What a great morning!  I was in the woods an hour before light.  I wanted to be in position plenty early because I was pretty sure opening day pheasant hunters would be pushing deer my way from the adjoining prairie land.  It was cold, but I didn't mind. Sitting in the dark staring up at the stars in the crystal clear sky was the best stress reliever I can think of from a long hectic week at work.  As I sat there watching the sky get brighter in the East,  I scolded myself for making such a fuss about getting out of bed, I almost slept in – "Look at what you would have missed"  
I heard some corn stalks cracking and turned to see a shadow trotting across the corn field. Time to stop day dreaming and get down to business.  Before too long I detect motion in the corn stubble again.  It's a nice big bodied buck about 40 yds out.  I try a couple grunts to get his attention but he's having none of it and keeps on moving in the direction of the first deer.  I grunt a little more, try a little rattling sequence and keep my eye on the corn field. Soon I sense something behind me, I turn slowly and see a brute of a ten pointer working towards me about 50 yards out.  My binoculars bring into focus a big heavy rack and thick swollen neck. His left front leg was deformed and he walked with a distinct limp. It apparently did not affect his health, he was otherwise a physical specimen.  I hunker in and get ready, he keeps coming.  At about 30 yards he hangs up and becomes very cautious.  I hit the grunt, he can't resist and continues towards the deadfall I'm hiding behind.  Now he's at about 15 -20 yds and offers a clear broadside shot on several occasions.  I chuckled and thought to myself "Only you would have a buck like this within shooting range when you're in a hunting area that requires a doe to be taken first"   He continued to mill around for about 15 minutes until shotguns and rooster cackles rang out from the prairie.  He trots off and I'm left with this story.
I'll be back again for my doe tonight.
Burnsie

Awesome story!  You have quite a talent.  Thanks for sharing.

QuoteOriginally posted by Apex Predator:
Awesome story!  You have quite a talent.  Thanks for sharing.

X2 Thanks for sharing. I couldn't hunt today, but feel like I did with you.  

Great story!

Great story telling for sure.<><

Nice. We all know that feeling of struggling to get out early mumbling and griping only to be awed by God's lanterns and the beauty of the daybreak. Hope that buck or his big brother comes to see you after you've paid your doe price and have the tag.