Thanks for the congrats and the comments. I was hoping to take my first buck over the weekend but never saw a deer on Saturday. Dad and I went in the morning and saw nothing, then I went back and got in around 5pm (in the stand I've seen the 8 and 2 6's in) and never saw anything that evening. Thats the first time I've gone this year and not seen deer but honestly that is normal around here, not seeing 9 deer each time out like I had gotten accustomed to The heat is back here now for a few days so I won't be going again until this weekend probably (okay Ill probably get back in the stand on Thursday evening cause I won't be able to stand it ) The really cool thing for me is, my dad and our circle of hunting friends all went in together and leased some land up in VA this year, so while they are all hunting up there, I've got free reign to all the spots in my area that we have always hunted. Come on cold weather!!!!

I wish mine had gone that way too   I tracked her the whole time (took about 35 minutes to find her) thinking she was the 6 pointer, so after I got over the embarassment of my cousin laughing at me a bit, I was fine with it.  I asked him to look around for some small tree limbs to tie to her head

I'd agree with CB on this one. However, I think that your assessment about taking does is off base. A mature doe is no easy creature to harvest. You may see more of them than trophy bucks, but it's still a great accomplishment in filling your freezer. I hope you had a doe tag so you didn't waste a buck tag.

I like your story as well. An opportunity for all of us to learn.

I guess I misstated about the taking a doe thing. My point was that you see 30 does to every buck around where I live, so in my area, its very common to be able to kill a doe. Im very happy that I was able to kill her with the bow though as I had never been able to previously. I went again last night back to the stand I took her out of, and didn't see a deer, but I replayed my previous hunt there over and over again sitting there, and Ive def taken quite a few lessons out of just that one hunt. I learned to judge my distance a bit better now (the main reason I missed the buck the first time) and I also know when to call it a night and not keep trying to convince myself I could see well enough to shoot a deer should they come by.

And yeah, here in NC, youve got 2 anterless deer (does and button bucks) and 2 hunters choice tags, so I used one of my anterless for her. Ive still got my normal 4 tags left for bucks and another for a doe, although I doubt I'll kill another doe this year.

When I first made my post, I was still pretty disappointed over feeling like I had let my dad down or something, although I've since figured out that of course I didn't. Dad always wanted his only boy to be a hunter with him, and I did in my early years, but then didnt go from the time I was about 16 until now, at 30. (Got married, moved away from home, lived in the city, etc) Ive since remarried, moved back next door to the house I grew up in, and all of a sudden, that instinct to hunt came rushing back, and I couldn't be happier to be back in the game. Im still waiting for that moment when I can call dad and tell him I brought down either the 8 or the 10 pointer that we have seen in that area though