Strike One

During the spring/summer I found a new stand location. It is way up on a ridge on a growth line between mature oaks and hemlocks. There is also a deep cut ravine that runs through ridge which pinches deer through the area. There is a good run leading around the ravine, and when I found it in the spring a line of about 8 good scrapes ran up the run. The catch is that, in the dark it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to, and it is at the top of a large ridge. I have been saving the spot for the rut, and a good north wind (today was going to be the first day to give it a try, Fri Nov. 6). I left my truck at 4:30 (that's AM), I was in the stand at 5:45. At 7:00 I heard deer coming up the run toward me from the ravine crossing. Two small fawns with no mother came right down the run just like they are supposed to, as they worked past the stand they kept looking, and turning ears toward the north. As they got to 15 yds they continued to look north (which is away from me), and then they turned around and went back the way they came. At 7:15 out of nowhere a decent 8pt came running up the run, I quickly picked up my bow, drew, and now hes passing at less than 15 yds. I give him the standard mouth "errp", nothing, again a louder "errp!!", nothing, now a "HEY!!", he stops, maybe 15 yds......swing and a MISS!! Man do I suck! He trotted a bit north and stopped and I tried to grunt him back to no avail. At 7:30 I hear another deer coming from the north. As it approaches I see its a button buck, he walked by at about 25yds and hung around for a bit before walking all the way around me and walking down the ridge behind me. At 7:45 I look to my right to see another deer working its way toward me...It stops in the hemlocks and I couldn't see if it had horns. The wind was quartering towards it a little, and I think it may have caught my wind, because it turned around and walked away. As it walked away I could see that it was a spike horn with about 8 or 9 inch spikes. That was all for the morn but that was far better than my average morning.