RAINY DAY BUCK AND DOE
By Tony Sanders/aka"SNUFFER"

This hunt took place in November of the 2007 Bow season. I was hunting behind my Mother's house, who lives 3 miles from me. My Mother have been telling me over the past few years about the deer she often see in the yard back behind the house. They would come out into the yard in the evening and feed on the grass, and sometimes they would lay out there like they owned the place. But until this year I have never hunted there. I had been back there on scouting forays, but scouting just did not reveal or show the kind of sign that would make me put in some serious time hunting there. But my Mother would continue to call me when ever she would see the deer back there in the yard playing and jumping
around, and there were times when I was there visiting her that I could look through the woods behind her house and see deer on the move. So this year I decide I will put up a ladder stand back there and see what happens. I will be honest, with you I did not hold out much hope of seeing a lot of deer, but boy was I surprised. The first time I hunted
the stand I saw about 4-5 deer and I ended up getting a shot on this very first time I hunted this stand. And I hate to admit this, (and at times it happens to the best of us), I missed a slam dunk shot right at a nice doe that had made its way over to my stand, boy talking about a slice of humble pie, because I knew in mind(or so I thought) that I was going to kill this doe, but I put a SNUFFER right over her back, man I couldn't believe it. But after this first encounter, each time I hunted that stand in the early season I saw deer, even though they did not always present a shot. By this time I have learned the travel route of the deer, so I move my stand closer to the area where they are traveling. I passed up shots at button bucks while waiting for some does or a nice buck. I don't know about you, but I do not like shooting button bucks, even though I have done it on occasion because at the time I was thinking they were a young doe. What I try to do now(if I remember to do so) is to look at their heads with my binos to see if any nubs or buttons are on their head and that way I can determine what they are, and this year was no difference. So far I had already taken one doe in Montgomery County and one doe in Anne Arundel County at my honey hole stand. We are now into November and on this day(Tuesday 11/6/07) I am up and heading to my Mother's house to hunt in the morning. But the forecast is for rain this am, but undeterred I go. I get there and it is cloudy overhead. As I make my way across the lawn and head to the woods behind the house, I get to the woods edge. I pull out a little AA flashlight and immediately I see eyes light up in the area where my stand is located. Incidentally I can see my Mom's house from my stand. As I approach my stand a deer take off and bounds through the woods. I take this as a good sign. I get to my stand climb up and then pull up my beloved Robertson Montana Falcon Recurve. I am somewhat apprehensive because the look and smell of rain is prevalent. I sit until it begins to get light, and I begin to scour the woods for signs of movement. I can hear and see the morning traffic with people heading out to work or where ever this day takes them. I hear an ambulance siren and I can see its flashing lights through the woods. It is light now, but still sort of gloomy. Suddenly 4 deer approach from my right and go behind my stand and come around to my left and begin to feed about 12 yards from my tree. It is 4 anterless deer and in the low light they look like all does. The largest doe of the bunch is facing me and as she reaches down to feed she puts up her head to sniff the air and continue to look around for danger. There is one of the smaller does closer to me broadside but I want the larger doe and she just would not turn, I know it is only a matter of time before they pick me out with 4 sets of eyes looking. I decide to take the doe that is closer to me. Just as I begin to raise my bow they freeze and are looking back past my stand behind me, and off they go running. I am now perplexed, because I didn't think they saw or heard me. And while all this is happening it is beginning to spit rain. I don't have long to wait and see while them does took off so quickly. Coming right from my right and behind my stand out to the left of me on a trot is this fairly nice 8 pointer. And them ole does did not want to have anything to do with him. As they vacated the area, he got to the spot where they were feeding and he began to feed a little, but I think his mind was on something else. He only slows down momentarily and he is on the move. I raise my Robertson bow to take a shot, and by now he is out about 16 yards quartering away. I let fly with one of my big ole SNUFFERS and the arrow catches him a little farther back then I wanted to and boy he kicks into high gear. Did I say it is now raining. I want to wait a little, but because of the rain I want to get on the trail right away. I have the string on my bow and have let it down to the ground. I look up in the direction where the 4 does ran and here one is coming back to the same feeding spot. I hurry up and pull my bow back up and by the time I get the bow in my hand and an arrow nocked the deer is back at the feeding spot 12 yards from my tree. There are a number of acorn trees in the area around my stand. I pull to full draw, and I really rushed my shot before truly anchoring in, and the arrow went right under her chest. The deer begins to pick up the pace and I quickly put another arrow on my string. By this time the deer is straight out in front of me and moving from left to right. I make a sound like they do on those videos and the deer stops for a short moment, but no shot because of a tree. It starts to move again, and now its out at about 15 yards and I make the sound again and it stops once more. This time I put a SNUFFER right through her chest. I watch as she makes it about 40 yards and dies on the woods edge almost in my Mother's neighbor back yard. Since that one is down I now turn my attention to the buck and now it is really raining. I immediately pick up the blood trail that have not yet washed out due to the increasing rain. So far I am following blood pretty good and it leads back through the woods. I find my arrow and after looking and tracking a bit more I find the buck piled up. The SNUFFER tipped arrow had taken the buck through the liver and its left lung and exited behind the left shoulder due to the quartering away shot. The total tracking distance was probably about 100 yards or better. By now I am pretty wet, and I don't have regular rain gear on. I set my camera up and try to take a few pics and hopefully they turn out because of the rain. After field dressing the buck I head over to the woods edge to retrieve the doe I had shot and lo and behold as I turn it over to dress it, it is a button buck. I was disappointed but happy at the same time, because I had taken two deer on this rainy day. After a lot of struggling and pulling I was able to get both deer out of the woods to the back of my truck. By the time I had gotten those deer out of the woods to my truck it had stopped raining and the sun was coming out. As I sat in my truck using my cell phone to call and check my deer in, I reflect back on how the morning turned out. Man what a good day. Even though it was a wet, damp and gloomy morning, it didn't dampen my spirit. And as someone once said, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And nothing beats a failure but a try.