I was just going to move some stands today and fix 2 home made steel and plywood stands. The seats were too high and it was hard to be comfortable. I also went to the neighbor womans to put up a morning stand. All she wanted to do was talk and she used a lot of my time. I got one stand up and went down to move my ladder stand back into the trees more because I always have deer behind me. Saw was missing! I moved it and drove out the lane and hit a small stump that took out the sidewall of my tire. They are worn out and need replaced so it didn't bother me much. Got the spare out from under the 4 Runner, loosened the lugs and could not find the jack. I recently took this one over from the wife. I found the saw in the lane and cut the stump down to the ground. Borrowed a jack and put the spare on, almost flat! Got it up to the house and borrowed a little pump to fill it until I got home.
I went to hunt and there were branches in the way that I couldn't reach. The tree was small so I pulled it down so I could reach the branches but couldn't break them so I took out my Gerber folding knife to cut them. Dropped knife, cut 1" gash in my pants and leg. Filled pants with blood before I got the pants leg rolled up and stopped the bleeding. Back in stand, nuts, a branch I missed, bent tree and cut it off. Back in stand at 5:08, 5:10 I hear a deer coming. Fed less then 10' from stand for 15 minutes, trouble was it was right behind me. Deer leaves and I don't see a thing, then it is dark. I am afraid to walk out, afraid the spare is flat, when in the stand I kept thinking the tree would fall, the stand would collapse, I would drop my bow or the safety belt would let go. I did fix the 2 stands though.
I have to ask you, should I get up in the morning? Oh yeah, the wife showed me the secret compartment under the seat where the jack was!

Oh yeah, I am drinking right now!

Good night. Sleep in!

bfrshooter,

You are doing the right thing at the moment.

But I have a hard time feeling sorry for you. This would be considered a normal day in my life.

I would have blamed it on the old lady. It wouldn't have changed anything but I would have blamed her none the less.

In my life, my wife would have shown me where I was going to sleep in the garage, rather than where the jack was in her previous vehicle.

Jim

I went out last week and had a night like that. Every damned thing I did was wrong as far as hunting goes. Finally decided to hit the other side of the field, I had to use the self climber there. So off I goes all loaded down with various "must have" crap. Well I finally got the stand as high as I could go and I was about 10 feet off the ground in full view of everything that walked, crawled or flew. Down the tree I came and tried a ground blind but by then I had contaminated the area with my scent and the noise I had made was dreadful.. Finally I decided to watch the sun go down and relax. I didn't see anything but in the end it was a better evening than sitting at home.

the chef

Friend,

I hear ya! Sometimes I think I should just give it all up and simply shoot 3D only.

But then it all comes together and I have a great season or two.

If it was easy, it wouldn't be bowhunting... it would be bowkilling.

Remember everyone's kind comments... we will need you to give them back to us as we have 'those days' later ourselves.

bfr,

It's good to get days like that out of the way.

Glad you survived!

I feel bad for you but I am glad I am not the only one that has days like that. I got someone to cover for me Sat a.m so I could go and try to get the buck I saw Fri night. Got to the the stand super quiet, got up in the stand super quiet. Dropped an arrow and it hit every rung of the ladder twice on the way down.

I never worry about noise like that. I have also reached out and snapped a bunch of dead branches off just to look up and see deer feeding towards me, they never paid any attention to the noise.
I use to have trouble in PA years ago where my stand always had deer around it when I walked in before daylight. That would spoil my hunt after I scared them off. I tried something one morning. I had a chain in stand and I made a whole lot of noise walking in by banging the chain against the wood. All the while I was putting it in the tree, I would bang it hard with the chain. I kept it up until I had my face mask on and bow in hand, then I got quiet. 5 minutes later a buck walked right under me, stopped broadside at 20 yd's to look back and took my arrow through the chest.
I have seen many guys come in at prime time, build a stand with hammer and nails, saw off extra wood, toss the tools to a friend and settle down only to be the only guy around the field to kill a deer. They seem curious and come to see what was going on. As soon as the friend walks away, the deer come. Sometimes being too quiet doesn't pay because the deer are not afraid of you in the dark and will actually move in closer to watch you climb in the stand---you will be done for the day, unless another deer comes by.
One time I went in real early and about daybreak I dropped an arrow. I heard some guy say "real close, aren't we" I didn't know he was there and he didn't know I was there. After he left, a 10 point came in.