much with stand hunting , but I knew getting up and down out of the tree to relieve myself would be a bad mistake , so I elected to stay in the stand until after sunset . After 4 hours in the stand I was greeted with the sound of chainsaws cutting firewood and the usual hunters blasting waterfowl on the river . In the midst of these distracting noises , I soon found that the ability to have cell phone service could help keep me awake . This luxury came to an end with a dead battery about noontime , and I was left back in my stand only to watch the leaves on the ground below and rattle my small antlers . Growing up as a hunter in Arizona , I never had the chance to learn how to rattle in bucks , so I ' m sure that was no help to my hunt at all . By three o ' clock in the afternoon I was ready to leave the stand and return to my lovely wife who would be arriving home from school , but I chose to stick to my plan and wait it out . My KUIU clothing did well insulating me during my uneventful day hunt , but at 4pm I felt my blood sugar and body temperature start to drop with the sun . My shooting light was fading and my hopes were dimmed . I decided that I needed some blood flow in my legs again so I put my bow back on the hook and stood up in my tree stand . I heard a small branch snap to my left and to my amazement ; I caught sight of a small doe making her way along the path that lead straight to me ! My stiff legs suddenly were full of adrenaline and I sat back down on my seat cushion . As the doe passed behind the only tree separating her view from me , I hooked my release on my D- loop and began to take slow breaths in
Just then another doe appeared on the same path and behind her , a buck from my trail cam photos ! Now my excitement was raised , and the buck fever I was sure I had gotten over years ago , was back in full force . I transitioned my focus from the leading doe to the trailing buck and drew my bow when he passed behind the same dividing tree . He must have heard something he did not like , because he stopped with only his nose showing from behind the right side of the tree . And then , after what felt like an eternity , the buck made his last step out from behind the tree . In my mind I went over my preranged distances and knew he was at just behind my 20 yard tree . I put my top pin low behind his shoulder and let it fly . The buck reared up , spun 180 degrees , and ran back down his trail . I ducked down to see under the tree canopy in hopes to catch his direction , and then he stopped . Not 40 yards from where I had shot him at , he spread his legs out wide , and tipped over on his head . No kicking , no trailing , no wounded game . I was so blessed and lucky to have harvested my first ever whitetail . What a joyous evening it was . I stayed in my tree stand for another few minutes and enjoyed the feeling of success and the sunset . Growing up as a hunter in Arizona , I never had the chance to learn how to rattle in bucks , so I ' m sure that was no help to my hunt at all . I crawled down out of my stand and made my way over to my trophy to admire his harvest . I made sure to say a small prayer of thanks for my harvest , and started the short drag to my pickup truck . After a few tiring minutes of trying to load his whole body into the bed of the truck , I finally
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