6:40 AM. My stand is set, safety harness attached I finally take a seat and lean back into a terribly crooked tree truck to await the start of what would soon be a unforgetable morning. The woods were wide awake. Moments earlier a pair of mallards had set off to start there day taking flight out of the remaining impounded flood water the past summer brought us. Geese were nosily crossing overhead in search of a calm place to rest and a single BlueHerron glided in to stand guard over another impound of flood waterI I crossed just moments earlier.

As I clipped my binoculars on and started reaching for my bag to grab my rangefinder I'm suddenly brought to attention by the unmistakable sound of a deer stepping through the shallows just yards away from my clearing. It's now 6:45, just one minute remaining till legal shooting time...

I hope I never get used to that sound, heart pumping and throat dry, my right knee begins it's ususal violent routine of shaking uncontrollably. I stand up realizing as I do that I have yet to buckle my release or knock an arrow. Accomplishing both of these task's when deer are in the area or near impossible but luck was with me this morning and as I twisted my peepsite I slowly lifted my head to peer through the morning light in the direction I heard the deer.

The next ten minutes I waited seemed to last an eternity - no more movement, no more sound from the direction I had just heard deer from and was now watching. My knee was no longer shaking, my breathing back to a normal pace. Just as I prepared to let my guard down I caught silent motion through the edge of a thicket directly in front of me. Heart pounding, my knee once again violently confirmed the movement was in fact a deer and it was quickly approaching bow range!

The next few moments were truly a blur. I would love to see what the reaction on my face was as he stepped into full view and I came to the realization that the doe I had envisioned was actually the biggest buck I have seen to date while bow hunting public ground. He was on a mission, he almost seemed to be aware that something was out of place and by his quick steps did not appear to have any desier to stick around to find out what it was.

I drew my bow, with my dry throat I squelched out a short bleet... He stopped, eye to eye I placed my thirty yard pin on his vitals and gently released my arrow. Keeping a firm eye I awaited the result and with the follow of a hollow thump I confirmed my arrow had met my target.

The buck tore through the remaing few yards of the thicket he was moments before silently gliding down. He topped the levy and bounded across the field - my knee shake had now spread throughout the rest of my body as I watched him take one final leap before crashing just 60 yards from me in the open field.