THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE DEAD

Bow season for deer is open now. I had court this morning so I didn't get into the woods until around 1 PM. I literally ran into this Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake just before I got to my stand. I always kill a venomous snake around a house or populated area but one that is out in the wild is usually another matter. I tried 3 times to go around this one in the path and all 3 times it struck at me so using my back-up .38, I dispatched him/her/whatever it was. It had 9 buttons on the rattle. You can just make them out in the second picture. The arrow is 31 inches long so the snake probably will go 37-40 inches and weighed around 4-5 pounds. I've seen around 12-15 deer so far but not had a good shot at any yet. Almost all of the deer I've seen this year have been smaller than normal. I don't know if I'm seeing yearlings (last years fawn) or if the deer really are smaller this year.