- May 15, 2007
- 24,594
Ya... crap...
This is why they call it hunting and not killing:
Got in my stand at 0630 this morning.... didn't see anything except a couple of whitetails that flagged me from afar; as they pranced on land adjacent to me that I can't hunt. Sometimes they do come back. The spot that I hunt is a good spot; and I've taken at least 15 deer from it, in 8 years of hunting it....
So... at 0900 I usually disengage if I haven't had any success. I stared down and contemplated the bowed out Strong Built metal ladder stand that I was in. This stand has been attached to the tree for three years straight; and the tree sways and bends and the ladder stand does not. I decided that I'd go ahead and climb down and straighten the ladder out. And then leave for the day.
So I detach my tree harness and toss my cushion to the ground. Then I grab my muzzleloader and climb down to the ground. Lean my muzzleloader against the tree and go to work on the ladder stand.
After about 5 minutes, something made me look up and I see a whitetail high-tailing it away. If I had waited 5 minutes... I could have shot him/her. Muttering to myself... I continue to work on my ladder stand.
Another 10 minutes later, I hear a very distinct "crunch crunch crunch..." coming out of the woods behind me. 'Lo and behold, here comes a big boy 6 point buck straight at me.... 20 yards away... I'm like screaming "shit" silently and he started trotting past me at 20 yards still; I take a step to the tree and grab my muzzleloader and swing it up on him; simultaneously cock the hammer back and look through the scope.
Scope is on 3 for magnification and I have a hard time trying to get the scope on him... swinging the muzzleloader to the left I track him and he's still 20 yards away trotting slowly... perfect broadside shot... I have the crosshairs on his side; right behind his front leg, and he's dead and will drop in a second....
....and then I realize that he walked in front of an area too close for me too shoot him... there are a set of homes and backyards facing the woods I hunt; and they are too close.... in case I missed... or the bullet passes through...
He continues to trot away through the woods and I thumb the hammer and squeeze the trigger; putting it back to uncocked... and lower the muzzleloader.
That buck has NO IDEA how lucky he was this morning.
And I had a wonderful hunt. I saw deer.
This is why they call it hunting and not killing:
Got in my stand at 0630 this morning.... didn't see anything except a couple of whitetails that flagged me from afar; as they pranced on land adjacent to me that I can't hunt. Sometimes they do come back. The spot that I hunt is a good spot; and I've taken at least 15 deer from it, in 8 years of hunting it....
So... at 0900 I usually disengage if I haven't had any success. I stared down and contemplated the bowed out Strong Built metal ladder stand that I was in. This stand has been attached to the tree for three years straight; and the tree sways and bends and the ladder stand does not. I decided that I'd go ahead and climb down and straighten the ladder out. And then leave for the day.
So I detach my tree harness and toss my cushion to the ground. Then I grab my muzzleloader and climb down to the ground. Lean my muzzleloader against the tree and go to work on the ladder stand.
After about 5 minutes, something made me look up and I see a whitetail high-tailing it away. If I had waited 5 minutes... I could have shot him/her. Muttering to myself... I continue to work on my ladder stand.
Another 10 minutes later, I hear a very distinct "crunch crunch crunch..." coming out of the woods behind me. 'Lo and behold, here comes a big boy 6 point buck straight at me.... 20 yards away... I'm like screaming "shit" silently and he started trotting past me at 20 yards still; I take a step to the tree and grab my muzzleloader and swing it up on him; simultaneously cock the hammer back and look through the scope.
Scope is on 3 for magnification and I have a hard time trying to get the scope on him... swinging the muzzleloader to the left I track him and he's still 20 yards away trotting slowly... perfect broadside shot... I have the crosshairs on his side; right behind his front leg, and he's dead and will drop in a second....
....and then I realize that he walked in front of an area too close for me too shoot him... there are a set of homes and backyards facing the woods I hunt; and they are too close.... in case I missed... or the bullet passes through...
He continues to trot away through the woods and I thumb the hammer and squeeze the trigger; putting it back to uncocked... and lower the muzzleloader.
That buck has NO IDEA how lucky he was this morning.
And I had a wonderful hunt. I saw deer.