Rough Week!!

Bow Hunting is a sport that you never stop learning and growing it is full of moments where you go from the highest of highs and then you are feeling the lowest of lows.  Well, Julie and I learned that this past week.  It all started on Sunday morning at the farm.  Julie and I got the opportunity to hunt together for the first time this year so we took it.  Sunday was looking like it might be good.  It rained all night Friday and for the most part all of Saturday morning.  It finally cleared off Saturday afternoon but remained windy all day.  Saturday night the farm was open for a "flashlight" night with the corn maze and hayride open.  I got to drive the hayride and on the first one I started seeing deer in the fields around the property.  So I got a spot light and every ride I gave I was spotting deer in the fields.  It was cool because I could get a good idea of what was going on but also for the people on the hayride.  They really enjoyed me pointing out the deer.  So to say I had a good feeling about Sunday morning was an understatement.  I especially was feeling good about Julie's stand.  She has a stand that she sits in that has produced some very good encounters with big bucks over the years and she has dubbed it "her stand."  All the activity I was seeing the night before was in that same corner.  I sat in a stand that I knew was a gamble but its time to start gambling.  I got skunked so that gamble didn't work. 
Julie, on the other hand, had a fantastic morning and had deer all over her right away, probably 15 min. after getting settled in.  She was watching a group of doe work their way toward her and was going to take a shot at the biggest one, when she heard something from behind her and there he was a shooter buck.  Everything happened really fast and she had to guess the yardage but when he stepped into her shooting lane she shot low.  He ran out into the field snorted a few times and trotted off.  We all know what a sick feeling that is.  I felt and still feel really bad for her because she did everything perfect and the deer did everything perfect the shot was just off and we all know that can happen to the best of hunters.  Its always tough because you want to say something to make a person feel better, but anyone that has hunted for any matter of time knows how she was feeling and you know there is nothing anyone can say to make it better.  The best thing to do is jump back in the stand and keep hunting.  I know its going to happen for her soon and I honestly have a very good feeling about this year.  To many good things going on down there.

This is the deer she thinks it might of been.  This is the "tall 8"

On to Tuesday morning.  I went out at my mom's and had the same thing as Julie.  I had deer by me right after I got in my stand.  With the fog and the darkness I didn't see it very well but I have a very good feeling it was a buck.  I will explain that later.  At 8:00am i had a group of 7 doe come walking through and the last one gave me a shot at 30yds and I missed her low.  I hate making excuses but I really do think I hit a branch because I could see it swaying after I shot.  Either way I missed.  The really neat part about the whole thing was how they acted after I shot.  They hung around for nearly 45 min trying to figure things out I did get another arrow knocked and I could of taken another shot at 35yds but decided not to.  I was able to get a little video of them right after I shot. 

Here is the link to that video.  Its hard to see but there is a group of doe to the right and one to the left and my arrow is the blinking light in the center.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7U-ouZcsPI

Here is the reason I think the first deer was a buck.  When I went to get my arrow I noticed a couple rubs so I figured I might as well investigate since I had already ruined the area for the day.  One of the rubs was very fresh.  I walked a little farther and found a scrape that was also just freshened.  So this was some very encouraging sign to find.  I am going to put a camera over the scrape to see what I am up against. 

All this sign is in-between my stands so that is even better.

Here is the rub

 Here is the scrap.

I hate posting about misses but I figure I should post the good and the bad right?  One positive is that we are putting ourselves into situations that are giving us opportunities and if we keep that up it will pay off soon.  With the rut upon us I feel like the next two-three weeks are going to be fun, no matter what happens.