This past week-end was an absalute,..lets say interesting,...lol Started off friday morning running very late getting to my camp, unloading the gear, utv, gas bottles, food, beer,..Found myself still not ready to head to the stand until maybe 2pm. Once nestled in the stand, I figured it would just be a quite afternoon of catching up on some rest and not seeing much. Well, that thought had just left my mind when I heard rustling in the leaves, and it was headed my way. Turkeys, 7 healthy hens, and they were all headed straight my way. Knowing there would be no way to draw my bow with all those beaty little eyes, I just sat dead still and watched as they made there way under me and to my right. They had no more than got out of hearing when I heard more footsteps coming in the same direction. This time I grabbed my bow and waited for first sign of legs to draw, only it was a coyote, following the birds. I came to full draw, made a slight whistle and he stopped in his tracks and looked back, long enough for the arrow to find its mark. This crazy thing flipped, turned, screamed like a little girl, and howled like a mad man as he ran towards the creek that seperates my lease from "not so liked" neighbor. I only hoped he died near his box stand(was this wrong?...lol) Thinking this evening was a total bust, I hung my bow without knocking another arrow, and settle back in my seat and waited for dark to fall. At 4.15pm, I was on alert again as I heard steps again coming from the same area as the coyote. Suddenly there was a doe standing 30 yards from me, slowly making her way to my stand. Thats when I realized there was no arrow on my bow,..lol After what seemed like hours, I finally got an arrow knocked and she made it to within 15 yards for a perfect shot. It wasnt till I took the shot that I realized I didnt see my nocturnals light up on either shot. I watched as she made a mad dash towards the thick stuff between me and the creek some 200 yards behind me, but I never heard her crash. With darkness only minutes away, I lowerd my bow and pack and made my way over to the arrow. It was buried in the ground with very little blood. I made the descision to head back to camp and look in the morning as it was going to be in the 20s and she would be fine till then. At 4.10am, Im up making coffee and breakfast and trying to decide how I wanted to start the day, so I chose to sit in the stand until about 8 or 9 then look for the doe. I checked my phone and it was 5.20am and 27* with no wind, so I got ready for what I hoped would be and active morning. At 6am, I heard foot steps in the distance and they were getting closer, only problem, I could not see enough yet to find my pins in my peep, but I could see enough to know there was a brute standing within 15 yards with big heavy horns, but no way I could take the shot. He walked from my right to left and slowly slipped off unto the trees. No more than 10 minutes past and here comes the footsteps from my left heading back to my stand. I rose to my feet, grabbed my PSE and prayed he would wait log enough for me to be able to see my sights. This buck did, not the same one as before, but still a nice 8 point, and he was standing in the same spot as the coyote and doe had the evening before. Totally un-aware of my presence, I came to draw, put my pin behind his shoulder and released the arrow. This time the nocturnal lit the way as it hit the mark, made a pass through and landed on the ground. He turned and ran back the same way he came in, but made a turn to my right like he may be going to head towards the creek. But this time, I could hear him trashing around on the ground just behind some thick stuff not 50 yards from me. I sat for nearly an hour, looking at my arrow with my binoc's from time to time and seeing blood on the ground where my arrow layed. Tracking was a piece of cake, as the Rage did its job and the leaves were covered in blood. He's not a trophy to most on here, but a stout buck for me with my bow. At this point I may have let out a very loud "whoopie",...lol I reminded myself that I still had a doe to look for, so I headed down the trail back to my utv with intent on loading the buck first then look for the doe. While walking down the narrow path, I suddenly seen splatters of blood on the trail and thought it may be the coyote I shot that ran that way, until I found my arrow laying about 10 yards off of the trail. I recovered the arrow shot at the coyote, so this had to be the doe. I stuck the arrow in the dirt and headed back to my utv. Only able to carry one at a time up the very steep hill back to camp, I loaded the buck and ran him to my skinning rack, then headed back for the doe, which I found merly 20 yards from where I stuck the arrow. When I got back to camp, I quickly grabbed my phone and called my buddy, told him to come on, we got deer to skin, and bring more beer, gonna be a long day,... By 2pm, the deer were quartered, packed in coolers, and we were eating a quick bite so we could go get back in a stand. While sitting there playing back what had transpired in the past 24 hours, I heard what sounded like several deer snorting,...I remember laughing to myself, knowing they busted my buddy who was about 400 yards to the north of me towards camp. Suddenly I had does all around me, tip toeing throught the woods in a steady march. I picked out the nearest one, not really the largest, and mouthed a bleat sound. She stopped less than 20 yards nearly broad sided. Holy crap, I just shot the third deer of this hunt,.....oh my god,.....and she didnt go 35 yards, started stagering, until she fell down the cliff of the nearby branch that dumps into the creek beside me. Not seeing her come out, I quickly got down and walked over to the ledge and there she lay in the stream. Its funny, but I walked back to the foodplot where I left my buddy with my hands over my head,...I clearly heard him say,..you just shot my damn deer didnt you,....I only shook my head and he started letting down his bow,... The next morning found me sitting in my tree again, wondering if it would be fair if another deer came in for a shot, instead, the woods suddenly came to life with the eary sounds of howling coyotes, all the way around me. I never seen them, but boy did I get an ear full. [video][/video] My buddy didnt get to arrow a deer theis week, but we did enjoy a night beside the fire, drinking a few "adult beverages" and catching up on old times. He's been in the Army for 26 years and we have been best friends for over 40 years, so this was probably my best hunting experience ever,....just thought I would share,...thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
