Not having my harness pretty much determined which stand I would use. My daughter sat in her ladder and I climbed all the way to the top of the mountain to sit in the other short ladder. Both hang on stands are too high to safely use without a harness.
I didn't get to pull my trail camera cards on the walk in because, you guessed it, the cards were in my harness at home.
The next issue came when my daughter noticed that she forgot to grab the handle for the charger crank from the case. Fortunately I had sighted her bow in and left the cocking rope attached and she was able to get her Micro 335 cocked with the rope.
Things were quiet early then she finally had a four deer come by about 8:15 not getting closer than 50 yards. Then about 8:30, two more strolled by feeding. She ranged one doe at 32 yards as it fed and provided a perfect broadside shot. I heard the shot and instantly thought I've heard that sound before. It's the sound your bow makes when the ADF catches your string.
Needless to say, the perfect shot opportunity was a bust. She actually did have an arrow loaded, but must have pushed it back until she felt the resistance of the ADF and thought it was loaded. The arrow never left the rail. 
Experience is a great teacher.Very shortly after, three of the deer mingling around her area decided to come up the mountain my way. The top stand is a bit open, but I've had good luck there. Unfortunately, I'd be relying on my own judgement for distance. The three came up the ridge and were crossing in front of me at a bit over 30 yards. I tried to take the front one, but it got through my last good shooting lane too quickly. As the larger of the three neared a shooting lane, I bleated and she stopped perfectly for a second. That was just enough time to send the Boltcutter through her. She went about 30 yards up hill and stood for a bit before going down. The shot was a bit back and high, hitting about the third rib from the back. I got the back of one lung and the liver. She had plenty of internal bleeding.
After she went down, I pulled out my Leupold Thermal Tracker and confirmed that sound I heard was her laying about 60 yards away. She's the white dot.
The lumenok lit the way perfectly. The rocks in my area are very unforgiving on arrows and broadheads. More often than not, they are single use.
It seems I'm in luck. The Boltcutter took the beating and may have saved the Spynal Tapp for use another day. I'll test it good later.
Here is a video of the shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cbT0FlJdO8
She was a decent sized doe. Not huge, but great eating size.
Fast forward until the end of the day, and now she sits in the fridge overnight aging. Tomorrow these new summer sausages will hit the smoker, and with a little luck, this first deer of the season will be behind me by noon.
This is the first time we've elected to take our crossbows on the opening day of gun season. I'm sure it won't be the last time.
