O'Dark Thirty

This Saturday begins deer hunting season for guns in Missouri. i haven't hunted in about 3 years but decided to get in the fray this year. why you ask?... because my husband put a camera up in our woods and showed me a big 10 point buck that has been visiting since last year. and since that mount would be larger than HIS mount....i want to try and get him. oh, and also because we love deer meat in chili, stew, soup, burgers, etc. LOL

Hubby is hunting out in the state woods behind my studio so i get our woods all to myself. and there is state woods behind us, too. we have a couple ponds that the deer come to drink out of, so i figure i have a good a chance as anyone to get him.

Not sure i will be up at O'Dark Thirty as hubby will be. i'm not a fan of stumbling around in the dark. but i will be up there early...before the sun shines bright. here is my stand....about 10 or 12 feet off the ground.

And there is my little seat up there.

Yesterday i decided i probably needed to go check it out and crawl up there. it is always scary the first time i get up there. shoot, it's scary EVERY time i get up there. LOL  i pray a lot up there.

But the scenery is pretty cool. i have pasture and woods all around me. and our big fish pond is in front of me...but too far away to shoot to. here is the woods to the left of my stand.

And here is what i see to the right.

And to the front of me is Jim's sighting in range. the white markers are for 25, 50, 75, and 100 yard ranges to the target. you will notice he has mowed that section but not the pasture. the pasture is grown up about 12 inches. you could lose a small dog in there.

If you go past the markers...through the overgrown pasture...down the hill....you will get to our fish pond. it doesn't really show in a long range picture so i took a close up for you. it looks cool from the tree stand. my luck i will see deer at the pond but they won't come close enough for me to get them. we'll see.

The pond looks close to the road...and it sort of is...but you can't see it from the road...you just see the side of the dam. it looks closer here because i am taking the picture from the tree stand.

I have always gotten a deer (or two) in the years that i hunt so i am hopeful for this year, too. don't know if i will shoot at anything that is not that big buck...guess it depends on if hubby has gotten anything. I am a cautious hunter and only shoot if i know i will get it and i always fell a deer with one shot. i don't want it to run off and be hurt. i don't go for the long shots or shoot when they are traveling. they have to stand still for me and give me a good shot.

A few years ago i remember playing hide and seek with a deer. i was in the woods, on the ground, watching a deer approach. it saw me and traveled from tree to tree....keeping most of its body behind the tree and peeking out at me. after about 30 minutes of this i just gave up and let her go. she was smart and deserved to live.

Let the hunt begin!