Deer Slaying

It was late November, and I was up a tree, literally. I was tucked fairly snugly into a camouflage sleeping bag pulled tight up to my shoulders.. The the safety harness had chafed my nipples, probably from the cold, enough that I didn't want to move anymore than I had to. I had some of those air activated toe warmers tucked into my boots and it felt like I was standing in a puddle, damn I sweat a lot. I had my bow on the rest in front of me my one gloved hand outside the bag on the grip. I keep my other hand ungloved so I don't have to worry about setting off the string release at the wrong time. I had been up there for about two hours and had passed the novelty of sitting in the quiet woods by myself, into the wanting to fidget against the boredom stage back to enjoying the sound of the wind and the branches rattling together. All the parts of me that were cold were numb but not painful like my lips and my nose. My eyelids were so cold it was uncomfortable to blink and I indulged in imagining how I would get out of this tree and back to the house if my eyes froze shut. A whisper and a crunch and a cautious doe stepped into the clearing beneath me coming out from under my right foot. I tried really hard to keep my breathing from changing and stared at the kill spot noticing the head and it's direction only peripherally not wanting to make eye contact. She walked out in front of me and started tugging at a thin sapling. I waited wanting a nice buck or a larger Doe to follow in but after a few minutes there was still nothing. I pulled my shooting hand out of the bag and looped the string release around the bowstring. I drew and lowered the arrow at the same time, either my breath or a creak of the bow started the doe but she didn't run, she just froze ears up tail quivering. I felt pretty solid on target and was ready to make the shot when she took a step almost straight to the right with her foreleg turning her ass straight at me. My shot felt ruined but I was hoping she'd take another step give me that good quarter again. My heart was pounding and I could feel the shakes starting in my arm. I'm usually steadier but a few hours of cold had me feeling weak. I'm not sure if my eyes were playing with me or just a case of buck fever but there ahead of the doe in the brush I saw another deer standing behind a bush. Well my arm was really doing a fine quiver now and I was considering taking a shot through the spine when she turned again and I took the shot the moment I felt It was in sight. It was a clean hit she barely made it 10 yards before she fell. I never noticed if another deer had been there, didn't notice anything running away. I pulled my shooting hand inside my bag and wedged it between my legs for warmth. I leaned my head forward against my bow and started shivering uncontrollably as the adrenaline jerked my whole body around. I called my cousin on the shortwave about 10-20 minutes later. I giggled a little, I'm sure it bothered him. Still I thought better than throwing up or wetting my pants, which still seemed like a possibility then climbed down out the tree, my legs barely able to hold me..