first trad hunt was a wash, but all is good..

[VA Elite]

it rained hard this morning so I opted to let it do its thing. about 10 am we headed down to the hunt club when it stopped raining . our plan was to hang some cameras and do more scouting . 7000 acres is lot of land so as always we pusome leg work in during the mid day. this has always consisted of checking and moving cameras and scouting. it has worked well over the years. well with the rain stopping by 11 am the first spot we check we stumble upon 5 does. they were too far even if I had the bow in the hand but it was good to see some deer either way. checked some places and hung cameras and saw another doe. we finished up and were on stand by 3:30. I opted to hunt a stand that has always produced. it was turning out nice, sun came out a few times and the wind was a little stiff but not too bad. then at 6:10 on the nose the wind gets crazy and the bottom dropped out. I stayed in til about 6:30 but it was just getting dangerous to be in a tree. so I got down and went to the truck. I saw 7 deer today but not from the stand. I came home fulfilled considering the conditions and all I did in the stand was stare at my Great Northern recurve hanging there and couldn't believe it was for real after 25 years...

[Petrichor]

How encouraging to see so many deer!!!! Good luck this season. I cannot wait to get out there.  I have only been back a few days but the groups I am shooting I am feeling pretty good about going.

[VA Elite]

go for it man!