Mistake #1.
Went hunting in Sam on Saturday night. Drove to one of my newest places and found someone else already parked there. Rats! It's too late to drive around looking for a new spot as it's already 4:15PM. So, I drive a mile or so down the road and just randomly pick a spot that I think looks "deery". I get my climbing stand on, back-pack, rifle, and everything else & I'm headed off into the woods.. No path, just blazing my own trail. I get in about 1/2 mile and I'm worn out from trudging through all the under-growth/brush. I find a clearing that is circular and maybe 50 yards across. I pick a nice tree and get up in it as fast as I can.

I picked the direction I was going to face based solely on where I thought deer would come in from, and also the direction of the wind. I'm facing into the wind. 30 minutes later, I hear something behind & to my left. I turn (1st mistake), and see that a doe is standing at my 7 O'clock position. The movement of me turning my head has gotten her attention and she is staring at me trying to figure out what I am. So, I'm doing my best mannequin impersonation and she puts her head down, sniffs the ground and then lifts her head right back up to stare at me again. After several minutes she begins moving behind me. She's heading towards my scent trail which is approximately 5 O'Clock (wind direction). Once she is directly behind my tree I stand up & turn around to face the tree. I then lean over to one side but I can't see her. I think I must have scared her when I moved as my climber made a little noise. While I'm standing there looking all around trying to figure out where she had run off to, she snorts and bounds off.. She was literally right under my tree...

Mistake #2
I go back to the same spot again tonight determined to out-smart the deer. My son is with me this time & we have a plan. We have a primos doe bleet call. The wind direction has changed so I have to choose a different stand site that is about 75 yards farther NW from the tree I was in the night before. We build a quick make-shift ground blind for my son that is about 75 yards UPWIND of my proposed location. His job is to work the call, and to watch behind me (my blind spot). We specifically pick a tree for me that leaves him a clear view of any deer that might approach my location from behind. I anticipate that if a buck comes, he will approach from down-wind & potentially give me a shot. I tell my son to have fun with the call and just make noise with it every 5-10 minutes or so. Well, I'm in the tree 25 feet up with the wind coming from my left to right, and my son playing with the call randomly. This goes on for about 1 hour. The woods had gotten eerily quiet and I knew something was about to happen. My son had just finished a series of calls with the primos call when I get the crap scared out of me. A buck had walked right to the base of my tree behind me and he let out the loudest grunt I've ever heard. It scared me so bad that I involuntarily flinched. Well, my action scared the deer. The deer (I did not even know it was a deer yet) took off running to my immediate left-straight towards my sons position. I keep waiting for my son to shoot but silence. Then, once the deer is clear of my sons location and has moved out in front of me I throw the gun up and follow him waiting on him to stop. He finally stops at about 100 yards out, but all I can see are his hips. His entire body except his hips are hidden behind trees. Since I never had a chance to see his horns, I was not sure he was legal so I could not shoot. He stood there for almost a minute & I watched his hips through my scope.. He finally snorted and bounded off. After the deer was gone my son texts me to say the deer came within 10 yards of his location but he had not even put a bullet in the chamber of his rifle.

The deer are definitely smarter than I am. I don't know what I am going to do differently next time, if I have not completely blown them out of the area permanently. 2 chances in a row, 2 different nights, and I blew it.

Someone please tell me I'm not the only one that has these things happen.

Maybe 3rd times a charm?

your not the only one that has these things happen . last lease had, during archery, got in my 11ft high stand, scared of hights, & i'm short so less ta see. got in bout 45min before sunrise sat till bout 9:30. its a chain on stand, &yes ya can take deer with bow just 11ft up. sits 20yrds on hill side from 2 trail crossing. wife had her deer stand bout 200yrds down hill with feeder. figured go check for fresh deer tracks. gun season started next week. eased down, seen some tracks, so eased back to get in stand. buck was standing in the trail 20 yrds out from stand. it slowly moved twards main road. my truck parked up their, so ran to it, grabbed spair climming stand. theirs a stand & feeder other side of road were daughter sits with camera. ran inta woods small clearing with thick brush behind twards daughters feeder. got bout 11 foot up pulled bow up, seen buck. instead of going in front of me, it eased to right & had lots of branches so no shot. it walked right behind me, browesd for bout 5minnutes never giving shot. am sure every one has days like that. sounds like ya got a good spot, that's the thrill of hunting, right place right time, & deer wins am sure your son had great time with ya. best wishes

I'd be going back to the same area, maybe putting out a corn pile or 2 if that's legal there. I'd also use cover scent. I betcha deer use that area regularly and you'll get more opprtunities.