Big Build Up...No Results!

Well, spent many hours in the stand this past weekend, opening of late season archery blacktail, and have nothing to show for it but a sore butt and sore abs from my Lone Wolf climber. Sure, I spent alot of quality time reflecting and enjoy the blacktail woods in November, but like everyone, I am out there for one reason....to run an arrow through the blacktail of my dreams. That definitely did not happen.

I have never had such high hopes going into the rut hunt for trophy blacktail. Me and my partner, Chad Montgomery, had two awesome bucks caught on trail camera many, many times over the past couple of weeks. Night photos, day photos, it was perfect. We just knew, this weekend, I would arrow one of them as he filmed in vivid high definition video. We are going for our third straight year of capturing a trophy blacktail bow kill on film. Tree stands were in just the right position and of course, we were dedicated to our mission. Just when you think you have it all figured out.....we got schooled again, by the wary, old bucks we long for.

We had a decent 3x3 in on Saturday at about 10 a.m.. He was dogging a doe, licking the air behind her. I pulled out my still camera and took a few photos of him at 11 yards, then came to full draw on him for video and mostly just enjoyed being in tight on a mature blacktail. That being said, he was not the buck of my dreams. Yes, he was Pope & Young, just not an opening day buck. Now, after two days of seeing nothing larger than him in slam dunk bow range I am wondering, "Did I screw up by not shooting that dude." Chad and I were doubting everything. Two full days in the stand seems like about two weeks in normal human life hours. We wondered to each other...is the rut over, did the weather have them locked down, did the bucks get killed by other hunters, did we push it too much checking cameras, being in the area too much? And, so it goes. The mind games of a blacktail hunter.

It is killing me to be at work this week. I freakin' can't wait until Thanksgiving morning, when I can get in the stand again, which will mark the beginning of a four-day blacktail gauntlet...Thurs - Sun. I love my blacktail and understand during late season tree stand hunting it is all about TIME. I can handled it....hopefully me and Chad's patience pays off with a big reward at the end of a short blood trail. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Keep hunting hard guys, Cam