Well got out of class yesterday and my roommate, Hunter Dan, and i decided we had better get in the woods cause we had a perfect wind and figured the deer would be moving…not to mention we wanted to get a deer kill on camera.
Ran up to my grandparents and decided to hunt over a soybean food plot that has been getting pounded. Dan had the go ahead for a slick head and i was looking for a buck. The last two weeks i had been getting daytime pics of a decent buck, nothing huge but a 3.5 year old 8 pointer that was decent. We were gonna hunt out of a ground blind, but decided at the last minute to climb and oak tree, no stands or anything, but this was a perfect tree on the edge of the plot. We climbed up and got situated probably 15 feet off the ground by 4:45. I told Dan that the action is gonna start around 6:30 or 6:45.
Well 6:30 rolls around all all of a sudden Dan goes, Charles there’s a buck and he is a shooter….Oh boy i about fell out the tree…Its game on.. 
Well this deer sat in front of my trail camera and on my mineral lick for at least 15 min, all the while i was shaking like a leaf. Finally he gets fed up with the mineral and starts to make his way to the field. At this time i had to remind myself to breath a couple time…FYI i have never had to watch any of my big bucks for more than a minute….
So this deer gets in the plot and starts eating, and eating and eating…at this point he was about 65 yards away. From where he entered he had two major trails these deer typically follow and one goes right under the tree we were in and the other is going away. So we continue to watch this deer for another 10 min and he isnt really moving…one step towards us, one step away. Finally he is at the 55 to 60 yard range and it looks like he is going to keep on working away from us. I look at Dan and said i was going to take the shot, because this is the best opportunity we are going to get. Broadside but a big quartering away with his head in the beans.
Now i practice out to 70 and beyond and feel comfortable taking a 55 yard shot, and can shoot very well at this range. So i draw back and put my pin at the top of his back because i thought he was at the 58 yard range, i had forgot my range finder but had ranged distances from this tree before while on the ground because i have often thought of putting a stand up there.
Anyways i draw back and remind myself to follow through on the shot. I touch the release and everything is looking great, until i walk my green nocturnal go right over his back. 
What did i just miss….so he kinda jumped the string slightly when i shot and the arrow sliced the air right over his back. He runs about 20 yards back into the woods, and stands there looking over the scene. This goes on for anther 5 to 7 minutes. At this time i turn to Dan and unbeknowst to us there was a doe to our left 50 yards away. Well she was already on alert from the buck running into the woods and must have seen me move so she trots away with her tail up, which was enough for the buck to take off…
At this time i still could not believe i had missed but after reviewing the footage it was clean, which was good.
Now i am very bummed, but i am glad that it was a clean miss and there is always tomorrow to get after him.
I have no question that the shot i took was ethical and given again i would do the same thing. I will promise that i will have the range finder with next time. The other good thing is i think the buck didnt know that it was humans that spooked him, and so i think he will be back…
Already looking forward to this weekend. Goodluck everyone and ill post a video after i edit it.
And the first time we have teamed up in the deer stand… I’m certain we’ll put that guy down this year yet. Dont beat yourself up to much bud.. Happens to everyone
so i try not to.
