in. She stopped at 6 yards, nostrils flaring and I could see and hear her sucking air in. She carefully looked around, took a step to the side where I had stepped over a log and gave it a good smelling over. Looking around she spotted my pull up rope swinging in the breeze. That caused her to jump sideways, stop, then begin a stiff legged fast walk in a semi-circle around me. Other than standing up I hadn't moved when she was so close and spooky. Now I grabbed my bow off the hanger and came to full draw. The button hook she was traveling was taking her on a broadside path out further from me around some brush. I had ranged a downed log there at 34 yards earlier and she was several yards closer in the one clear area for a shot this far. My HHA single pin was set for 25 yards, thinking she was about 32 yards I knew my drop should be about 7" or 8". I bleated, she stopped, and I did something dumb by holding the pin just over her back. She was downhill and I wanted a higher entrance for an expected low exit. I made a smooth shot and watched the arrow skim clearly just over her back. After she trotted off I ranged where she had been standing and now think she was only about 27 - 28 yards. I held off fur and that's exactly where the arrow went. Clean miss!
At noon I collected my misguided arrow and packed up my gear to move out on to a spur ridge where bucks have a recently opened up scrape line. At 4:15 a small buck cruised the downwind side of the scrape line. I passed him. About 6:00 a lone doe came in directly downwind and at 42 yards caught my scent and hightailed it. At dark I descended the tree, gathered up my gear and packed out to the truck as coyotes howled in three different directions around me. What a great day in the Ozark public land timber!!!
