Me on the other hand - I go out yesterday with my ordinary yard work clothes on, including a jacket smelling of diesel fuel, just to check the stands we've got up, and see which one 'feels right'. My son had a set of recommendations based on the time of day I wanted to hunt, but I wanted to see which one felt best (including non-deer factors such as ease of climbing for an old guy), and I set out yesterday just to figure out what stand to hunt from today. I noisily hiked to one stand, found it too rickety for my taste (I'm kind of a chicken about such things), hiked to the next one, and it was too high a hill for me to want to repeat at 5:00 a.m., but climbed in and enjoyed the view for a bit. Went down another ridge, checked another stand, and liked it, but it just didn't 'feel right', so I meandered back down to the "worst stand of all" which I keep up to date, and do usually get a deer from it when I get time to hunt. Climbed in it, and jiggled one of the metal clamp things, and made a bunch of noise, so I hung my rifle on the side of the stand while I fiddled with the clamp. Then a whole 'herd' of deer comes down the valley (4 does, one fawn), and seems oblivious to my presence, which is all the more interesting since I am clearly upwind of them. I figure what the heck, so I turn around, quit fiddling with the clamp, and retrieve my levergun. It is a Marlin 1894 in 44 Mag, and un-chambered, so I have to rack a round into place (not gently, either, for that particular gun requires 'aggressive handling' not to jam), and get seated. The deer are still oblivious.
All but the biggest one drift towards a trail leading away from me, making a right-angle turn about 75 yards out, and I decide against any shots at that angle. I un-chamber and hang my gun up again, waiting to let the deer pass before I climb down from the stand, but the biggest one decides to part from the herd and come down the trail in front of me, and the others turn around and start following. Once again, I pick up the gun and re-chamber it, and wait to see what nature has planned for all of us.
The biggest one finally is about 65 yards in front of me, broadside, and I take the shot, having to aim four inches high due to a branch. I hit four inches high, and the doe runs about 50 feet then does the dead-bug thing with legs up in the air and wiggling. It managed to run the 50 yards in the right direction to be exactly where I can drive the tractor.
No big-buck for me this time, but some good meat, and some evolutionary 'education' for the deer population (eliminated a not-very-careful one from the gene pool) - it doesn't get easier than this....
The ACOG sight worked PERFECTLY...!
I posted on that sight earlier, and would comment that none of the 'lines' on the reticle really come into play in my hunting situations, but the bright reticle, its unique shape, and the supremely clear optics and compact size make it better than any other low-magnification scope I've ever used.
