No Chance

My first Pennsylvania buck came on a morning when seemingly everything went wrong. I had the day off of school and headed over to my friend Brandon’s house. I had hunted behind his house before, but he was sending me to a new spot he had scouted out.

As we walked back in the dark, I was contemplating my decision. See, this was “Guy’s Weekend” up at camp, and I had been invited for the first time. I decided to stay home instead, and wondered whether I had made the right choice.

Brandon walked me back to the tree I would be climbing and then walked off to his. We would be set up less than 100 yards apart, but the woods were so thick it seemed we had the whole woods to our respective selves.

Since this was a new spot he was taking me to, I had to use my climber stand. I was not a huge fan of climbing – and while I have grown more accustom to them, they still aren’t my favorite today. While I feel climbers are super comfortable once up in the tree, they’re a pain to get up there. When I first started using them, I had yet to master climbing without getting extremely hot and sweaty. This was the case for this particular day. I got up in the tree just before daylight, trying to cool down before any action would start.

I pulled my phone out once I was set up to check the time…and I dropped it. Crap. After a few seconds of going back and forth I decided to head down for it. Again getting hot and sweaty, I managed to climb down, retrieve the phone, and climb back up again. Soaked, I got settled into the tree (again). At this point it was well after daylight.

To finish my set up, I was trying to put my bow hook into the tree…and I dropped it. CRAP! I contemplated whether or not to head down AGAIN – but decided nope, not this time. Instead, I rested my bow against my climber and threw out a wick of doe pee, realizing I forgot to hang some prior to my climb.

There is absolutely NO WAY I am seeing anything today I thought to myself. Just minutes later, I heard leaves crunching to my left. Coming down the trail I set up on was a deer. As it walked directly at me, I saw that it also had antlers. This was crucial as I didn’t have a doe tag for the area. It was walking directly to the wick that I threw out in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The buck walked in to 15 yards. As it quartered away, I drew my bow back. Aligning the 20 yard pin behind his shoulder, I released the arrow. Thwack. The deer ran just 15 yards and fell down.

What. Just. Happened.

I was completely shocked. Shaking, I called Brandon to let him know what went down. He immediately climbed down and came over to my stand. I told him my story as we stood over the buck and shared a laugh.

I told the Guy’s Weekend crew, and learned that they didn’t see much action up at camp. I guess I made the right decision!