22 degrees

He walked almost silently. The breathe from his nostrils turned into fog as soon as it hit the chill air, just as mine did. He stopped 30 yards away, broadside, the perfect shot, if he was standing in front of me. He was directly behind me with the tree between us but I could lean just a bit and get a good look at this 150 pound 8 point...small by our local standards yet still a good size for a freezer. I could do nothing but watch as he turned his head side to side taking everything in, looking for danger. Today I posed none at the moment because this tree was right in my way. He ambled off to his right and got further away with each step till at 80 yards he stopped to grass on something. He lifted his head and smelled the air, most likely getting a whiff of the scent bottle I had hanging over by the picked cornfield, then turned away and walked towards an arrow on another morning in the future.