Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well, my persistence was beginning to look like insanity to me so I decided yesterday to change things up. My 10 acre "Honey Hole" in Northern VA simply isn't hot right now. Since I live less than a mile from a WMA here in WV, I decided pack up the new Summit climber and at least become familiar with the logistics of hunting from it. I got home late, but since I was testing the logistics as much as hunting I decided to go out anyway. Sunset was 6:45pm and I didn't depart the house the last time until 5:05pm after going back for my safety strap (remember, logistics test).
At 5:31pm I was up a tree about 24 feet in an area I had hunting previously from the ground. There are no feed trees close. The area is in a draw between hills front and rear that serves as a travel corridor. It is a bit too open for my liking (great gun hunt location), but I had a trail under my stand that a deer ran down as I was approaching. Here is a view to my left with a field in the distance.
After seeing a doe come past running full tilt a half hour later I began to wonder if hunting in the travel corridor was such a good idea if the deer never stop when passing through it.
About ten minutes after sunset I saw a deer moving about 45 yards to my right front in the only semi-thick cover anywhere near me. It looked like a doe. I began to look out ahead of it to see if there was any path it could take across to my right that would provide me a reasonable shot. Unless it came closer, it would just be too far away. Then, in front of the thickness a buck steps out. Because I was losing light, I really couldn't tell how big he was and didn't really care on this public land. I'd be happy with the doe so a buck was just a bonus. He was about 45 yards away but was facing towards me as if he would come closer. Over the next couple of minutes he get as close as 41 yards. Since he was so close to thicker cover and I was losing light, I decided that was the best opportunity I would be given. After double-checking the range, I took good aim and put the illuminated 40y point very low behind the front shoulder with the deer slightly quartering too. Even though it was very quiet and the deer were calm, I assumed the deer would crouch upon the shot. I had to shoot through an opening that only provided about a foot of vertical clearance so I positioned myself so the line of sight was at the bottom of the opening knowing the arrow would take the high road. The lumenok proved that the trajectory from the Micro 340TD was perfect. It disappeared into the moving mass not to be seen again.
After taking a couple minutes to watch the direction the deer went I began to prepare for my descent. By the time I reached the ground, I needed a headlight to pack things up. I slowly made my way over to the impact point and didn't even make it there without noticing deer eyes looking back at me from the direction the buck went.
![Doh! :eusa-doh:](./images/smilies/eusa/doh.gif)
So, do I turn off my light and just wait? How long? I decided to try to slip out of the area and come back later. Unfortunately, the deer was between me and my Jeep. I walked out on a trail that brought me within 45 yards of the buck. He was standing and watched me walk completely by him and never moved.
I returned with my daughter and son-in-law after 9pm and found him down right where I last saw him. The Leupold thermal tracker really helps. He was far nicer than I expected which I attribute to the low light.
![Image](https://tdipdq.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mD_Ne1y0nqRUfNH040GXD4__RizPuxG2p4z6JHSUPUyg4fKoU2D-FCncTK7xCGY6_d5ecUFt8O-K0hi4XV87q-0GGlXq61Z-I8fDswebLeXQ2CSIKRVNif6Fzp_Vn6gkqx1RzPtBaJ3diWbH15g20-IujNzb9d71kCzXMNrrdD0rwwS9PSvkZGH-10FegJKgl7v__ouh8SKMa3HQ-7MQorw?width=461&height=1024&cropmode=none)
Having help to drag him out was a huge bonus. Not only did the buck crouch on the shot, but he spun more than 90 degrees before the arrow arrived. Instead of a quartering too entry, the deer was quartering hard away. The arrow entered and exited the hind quarter, entered the abdomen behind the last rib and ended hitting the ribs on the opposite side. Sometimes a little luck goes a long way. The Truglo Titanium X was open on entry as witnessed by the entrance wound. While field dressing him, I found 14" of the arrow inside with the fletching and lumenok broken off. The last couple of inches were found inside the hind quarter with the lumenok still glowing.
Lesson: Be persistent, but not insane. If what you are doing isn't producing, you need to change the equation.