There'll be venison for Thanksgiving!

Along with turkey and pumpkin pie.

I climbed back into my tree stand yesterday at 2:30 PM determined to sit until 7 PM when I knew the light would give out. There were plenty of red squirrels, chipmunks and birds to watch including a silly ruffed grouse that made way to much noise in the dry leaves and had my heart racing for a few minutes before it strutted into view. I came close to dozing off a few times and was thankful for the safety rope that I wore as a matter of course.

I had almost given up for the day when 6:30 rolled around and I had seen no deer--or bear--come down the trails I had staked out. Then there was a much louder and more determined sounding tread in the leaves over my left shoulder. In the fading light I could just make out the approaching deer about forty yards out as it followed one of the trails toward the clearing thirty yards ahead of me. If it continued on its chosen path it would pass within 10 yards of my stand. I quietly got my bow in hand, nocked an arrow, and stared at the deer's head willing antlers to be present.

It was clear that if this were a buck, it wasn't one of the larger animals we'd seen. There's an 8-pointer with a beautifully symmetrical rack and a 6-pointer with a very, very wide rack out there somewhere. And they ARE still out there. What was coming down the trail did indeed have horns but they were small spikes no longer than his ears. But, hey, this was bow season in the Adirondacks, for crying out loud, and as the saying goes, "You can't eat horns."

As the buck walked down the trail, he passed less than eight yards from my stand and stopped in a small opening about 10 yards away and looked towards that clearing ahead. He was completely unaware of my presence. This was my chance. I slowly drew the arrow back and.... Damn! The aluminum shaft made a squeeking noise as I reached 3/4 draw and the buck bolted off the trail into the thicket to his right. Damn! Damn! Double damn!

But I've played this game before and felt pretty sure he had no idea what or where that unusual sound came from. I let down on the tension on the bow and stood perfectly still. The buck made no snorting sounds nor did he stamp his feet as deer will do when they see something they perceive to be a threat but aren't quite sure of and so wish to issue a challenge. No, this guy was quiet which gave me even more hope that he was unaware of my presence.

Five minutes passed and there was only a little noise from where the buck had disappeared. The soft tread of the deer as he made another attempt to head to the spot where I had placed my scent lure. Then he stepped out of the thicket and into the edge of the clearing. There were still some trees shielding him from me but I felt that if he moved a few more yards to the north, I would have a clear broad-side shot at about 30 yards. As he cautiously moved forward, I drew back the arrow making sure it didn't hit metal-on-metal again. Once at full draw I settled the site-pin on that small spot just where the front shoulder blade meets the chest. And....

He took one more step forward and the point I wanted was behind the trunk of a small tree. I waited and hoped he would move forward one more step before my arms got tired! I need not have worried. Between the adrenalin coursing through me and his curiosity about the odor ahead.... He took the needed step and I released the arrow.

My aim was true, but the distance was a tad shorter than I had thought. I've heart shot deer that sprung and ran 30, 40 even 50 yards on pure adrenaline. This buck just dropped like I had shot it with a high-powered rifle, lay there a second and then tried to stand. Unfortunately for him, the arrow had passed through the upper part of the shoulder blade and into his spinal cord. He couldn't get up.

I quickly got out of the tree stand and hurried over to the fallen deer. He was still capable of swinging his head about and the front legs could thrash but he wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't get close enough to cut his throat because of those thrashing legs so I nocked another arrow, aimed and put it into his heart. A minute later it was all over.

Now came the hard part.