Hello all!

DeerWatch 2010. 11/19 First day of IL. firearm deer season. Last year, I went through the motions. This year, I followed through!

My first ever harvested deer!!
Up at 4:15 > shower > 40 min drive. In the stand around 5:45. Watched the birds and squirrels awake. 3 does and a decent 8 pointer walk by @ 7:00. Let em' pass. 8:15 a young 6 pointer walks by, limping at times. By the time I noticed he was hit by another hunter, he was out of range. Tried to call him back for a mercy shot, but he never altered course.

Cold and the wind starts whipping up. 11:01 'HE' appears out of nowhere, and catches me off guard. Somehow manage to switch from one side of the tree to the other, catching barrel on my safety harness and make a double lung as he's quartering away at a brisk walk. Time in the stand was 5 1/2 hours. Thought about going down for lunch 20 mins before.