The Hunt...

The crisp cool afternoon air felt good gently blowing through the pines and firs I was surrounded in. I had been sitting in this tree stand for nearly 10 hours, calling and waiting for the right animal. I reeked of Elk urine and of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had just eaten.

I heard some rustling off to my right about a hundred yards or so. Getting an arrow knocked as quietly as possible as I take a few breathes to calm myself I watched yet another hunter come through the trees. Hidden away in my tree stand I grabbed my bugle and let off a massive call with a few grunts. The hunter grabbed quickly for a call to respond to my toying. All wide eyed he blew to his hearts content staring off into my direction. With my call I blew again trying not to laugh. There were a few minutes of silence when I heard something off to my left. I was getting pissed with all of the foot traffic that had been coming through this once hidden little hunting get away of mine.

At first all I saw were antlers coming out of the trees. My heart started to race as my eyes widened. I had to sit back in the chair of the tree stand and process what I had just seen. There were about 50 yards of trees between this massive bull and the hunter to my right.
His head peering out of the trees he grunted at the calls he had heard only minutes earlier. I had a call in my mouth and grunted back at this massive animal. He took another step out of the trees towards me and I decided it was time to get ready to fire off a shot. I pulled back on the string of my bow and held it for the perfect shot. Just a few more steps were all I was waiting for. This is what I had been waiting for all day.
He was still facing me when he took another step towards me. I heard the sound of a bow as it released an arrow and saw the reaction of the animal I had been stalking from my tree stand as he was pierced by the arrow of the other hunter.
Sadly, I decided it was time to take down my stand and head home. As I walked through the meadow I had watched all day, the other hunter asked where I had come from. I just hung my head and pointed at the tree and held out my stand.