Here's the story and pics. I've been watching the weather like a hawk the past fews days and here in PA, we're seeing that first big, noticeable cold snap that we've been waiting on. Two days ago, it was in the mid 70's, today didn't get out of the 50's in most places. I went to work this morning and had told my boss I was only going to make it until noon, then I was out of there. This would be only my second sit of the year. First day of our season was windy and downpours from the remnants of a hurricane coming up the coast and I got a morning sit in last weekend and then was dragged away to family endeavors (priorities). I climbed into the stand around 2PM this afternoon with the intent on shooting the first big doe I see to break the ice and get the season off on the right foot. As I was getting everything situated, putting my bino's on, strapping on the release, etc., I happened to notice a big old doe, 30 yards away on the road to my right, staring at me. Great... She promptly spun and went back where she came from. I did not see another deer until around 5PM. A small doe passed by me on the left, not 20 yards away. Too young, too small. As I watched her work her way away from me, I glanced back to directly in front of me and immediately knew something was out of place. Three doe, feeding intently. OK, now we're in business. I locked onto the biggest of the three and began plotting where I'd take the shot, slowly getting myself positioned. Just then, to the right of them, on the road the doe spooked from early that day, I see a solo deer walking to my right. I immediately see a rack. "Crap, here I am sitting down... I need to stand and spin to my right". I wasn't sure if he was a shooter (for me), and it was really thick between openings. He finally got to a good opening, directly to my right and stopped to eat a few acorns and nose around a bit. I grabbed the binos and started looking him over, knowing I didn't really have a great deal of time to make a decision. It took about a second to realize he was shooter. He stood there for a few moments and began to walk. He was 30 yards, I think... Well... its now or never. He's in the open and I need to get the bow back on him. So, I just pointed it directly at him and drew as smoothly as I could. He never saw me. I buried the 30 yard pin on his chest, paused and the next thing I know, the arrow is gone. The red nocturnal disapeared behind his shoulder. He ran straight ahead and I lost him behind a bunch of scrub pines, but as soon as he was out of site, I heard the crash. I shot my best friend a text and told him he wasn't going to believe what just went down. He's on his way... I gathered up my stuff and climbed down. A quick inspection of the arrow, pinkish blood, told me all I needed to know. I slowly snuck in the direction he ran. No blood at first, then a few good splatters of blood. Fifty yards from the arrow in the ground, he was down. He's not enormous, but I think a great, respectable PA buck. He's actually very similar to the buck I took last year. I'm thrilled. Its nice to have that first one under your belt each year, and to do it on a nice buck again, before I make my trip to Missouri has me ready to go. Here's a few pics:
