Similar instance happened to me, I had met this woman with a plant nursery in her back yard, she only had 3.5 acres and also had a pond. She said she had a deer problem so I went over one afternoon in mid December of 2010.
My skills were not nearly as good as they are now. I had a 1998 pse nova that I hadn't even practiced with. She seemed to enjoy the deer as pets but hated the damage they did. She seemed hesitant but said I could bow hunt it. I had a climber and walked her property with her. She talked loudly and wore patchouli. She had a moss walk way to the back corner and kept all the leaves blown. I decide the back corner was the only spot really even worth trying.
I felt like such a fool walking over there and setting up in plain sight. I could see her next door neighbor with a leaf blower doing yard work 150 yards away. Before I set up I looked over and noticed a football diameter cedar tree that was shredded by rubbing. I thought well maybe this might be ok...
As I'm climbing up I stopped and looked over and there was a nice buck walking down the fence line 25-30 yards away. I'm banging around and he acted like he didn't care. I got the stand set on a red oak tree and the buck never fully went away. Looking back I think he was bedded close by. After watching him munch acorns for 20-30 minutes he started walking back towards me. I was shaking so badly when I shot, arrow went about 4 inches high over his back at 25-30 yards. He jumped to about 35-40 yards and stood there watching. He simply turned and walked away. Now that I think about it he was at least an 8 point and a good sized body I'd say a 3.5 yr old.
I was quite embarrassed about missing. I told the lady what happened and she seemed like it was normal. That was my only trip out there. I don't know why I never asked to go back. I guess it didn't really feel like hunting, to me. I also think both her and I would have felt bad about dragging a deer off of there. Also her house was about an hour drive away. At the time I didn't know much about hunting and wasn't near the killer I am now, but that afternoon felt like such an anomaly. I felt like I could try that same thing 10 more times and never get another shot at that buck. For some reason, I was ok just letting it be what it was.
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Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.