Turned on the coffee about 515 then went outside to listen as it had stopped raining. Was that …. yep. That’s a hoot. He’s up there. Drank my coffee, emailed the boss, left a note for the wife, shouldered my pack, and up I went. As always, its way up further than you’d think it is. Up on a cliff you have to go around the side of to get up on top. Saw a deer on the way up. When I got there about an hour later, I thought I pegged the tree for sure, and looked for maybe an hour and never could see it. I put on the pack and was about to leave when I looked up in a closer tree – there he was. I could only see his head over the top of the end of the tree branch he was in. Put the new .22 10 20 takedown together and couldn’t find a good rest where I was, so walked up to another tree, and couldn’t get a good rest there, and at the third tree, a gust of wind came and the bird backed in closer to the tree. So, round and round for another hour. Could not see it. Put the gun in the pack and decided to go down the other side of the hill. And as I looked up – there it was! It had hopped to the tree next door, which had few branches. It was a long shot, but the bird was right there in the open. Looked as big as a small turkey! And this time I got a solid rest. I slapped the bolt a couple times per the manual, then put in the magazine and loaded a shell. I held the cross hairs right on it’s heart, pulled the trigger……..and it flew away. Never to be seen again. Wow. Do I seriously suck at this. Another solid 5 hour workout.