Oh what a terrible hunt. I'll start from the beginning.
My wife had an event Saturday evening, so I wasn't going to be able to hunt at all. I was in a bad mood. PLUS it was so ridiculously hot (low 90s), I didn't care all that much. PLUS PLUS all my scouted spots were closed for recreation. I had zero access.
Fast forward a couple hours and we're were sitting at the table eating lunch when I randomly get a text from an old college friend. He killed his best buck ever in Kentucky. He said it was a heat wave, but the bucks were still moving. This got me a little fired up. I immediately asked the wife, "Can you go to dinner late so I can hunt"? Turns out she didn't have to leave until almost 8 pm. That means the kids would only have to be home for an hour by themselves. I had a window. It was tight, but I could make it happen.
At 3 PM I decided I would go. I jumped online to find somewhere to do a mobile setup. I decided on a spot that was really close to the road where I had seen a lot of deer on my commute to work. I committed to walk less than three hundred yards due to the heat and my time constraints.
I hurriedly got everything loaded and made the 20 minute drive to the woods. After parking the truck, I got dressed, prepped my pack, and slid on my rubber boots. That's when I realized it. I left the bow in the garage. ****!
I changed back into my street clothes, put everything back in their air tight bins, and drove home. Back at home I executed a quick turn-and-burn. I grabbed the bow and immediately headed back to the spot. This little snafu had cost me an hour. It was going to be a really late entry.
After getting dressed, again, I dove off into the swamps and fought the mosquitos and no-see-umms for 300 yards until I found a good looking spot. I had been walking into the wind through an old burn - probably 2 years old - when I came to the edge of little swamp. There were several oak trees dropping acorns and I decided this was as good as any. I put on my spurs, climbed the tree, and setup my platform. It was 5:45 pm.
Fast forward 2 hours and I hadn't seen anything except the small buck I spooked in the burn on my walk in. It was almost dark and my wife and daughter were tag-team-texting me about when I was coming home. I'm dealing with the home front when I hear a deer get up in the swamp. About 50-60 yards away I can see bushes shaking and hear footsteps in the water. Unfortunately the buck caught me totally unprepared. I hadn't ranged the location where he appeared. I grabbed my range finder and hit him, but the screen was too dark to see the number. I guessed him at 35 yards, but it was too risky to take the shot. He had no idea I was there, didn't wind me, and was headed away from the direction I came. He walked away.
