Last November, my DH, took me to our favorite hunting spot. It's just above a creek bed, in the rolling hills of Augusta, KY. For the past two years, I have been unsuccessful at tagging a nice buck...well any buck for that matter. I took a nice doe, during muzzleloader 2011, but that was it. I could've tagged a nice buck, but I kicked my hubby out of my deer stand. He just kept hanging around, trying to get lucky...I guess. LOL! He gave up, because I reminded him we had the rest of the day for that...I was here to deer hunt!!  I didn't mind it, early in my beginning hunting adventures, but something had changed. As, the pressures of life, home and child-rearing consumed my every thought and often overwhelmed me, I found myself looking more & more forward, to the solitude and peace of hunting. We usually hunted our own stands, which reinforced that. But, this particular day, he was getting on my nerves. He would fall asleep and snore. I would nudge him and he would startle. He would pretend he was only asleep for a second. LMAO! Then he spotted a buck across the creek, fired his gun & missed!! (keep in mind) Last year I missed a monster buck, because he was in my buddy stand. The smaller buck ran down the hill behind my stand, crossing behind on a plateau. I got my gun up, just as a huge 10 chased it. The 10 knew something was up and froze! I would've had the perfect shot, but my DH's fat head, was in the line of fire! Needless to say, I never wanted him in my stand again! So, I said a few choice words and told him to get down. He laughed and walked down the creek bed, to the slave wall. He sat down and sprayed some deer scent. Then, I kid you not, I heard him take a shot. It was only ten minutes, after kicking him out! I grabbed my binoculars and I couldn't see the deer. I walked down to him and here is what he had....

The following summer I was determined to get the perfect spot for my stand! I wasn't going to let anything or anyone ruin it! So, opening weekend, 2012 Modern gun, my stand had been moved 35 yards up the hill. That's where I wanted it originally, because I had seen more deer come downhill passing just behind me, often busting me before any chance for a shot. We waited that morning for my mother to come to our house, to watch our two and eight yr. old. We didn't get in the woods until almost 8AM. We spooked a deer coming down the creed bed. I had to listen to my DH spiel about how we never get in the woods before dark. I had listened to this almost every morning for years!! I ignored him and kept faith. I took my sweet time getting to my stand. I bet an hour or better. I didn't want anything else to know I was there. I never got in my stand, I ground hunted all morning. I never saw a thing. Then I looked across the creek and saw blaze orange. I knew my DH was getting hungry, so I walked to him. We went for a bite to eat. I was ready to get back into the woods. If I had been "Super Woman", I'd stayed up and packed our lunches too! I don't like to leave the woods on opening weekend. When we returned, I did the same thing....took my sweet old time. I decided to sit my lazy bones next to a downed tree. I sat there for a long time, like a statue. Then I heard  crunch...crunch...crunch.....then silence. I spotted a deer, but it was a yearling. He had tall spikes and he was naive! I watched him feed for about fifteen minutes. He kept watching me too. But, I didn't move a muscle. He finally left the scene and I decided to get up into my stand. It was around five, an hour before dark. I listened and watched and prayed. Something I always do, especially while hunting. Then about twenty minutes later, a doe appears about fifty yards out from my stand. I waited and watched expectantly for another deer....a buck. Sure as the sun shines, I heard the rustling and the footsteps, then I saw the sun shine through the thicket. It shone right on a nice rack. My heart started pounding, throat drying out and swallowing a lump...you know the drill! lol! Then finally about thirty yards from the top of the hill, I could scope him. I couldn't get a good shot, but I could count the tines. Then my hands were trembling so badly, I had to calm myself down. He had his nose to the ground again and began walking straight toward my stand, then turning broadside toward the doe. He was behind a thick oak and I couldn't get a shot. I waited, for what felt like eternity and then he turned and started to go back up the hill. I thought to myself, "NO!" "Please God, NO!" Then he turned completely around and headed her way again. I waited for him to clear the tree and took my shot! He never knew what hit him! I sat there in shock for awhile. The sun was starting to set, so I got down. I walked over to the downed buck. I said, "Thank you God, he sure is a nice buck!!" Then I grabbed his back legs and started dragging him. I dragged it down the hill, across the flat and then the creek, onto the other flat. Luckily the creek was ankle high. I collapsed from exhaustion and waited for my DH. He had the quad. I field dressed it, as the sun was setting. Then he helped me tie it to the quad. "Thank you Dear", I said. And the rest is history!