10/02/2025
Had quite an eventful OPENING DAY of the 2025 INDIANA ARCHERY DEER SEASON. Climbed into my FAVORITE ladder stand at 6:30am. I heard deer movement around me within 20 minutes of settling in. I had a decent buck come in but it was so dark see it well enough for a decent shot. About 15 minutes later, there was a young doe come running in from the freshly picked bean field but she never slowed down. She was not flagging.. just bounding through. I thought, well, at least I am seeing deer. About 30 minutes later, I detected movement in front of me and slightly to my right. There were 3 does walking slowly and feeding on acorns that had been dropping. I used my digital rangefinder and I had the lead for at 38 yards. There was a tree she was approaching and it was 32 yards and wide open. I let her browse closer and when the reached the tree, I bleated to her and she stopped and looked around. I had shot several deer at this exact spot over the years. I placed my 30 yards crosshair of my TENPOINT CROSSBOW behind her right front shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I heard the bolt hit her and she took off and I could see the red just behind her right shoulder and she ran down the ravine and up the ridge behind my stand. I heard her crash to the ground. I climbed down at 8:55am and by 9:00am, I had seen a total of 9 deer and I had one "on the ground!"
