Now that the "deer hunting season" is over...I thought I would share this year's story:
This year, Barney decided that he wanted his own stand so we can "cover more area". I was hesitant about sitting in my stand ALL DAY by myself, but decided it would be fine as long as he walked me to my stand in the morning, walked me out of the woods at night and would still gut and drag my deer. He agreed so I went. Opening morning, about 8 am, I had a 4-point buck come walking up one of my shooting lanes. Pulled the gun up, watched him, waited for a decent shot. This deer was nothing spectacular...probably last years fawn...but none the less, the last few years, it's a rare thing to see ANY deer so I figured if I had a decent shot I would take it. I watched him for about 15 minutes before he came into a different lane and gave me a good shot. Took the shot (I like to shoot in the neck so they drop and I don't have to worry about tracking and finding)...he dropped. After I knew he was dead and not going anywhere, I sent Barney a message and told him I got one...yada yada yada. It was about 8:15 now. Barney said that if I see any more deer I couldn't shoot it unless it was a 6-point or bigger (oh, and he also entered us in the "big buck contest" so that was another reason I had to shoot a bigger one). I honestly didn't think I would see much more for deer, but low and behold, about 9:00 another buck, roughly the same size as the one I shot, was hanging out by me. I quick sent Barney a message to make sure I couldn't shoot another one the same size...and while waiting for his reply, I coulda had like 3 different shots on this one...but in the end I didn't get permission to so off he went! Then I was sitting and hangin out some more...eating peanuts, getting the heater goin, watching squirrels, etc...when I happened to glance into a lane that we NEVER see deer in and what do you know, MONSTER BUCK comes strutin' through...Grr. This one I knew was big enough to shoot...heck, he was a wall mounter! I didn't have much time and I knew I only had 1 shot at this buck. I quick scrambled to position myself for the perfect shot on the perfect deer. He came into my sights and I shot for the neck (same theroy as before) and off he ran. I was pissed. I was nearly swearing (which I hardley do anyway). This had to be at least an 8-pointer and it was a thick, massive rack...GRRR!!! I still get mad! Barney knew it was me that shot and immediatly text me to see what I shot this time...I told him and he said in about 20 minutes I should go down to double check for any blood or fur or sign that I DID hit him. This was about 9:40. So I waited, still swearing at myself and thinking of all the things I could have or should have done different, Mad that Barney wasn't in the stand with me cause we would have seen it with both of us in there... 20 or so minutes go by and I make a quick look thru all the lanes for any deer before I go investigate for signs from the big deer. What do ya know...ANOTHER deer starts walking up another lane...I knew it was a buck...nothing big again, but I wanted to get a closer look to see how many points were on it...if it had at least 6 I was going to shoot. As I was waiting for it to come through another lane I was just sensing something else was going on...I felt eyes on me...quick turned around to find a doe right next to my stand watching me. She hoped off after i saw her and then I went back to looking to see how big this other buck was. Fortunatly for his sake, he never did come back out and I never did see what he was. It was about 10:15 now and I finally went down to look for signs that I hit the big one. Looked for about 15 minutes and saw absolutely NO SIGN that I hit it. So back to the stand I went to wait for Barney to come help me take care of the deer I did get. Once he came, we went and looked for about 2 more hours for signs but we didn't find ANYTHING. And the rest of that day, all of Sunday and the 1/2 day on Monday that we were hunting I didn't see any thing else...AT ALL (besides a red squirrel, an owl and some birds). I thought I'd see all kinds after seeing 5 in the first 2 hours. AND it got VERY boring...especially sitting in the stand alone. I brought some magazines with, but I couldn't get into reading any of them...I definitly needed an actual book! I played with the camera one of those afternoons and took a bunch of silly shots. I took several naps (curled up on the floor of my stand). And ran the battery dead on my phone from texting family and friends. Was I ever glad when Barney said we could start packing stuff up to go home! Barney didn't get a deer this year either...at least not rifle hunting. He did get one with the bow, but this is year #3 that he's gotten skunked rifle hunting. He even hunted at home every night and the second weekend once we got back and had no luck. At least we will save some for next year! Here is some pics of my hunting experience this year:
This year, Barney decided that he wanted his own stand so we can "cover more area". I was hesitant about sitting in my stand ALL DAY by myself, but decided it would be fine as long as he walked me to my stand in the morning, walked me out of the woods at night and would still gut and drag my deer. He agreed so I went. Opening morning, about 8 am, I had a 4-point buck come walking up one of my shooting lanes. Pulled the gun up, watched him, waited for a decent shot. This deer was nothing spectacular...probably last years fawn...but none the less, the last few years, it's a rare thing to see ANY deer so I figured if I had a decent shot I would take it. I watched him for about 15 minutes before he came into a different lane and gave me a good shot. Took the shot (I like to shoot in the neck so they drop and I don't have to worry about tracking and finding)...he dropped. After I knew he was dead and not going anywhere, I sent Barney a message and told him I got one...yada yada yada. It was about 8:15 now. Barney said that if I see any more deer I couldn't shoot it unless it was a 6-point or bigger (oh, and he also entered us in the "big buck contest" so that was another reason I had to shoot a bigger one). I honestly didn't think I would see much more for deer, but low and behold, about 9:00 another buck, roughly the same size as the one I shot, was hanging out by me. I quick sent Barney a message to make sure I couldn't shoot another one the same size...and while waiting for his reply, I coulda had like 3 different shots on this one...but in the end I didn't get permission to so off he went! Then I was sitting and hangin out some more...eating peanuts, getting the heater goin, watching squirrels, etc...when I happened to glance into a lane that we NEVER see deer in and what do you know, MONSTER BUCK comes strutin' through...Grr. This one I knew was big enough to shoot...heck, he was a wall mounter! I didn't have much time and I knew I only had 1 shot at this buck. I quick scrambled to position myself for the perfect shot on the perfect deer. He came into my sights and I shot for the neck (same theroy as before) and off he ran. I was pissed. I was nearly swearing (which I hardley do anyway). This had to be at least an 8-pointer and it was a thick, massive rack...GRRR!!! I still get mad! Barney knew it was me that shot and immediatly text me to see what I shot this time...I told him and he said in about 20 minutes I should go down to double check for any blood or fur or sign that I DID hit him. This was about 9:40. So I waited, still swearing at myself and thinking of all the things I could have or should have done different, Mad that Barney wasn't in the stand with me cause we would have seen it with both of us in there... 20 or so minutes go by and I make a quick look thru all the lanes for any deer before I go investigate for signs from the big deer. What do ya know...ANOTHER deer starts walking up another lane...I knew it was a buck...nothing big again, but I wanted to get a closer look to see how many points were on it...if it had at least 6 I was going to shoot. As I was waiting for it to come through another lane I was just sensing something else was going on...I felt eyes on me...quick turned around to find a doe right next to my stand watching me. She hoped off after i saw her and then I went back to looking to see how big this other buck was. Fortunatly for his sake, he never did come back out and I never did see what he was. It was about 10:15 now and I finally went down to look for signs that I hit the big one. Looked for about 15 minutes and saw absolutely NO SIGN that I hit it. So back to the stand I went to wait for Barney to come help me take care of the deer I did get. Once he came, we went and looked for about 2 more hours for signs but we didn't find ANYTHING. And the rest of that day, all of Sunday and the 1/2 day on Monday that we were hunting I didn't see any thing else...AT ALL (besides a red squirrel, an owl and some birds). I thought I'd see all kinds after seeing 5 in the first 2 hours. AND it got VERY boring...especially sitting in the stand alone. I brought some magazines with, but I couldn't get into reading any of them...I definitly needed an actual book! I played with the camera one of those afternoons and took a bunch of silly shots. I took several naps (curled up on the floor of my stand). And ran the battery dead on my phone from texting family and friends. Was I ever glad when Barney said we could start packing stuff up to go home! Barney didn't get a deer this year either...at least not rifle hunting. He did get one with the bow, but this is year #3 that he's gotten skunked rifle hunting. He even hunted at home every night and the second weekend once we got back and had no luck. At least we will save some for next year! Here is some pics of my hunting experience this year:
Here's my deer laying in where I shot it. Hard to see but it's the white spot in the middle of the lane 
Barney gutting out my deer ♥ that he does that for me!
The gut pile!
The "monster" himself.
Me and my deer
And here is where all the "bored" pictures start...My deer call with 2 of the shooting lanes in the backround
One of my shooting lanes and I some how got the picture to look super dark and scary!
A couple other shooting lane shots
More shooting lanes...yes there is alot of them...10 to be exact!
Playing with the macro setting on the camera - heater pictures! LOL
Really bored! Pink finger nail polish!
Also took pic of my eye! This one, if you look close enough, you can see reflection of the rest of the stand/woods in my eye...kinda cool!
And I made PINK CAMO with the color swap feature on my camera! Only if they actually made it like this and it was actually legal to hunt with it!
