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09/16/2002	Doe	Lancaster, SC	Bow	Evening	10 yards
Today was really the first chance for a good hunt, since the weather was so bad on Saturday. Ted, Arnold and I all hunted on Arn's land rather than over on the lease. We put Ted in Arnold's tripod, thinking that would be the most likely place to get a shot. I chose the stand in the "middle field", while Arnold went down deep into the woods. At about 7:15pm, two does and a spike buck entered the field to my left, about ten yards out in front of me. When all three deer were hidden from view, I quietly stood up and made ready for a shot. I chose the largest doe as my target, and silently prayed that she would present me with a good shot opportunity, that my arrow would fly true, and that we would make a successful retrieval. As the spike and the smaller doe moved toward the center of the field, the big doe walked right where I wanted her to. I drew back and shot, heard the smack of the arrow hitting the target, then watched carefully as she crashed into the woods back in the direction she had come from. The spike and the young doe ran to the far side of the field and slipped into the woods across from me. My heart was pounding as I looked at my pocket watch to begin the requisite 30 minute wait before looking for the deer. As I waited, the spike and the small doe returned to the field. I was able to take several pictures of them, and even a short movie of them with my digital camera before they left for good. When the half hour had passed, I got down from the tree and began tracking the deer. I got about 30 yards along the bloodtrail when I heard Arnold's four wheeler coming up the road. I flagged him down, and at about the same time Ted called on the radio, and I told him about the situation. We tracked the deer for several hours before finally losing the trail for good. I was pretty dejected as I pulled out of Arnold's driveway to head home. It's always hard to lose a deer. I was about 30 minutes down the road when my cell phone rang. It was Micki, telling me excitedly that Arnold had heard his dog barking wildly, and he had gone back into the woods and found the deer. He had to finish it with a .22, but there it was, down in the woods near his house. I turned my truck around and raced back to the land, barely believing that my prayer for a retrieval of the deer had been answered when all seemed lost. Arnold was waiting for me when I arrived, and we walked way back into the thicket where the deer was laying. We found her right where Arnold had left her, and after a long drag to the road and a phone call to the deer processor, my first deer of the year was in the bag.

09/16/2002

Doe

Lancaster, SC

Bow

Evening

10 yards

Today was really the first chance for a good hunt, since the weather was so bad on Saturday. Ted, Arnold and I all hunted on Arn's land rather than over on the lease. We put Ted in Arnold's tripod, thinking that would be the most likely place to get a shot. I chose the stand in the "middle field", while Arnold went down deep into the woods.

At about 7:15pm, two does and a spike buck entered the field to my left, about ten yards out in front of me. When all three deer were hidden from view, I quietly stood up and made ready for a shot. I chose the largest doe as my target, and silently prayed that she would present me with a good shot opportunity, that my arrow would fly true, and that we would make a successful retrieval.

As the spike and the smaller doe moved toward the center of the field, the big doe walked right where I wanted her to. I drew back and shot, heard the smack of the arrow hitting the target, then watched carefully as she crashed into the woods back in the direction she had come from. The spike and the young doe ran to the far side of the field and slipped into the woods across from me.

My heart was pounding as I looked at my pocket watch to begin the requisite 30 minute wait before looking for the deer. As I waited, the spike and the small doe returned to the field. I was able to take several pictures of them, and even a short movie of them with my digital camera before they left for good.

When the half hour had passed, I got down from the tree and began tracking the deer. I got about 30 yards along the bloodtrail when I heard Arnold's four wheeler coming up the road. I flagged him down, and at about the same time Ted called on the radio, and I told him about the situation.

We tracked the deer for several hours before finally losing the trail for good. I was pretty dejected as I pulled out of Arnold's driveway to head home. It's always hard to lose a deer. I was about 30 minutes down the road when my cell phone rang. It was Micki, telling me excitedly that Arnold had heard his dog barking wildly, and he had gone back into the woods and found the deer. He had to finish it with a .22, but there it was, down in the woods near his house.

I turned my truck around and raced back to the land, barely believing that my prayer for a retrieval of the deer had been answered when all seemed lost. Arnold was waiting for me when I arrived, and we walked way back into the thicket where the deer was laying. We found her right where Arnold had left her, and after a long drag to the road and a phone call to the deer processor, my first deer of the year was in the bag.