Ever had it?
I've been shooting deer for many years now, and most encounters are a thrill, but nothing that gets me too excited until I make a good shot. Well, this evening I had a big bodied 4 point slip in behind my stand and do a number on my nerves. I don't know why, but that so called 6th sense warned me one was close. I slowly turned my head and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I continued to turn and there he was in the woods about 20 yards from the base of the tree my stand is in. He was very cautious, like he knew something was wrong, and he was moving slowly and looking past my stand and sniffing the wind currents (my stand is in the edge of the woods bordering a soyabean food plot). I slowly reached for my crossbow and got it into shooting position without being seen. He spent a minute or two getting within 10 yards, but never offered a good shot. He finally drifted off to my right, managing to stay behind brush every time he turned broadside. At 20 yards he offered a perfect broadside shot, but a tree limb made it just a little too risky so I let him walk. When it was over I was a nervous wreck! :oops:
Haven't had that kind of a nervous reaction for a long time, but it's good to know I can still get that excited about trying to outwit a deer. Maybe now I can relax and get one for the freezer :lol:
Saw 3 does tonight, too. But nothing big enought to want to put a tag on. Would I have shot the 4 pointer? Durn right! There was a lot of meat on his frame, and my 4 year old told me to, "shoot a big one - lots of meat!"