The old T-Bolt does it again.

[RT2506]

Went to hunt Saturday afternoon and wanted to get into the stand by 3:30. When I pulled into the field below the woods where I park here comes a fellow in a side by side 4x4 that had also been given permission to hunt on this land. He told me that he and road all over the place. I though GREAT probably spooked everything for miles. I went on to the stand and got settled and 15 minutes latter the fellow that lives about 900 yards west of my stand decides he needs to practice shooting his pistols. Double and triple taps until 4:30 which sounded like he was under my stand the way the sound travels in this area. He had been finished for about 5 minutes when the man that lives up the valley the other direction about 900 yards decides to grade is gravel driveway for 20 minutes which sounds like someone dragging a wash tub full of rocks up and down the woods around me. By 5 p.m. things start to quiet down. At 5:05 I use my CAN call. About 10 minutes latter I hear leaves crunching in the laurel thicket to my hard right. Now squirrels have been making noise in this area but this did not sound like a squirrel. I heard the crunching move down behind me in the laurel and then a squirrel started alert barking in that direction. Then I hear the crunching now and then coming back up to my right which is down wind. This process has taken about 30 minutes and light is fading fast. All of a sudden a deer pops out of the laurel into the trail right in front of me about 50 yards away broad side. I slowly lower the T-Bolt that the forearm has been leaning on the shooting rail of the ladder stand with the butt resting on my leg down to line up on the deer. The light is so low that with the naked eye I could not see any antlers but when I got the scope on it, BUCK, BIG BUCK. Cross hairs to the shoulder and squeeze the trigger BOOM. When the smoke clears He's on the ground raises his head and BLAAAAAAAA then drops his head and goes still. 7 points with a huge body. I don't have a scale to weigh deer but am pretty good at weight estimation. This buck was every bit 200 lbs on the hoof and I am sure glad that it was a down hill drag to the truck. It was all I could do to pull him up into the truck standing on the tail gate by my self. This buck ended my buck hunting for the year because we are allowed only two bucks a year. I can still take two doe in the rest of the muzzle loading season that ends 11/20 and two more in the rifle season that opens 11/21. I have not figured out how to get pictures from my phone to the computer and then post on this forum or I would add a picture. Oh, the "Pay you no mind" vanilla water mix sprayed on worked perfect again for the second time this week. Deer never smelled me at all.