Jared Bates

I had a bad feeling about the morning as I woke up late and got a late start to the woods. As much as I hate to say it, it was 7:45 before I even got in my morning stand. On the way to the property, I saw 6 deer out in the fields, 2 of which were typical shooter bucks for that area. This made me mad at myself that I could have just ruined the whole morning by waking up late. Once I scrambled to my stand, I sat for a few minutes and got setup, (bow hung, arrow knocked, facemask on, etc.) and it started to rain and the wind picked up. So I pulled my phone out and checked the whether situation for the rest of the day. The next thing I knew, something was crashing through the woods and coming at me. I stuffed my phone away, grabbed my bow and hooked my release on. Second guessing, I tried to grab my range finder and pull a distance. I didn’t have enough time so I dropped it (luckily it was on a teather) re-clipped my realease, and drew back. I remember thinking “Looks like 20 yards to me!” and focused on my 20 yard pin. I don’t remember centering up my peep sight, but when I took the shot, I stuffed a Rage right in the cage. 30 yards later, I saw this buck tip over. Total, I spent about 20 minutes in the stand this morning. Biggest adrenaline rush I have ever had. I’m excited to make this my first shoulder mount.