It was one of those still mornings when you feel like the sound of your own breath will wake the entire forest. It was, as Dickens wrote, "summer in the light and winter in the shade;" crisp and cool for the first morning this fall.
I expected to see deer any minute. Everything was perfect, yet the first four didn't arrive until 7:43. Two does and two fawns came in fully alert. The first doe looked straight at me and began the head bob. I assumed that the gig was up. She even stomped the ground several times. I dug deep into my Ranger Ninja bag of discipline and froze. I refused to even blink, and eventually she decided to eat an acorn.
The biggest doe, the one I wanted, came in last. She finally worked her way into a position for a good shot and fate favored me. All four had their heads down, so I drew the bow. She did not flinch. The arrow disappeared through her, and when she ran I saw it lying on the ground drenched in blood.
Content with another deer down, I relaxed in the stand, but the morning was just getting started. At 8:13 another doe approached from the opposite direction. She was coming straight at me, but I knew that as soon as she smelt the blood she would run. I had to get the shot before she reached the arrow. She was five yards from my bloody arrow when she spooked but she didn't run, and that proved to be her fatal mistake. I drew the bow, set the gap, and once again got a clean pass through. My arrow stuck in the ground on the opposite side of her.
I ended up seeing ten deer and killed my sixth and seventh of the season. Freezer is looking better every day.
