Just bad luck caddisguy. There's a lot of patience required, tons of time and gear, and most of all luck. First light is a real good time to increase your chances. Reading your story I think about some of my dry outings. It bugs me a little to see them from truck, when they bolt. I curse myself thinking I should have been on foot. When I am on foot for hours and see nothing, I think maybe I should have drove and covered more ground. Lol. Hunting....Lots of luck involved for sure, for some of us. I would say the single largest factor that helped my hunting, was moving to Kamloops. Now that, was a huge lucky break for me! I really feel for the hunters in the LML. I'm not sure I could endure what those guys do for a few weekends of hunting per year.