LIMITED TIME TO HUNT
Even though I've always spent as much time in the woods as possible, it's gotten increasingly harder in recent times because I got married a few years ago and we had a son. But my wife, Krystle, has been very understanding, and she lets me have my hunting time. Going in the 2008-2009 bow season, I knew my stand time was going to be more limited than ever because my second son, Kole, was born two weeks before the season started. My wife needed some help with the new baby and my 2-year-old son, Gavin.

Joel poses proudly with the beautiful mount and his 2-year-old son, Gavin.

In October, I hoped to hunt enough to get a couple of does under my belt for the freezer and to get in some good practice. All along I had planned on taking a week's vacation in November, but I decided not to at the last minute because work had been slow because of the economy, and I wanted to work as much as I could. I felt lucky to have a job during this recession. I still planned to take a couple of long weekends to get in as much stand time as I could.

The first time I took off was on Nov. 7. I saw a couple of good bucks but never had a decent shot. I hunted my special spot again on Nov. 9 and saw two shooters and some does. After that, I wanted to give the spot at least one more chance. I planned to take the day off on the following Friday, but the weather forecast indicated that the wind was going to change on that morning from a south wind to a north wind, and the forecast called for it to stay that way until gun season started a week later.

A DAY LIKE NONE OTHER
I don't like taking time off during the middle of the week, but in this case, I knew I had to hunt this stand one more time before the wind changed. So, I took the day off on Wednesday, Nov. 12, and climbed into my stand early that morning at about 5:30 a.m. It was 34 degrees with a 10-mph southwest wind, perfect for this stand. Little did I know what the day had in store!

I had been in the tree for only 10 minutes when I heard a buck crashing through the woods. He was chasing a doe and grunting like a pig. Then, despite the darkness, I could see them walking 30 yards from my stand. I couldn't wait for it to get light. The action was nonstop all morning long. At about 6:15 a.m., a buck that I estimated to be only a 2 1/2-year-old bred a doe 15 yards away from my stand. I knew this stand was hot and I planned to wait it out all day if I had to.

An hour later at 7:15 a.m., I could see another buck coming my way. He was a 3 1/2-year-old 10-pointer, and I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to shoot him or not.

Usually, when I feel this way it means don't shoot. But I decided to take him.

It was a 15-yard shot, but I lost sight of him right away because the woods were so thick.

I wasn't sure if the shot was good, so I figured I would give him a couple of hours before I started tracking him. I still had another buck tag to fill, so I nocked another arrow.

Things were quiet for the next 45 minutes until an 8-pointer, scoring around 140 inches, chased a doe around in front of me and bred her for a couple minutes. I got ready for another shot, but he never came into my shooting lane.

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