Scattered oaks formed an archway as the slanted off the sides of two small knolls. You could see the glimmer from the pond in the front yard and hear the gentle roll of the water from the small creek. If Heaven had a sound, this was it. Its strange when you think about it, for miles the deeper you went the darker and creepier it got, but then all of a sudden, a clearing! With the bright sky in front of me it was hard to make out the small red roof of the cabin, but I knew it wasn’t far. I made my way to the creek where the rickety old bridge was and decided now was a good time as any to grab some fresh water. The creek was spring fed, straight from the hills, and after a little boiling for good measure, you got some of the best water in the world! To give the place a little run down before I got into unpacking, I decided to see what changes were made from the lack of attention this place got. Some trees had blown over and made it a little harder to reach the shed, but I had all the fire wood I needed. I made my way around the trees to check the damage and to my surprise the tress totally missed the shed! I unlocked the rusted paddle-lock and opened the door. Inside looked the same way it did 8 years ago. The canoe was in the back filled with the fishing gear and all the tool boxes were still there, plus I had enough materials to build another shack! I thought I lucked out and had it pretty easy so far. That was until I ventured forth to the cabin. Now the cabin was nothing to write home to mother about. Time had really did a number to this poor old building and I had a lot of work to do to get her back into shape. The door had completely fallen off and the little porch was caved in. Two of the four windows were broke, the west wall and some patch work that was in dire need of help and the roof was unsound at best, and that was just from looking at the outside. I managed to make my way inside and noticed the critters did a good job on the place as well. The bunks were chewed and torn, all the water from the leaky roof made the floor rotten in spots. I was glad now that I had chose to take the longer vacation! Spring and summer had took control over the years and the trail was pretty grown over since my last trip here. There was a little "deer" trail that was barely visible that went straight into the heart of the overgrown backwoods. It was like a picture from a story book, a mystical entrance to an enchanted, undiscovered world. I knew from here it was about another 3 miles down the trail before the river and I wondered what good ol' mother nature had done to our crossing point? I continued on my way through the dense woods following what I could of the trail. The deeper I went the more the trail disappeared. I began to think to myself that I could get lost in this thick maze of hardwoods. There were times that the sun broke through the canopy of the tree tops and it looked as if God himself was reaching down and blessing this wonderful piece of land. It was beautiful! The woods this time of year are full of busy critters all getting ready for the winter to come. Squirrels were causing all kinds of ruckus as they scurried through the leaves, chasing and screaming at each other. Birds were quickly darting all over, weaving and turning in and out of cover like the turns of a race track. Its as if there is some sort of magical switch that makes the woods just come alive. After sitting in the stand for nearly three hours while the weather played its own sort of game with my emotions and I was almost took over by tears by the sight of this beautiful land. Nothing else could get any better!

It was as if madness or obsession had come over me. Suddenly I had nothing but killing on my brain. The time was finally here. It was the opening day of archery season. I had waited all year for this day, and I was stoked! I woke up an extra hour early to make sure that I had everything I needed. All my gear was neatly arranged in the corner by the door, and the truck was warming up. The weather report said it would be very chilly for a September day, but it wasn’t going to be too bad. I knew that it was a perfect day for hunting. The thirty minute drive to my land was just enough to get the sleep off of me, and when I arrived the woods were still as calm as water. I gathered my gear and got out my maps. I had three prime locations to choose from. The first was to the north. It was an old box elder that had been blown over between two ridges, to create not only a perfect obstacle to steer passing deer in my direction, but also as a blind. The second was perched in a tree, about sixteen feet up, overlooking a shallow spot in the creek where four trails connected. The third was a hike. I stumbled upon this stand location while tracking a low hit doe in years before. It was an old apple orchard that had been abandoned, due to the rising creek level in the spring. Now it served as prime land for whitetail. The trees still sprouted buds (and produced enough apples to keep the deer happy) but the area had been a total wetland in the spring. I had been hunting this area the entire ten years that I have owned it. There are several reasons "why". First, there is the mere twenty minute ride to the trail (then another thirty-forty minute walk to the stand site). Secondly, in order to successfully hunt this spot, you must have a climber and be a damn good shot. You only have room for an approximate fifteen yard shot (encompassing three shooting lanes). Compound this with the fact that you are twenty feet in the air and you'll be close to realizing the situation at hand. In this stand site, you are at LEAST an hour from any another man. With all that information stored, it's not hard to understand how this area could be construed as "deer heaven". As I turned back outside the truck, the cool morning air was turning colder. For some reason, something told me to get moving. I grabbed my gear and headed onward. Along the walk, a lot of things play games with a man's head. This happens, especially, in the darkness. Every twig I heard snap; every bird I heard leaving its roost seemed to send my heart into over-drive. It felt as though it could be beating out of my chest. I could hear distant frogs from the creek; the hoot of howls; the yipping of coyotes in the hills. It was a very peaceful, yet scary, journey. I reached my honey-hole with ample time to get set up right for the wind. It seemed as though the cold weather was picking up. Since the time I awoke (to this moment), the temperature had been dropping, constantly. The air was cold and the clouds looked like they were full and ready to burst. But, nothing seemed to bother me. I was wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and had no worries about the weather. I wrestled my climber onto the tree and made my ascent. As I reached the apex (about eighteen feet), I cautiously pulled my pack and bow to my new position. I settled in and got setup. I have nothing to wait for, now, except the first splinter of the rising sun. As I sat there, time seemed to move slowly and steadily. The forest was starting to awaken. The birds were chirping, and the rising sunlight filled the previously darkened woods. I couldn’t help but think about the day that lay ahead of me. My mind and body were filled with anxiety, and I was aching for that first glimpse of a deer. Daylight was well upon me now. It's now seven o’clock..... and it's cold. I figured the temperature at a mere thirty-five degrees and the sky was spitting snow. I watched as the woods seemed to fill up with wildlife. The squirrels were busy finding food and chasing each other up and down trees. They sounded as if they were fighting to the death as they crashed through the crisp leaves. I had a group of turkeys move through, which startled me! All the commotion they made resembled what I thought might be a herd of deer coming my way. Occurrences like this remind me of why I love bow hunting as much as I do. While bow hunting, I'm able to observe nature's beauty in ways many can only dream of. Suddenly, I'm snapped out of the realm of day dreaming. I'm brought back to reality, albeit kicking and screaming. There's a loud "cracking sound" behind me. I am frozen, instantly. I wait for the quiet to come, but I hear it, again. This time it was louder (and moving closer). As my heart starts to beat faster.....faster...., sending my body ....I begin shaking. I slowly turn towards the noise. My eyes are frantically trying to catch something (anything) moving. I notice a small bush (about thirty-five yards away) moving, ever so gently. I paused, as though I was trying to look completely through the bush, to see the faint glimpse of an ear twitching. I reached for my bow, not knowing what was going to come out from behind the shrub. As I watched and waited, I kept telling myself to calm down. Relax. Then, it happened. The object I was so patiently waiting for stepped out from behind the bush. My stomach sank. Standing before me (and well within bow range) was a gig doe. She was chewing, rapidly, and acting as though there was something that she was supposed to be doing. Her tail was flicking wildly, and she kept looking to her right side, towards the creek bed. Glancing quickly, I noticed that there were three more does. Relaxing, momentarily, I let up on the bow and eased myself back into a comfortable position. I noticed my heart, still racing. As I watched the four does parade around the orchards, picking up food and frolicking with each other, they seemed to not have a care in this world. They hung around for what seemed like hours, then disappeared into the thicket. The weather was beginning to pick up, and I thought for the first time there might be a snowy opening weekend. My body was starting to feel the effects of sitting still and began stiffening with the frigid temperature. I decided to have a cup of coffee and stretch a bit. It was nine o’clock before I saw another deer. This time, it was a respectable seven-pointer. He walked right towards me, then turned to take a quick bite before heading back to the creek bottom. Excitement is what keeps a man on the stand, I have always thought. As the day grew longer, the deer sightings dropped off. While watching the orchard edges (where the orchards meet the swamp), something caught my eye. It was a small sparkle.... a mere glimmer of light that had reflected off something. I grabbed my binoculars and scoped the terrain. There he was! Before me was the buck I was hoping to see! At a distance of sixty-five yards, I could see the massive tines shooting splinters of bark from a sapling. His head was gigantic! His body was not unlike that of a horse! I couldn’t count the number of tines, but I knew they had to be "many". He was still a long ways out, and was meandering about. I knew at this point that he could go in any direction he wanted. I knew that I would have to pull out all the stops to even get a closer look. Throughout all my previous years hunting (and articles that I have read, in magazines), I tried to recall all of the tips and tricks that one thinks he should have in his arsenal. Nothing can prepare you for this moment, though....short of living it. When you are face to face with an animal you want SO badly, you realize that you're going to have to draw on all of your past experiences to close the deal. I quietly picked up my grunt tube and made a few soft, slow grunts. No response! I then tried a few more, this time a little longer and louder. Nothing, still. I thought, for sure, this buck was never going to get the message. So, I then pulled out the rattling antlers and clicked them together. The giant's head shot up! Game on. He stretched his neck out, so far it seemed as if it was just floating there. I clicked the antlers together again, and his curiosity heightened. This was no dumb buck though. He didn’t walk right to the noise or charge in for a fight. He waited and watched. He was looking for any sign of danger before inquiring as to the source of the noise. To him, this "noise" meant one thing. With the breeding season upon us, he was about to enter into a fight for this territory. I had managed to keep it together the entire fifteen minutes he stood there, looking. I picked my grunt tube, again, this time giving three hard blasts. This buck had heard enough, and decided to move. With his head cocked down and his chest pumped up, he headed towards me. With each step in my direction he took....my heart skipped beats. He stopped at approximately forty yards, and continued to gaze in my direction, never taking his eyes off level ground. “He doesn't know I’m here”, I kept telling myself. I watched, intently, as he took his time coming across the clearing. I knew he would reach my shooting lane, soon. I tried to gather my composer for the imminent shot, and I slowly started to stand. My bow was in hand as he noticed something he didn’t like. He started to take a path in the wrong direction, but I remembered I had a shooting lane there, too. That shot would be nowhere near as "perfect" as this one, though. I slowly reached for my grunt tube again and gave a quick, two snort combination. The buck wheeled around and stopped, just inside the thicket. I could finally see his antlers, and I was NOT disappointed. He sported six points on the left main beam, with one drop tine. I could clearly make out seven points on the right. I quickly surmised at least a thirty inch spread. He was easily the biggest deer I had ever seen on this property, and I knew he wasn’t "just another buck". His coat was almost black, and his face was stubbed and grey. As he stood their, all I could do was freeze. I wanted nothing to interfere with me and my trophy. As he stood in this thick spot, I examined my chance. If he continued on the same path he was facing, he would be well inside twenty yards of my stand in a moment. That position should offer me a good shot. That's my chance at him. If he turns, though, the opportunity would surely pass me by. It was as if he knew I was thinking about him, because he then started to move. He picked up his heavy racked head and pranced out of the thicket. He was headed straight towards me. At 25 yards, he turned just enough to reveal his vitals, and to give me the chance to draw on him. When I pulled the bow up, and began my draw, the bow felt like thin air. It was an extension of my body. My draw was clean and smooth. I didn’t search to find my anchor point. Everything was solid. . I found the pin through the peep sight, and placed it right behind the left shoulder. I gave a slight whistle, and the giant stopped. I placed my pin directly behind his left shoulder, and gave a faint whistle. My giant stopped. My concentration was broken by the distinct sound of carbon shaft in flight. The next sound I heard was a sharp, distinctive "smack"! The massive animal bucked his back feet hard against his stomach, then disappeared in a cloud of snow and mud. I watched as the giant ran into the thicket. After nearly five minutes, he appeared from the other side, towards the timber. He was simply walking....stepping as if nothing had happened. “How did I miss?” was the only question running through my mind. I stood there, watching him, as he headed toward the dark timbers of his home. It was as if he was trying to break my spirits. Was he mocking the fact that I had missed? How did I miss a mere eighteen yard, broadside shot? I knew my bow was dialed in and I knew the shot felt "perfect". How could this have happened? I waited another half hour before getting down from my perch. I gathered my gear and headed to the where I had shot. I needed to find my arrow. I looked, but could find nothing. I decided to take the route the buck had taken, in case the hit was low. As soon as I got to the thickets, I found the arrow. It was covered in blood and meat. Good sign! I followed a thick blood trail until I got to the opening before the woods. This was the last place I had seen the giant. I found puddles of pinkish blood and I knew that he wasn’t going to be far away. Every hunter knows this is a sure sign of a lung hit deer. I made my way about 10 yards into the forest and there he was! He had piled up on an old log. I couldn’t handle it! I ran to him, grabbing his massive tines! he was just as I had suspected......a damned good eleven pointer! My excitement was out of control! This was what it was all about. THIS is why my love for hunting grows more and more, through the years. As I stood over this monster of a deer, I thought about how proud I felt to have taken such an animal. The honor of going head to head with the smartest animal in the woods....and winning....was bestowed upon me.

I agree 100% !

Hers is my peeve about all this: why, if Obama is so bad for this country, why is it he is elected President? Is it the same way that Bush was elected, twice? I mean I hear all this talk about Obama is no good and that he is pushing his ideas too soon. What the hell kinda talk is that? C'mon! If the man had ideas and decided not to use them until later, when it didnt matter, then what would everybody say? If he didnt have ideas at all, like some of the former Presidents, what would we say then? Maybe its me because I did vote for Obama, but it seems like people now are pointing more fingers at the new guy then the guy who screwed everything up in the first place, Bush. Here's another one for ya; how many of the people that complain about Obama, voted for Bush? Now thats a question of questions!