Close Enough To Touch!

Saturday morning found me nestled amongst some deadfall brambles and leaning back against a pair of maple tree trunks.   The wind was swirling and biting through my layers of wool as I cooled from the hike up the mountain.  A beautiful sunrise emerged from behind me as the reds of an unsettled morning illuminated the trees and landscape to my front. 

 

As I was taking it all in, the silence was shattered by the crunch, crunch, crunch of a deer approaching me from behind.  I rose from my stool and turned to greet the sounds as they approached.  Then I saw a flash, and a large doe bounded up the hill toward the refuge of the mountain laurel snorting belligerently over and over as she went.  I thought she must have caught my movement or my scent from the shifty winds.  Well, it turns out I found  later Brent was hunting not too far away and the deer walked between us.  As Brent turned to face the doe his upper recurve limb shook the deadfall branches of the large clump of brambles he was sitting inside and alerted the doe.  She never knew I was there.

 

As the morning wore on and I settled back in.  I again heard the same crunching footfall behind my tree.  Slower and more cautious this time.  I decided to remain standing with my back to the tree and wait for the animal to emerge before trying to move (I still did not know Brent was the cause of the other deer’s flight).  I stood frozen and waiting.  Then in my peripheral vision, I caught sight of a LARGE bodied buck approaching from the peak.  Then, behind following at about 20 yards was another twin….two large 8 pointers were coming on a line straight toward me.  I stood as a wooden indian and completely forgot about the footfalls that were behind me.  As all of my attention was focused on the twins coming down the hill I was completely surprised when a 6 point walked from behind my tree and was suddenly close enough broadside to spit on.  Instinctively our eyes met and I am sure he saw mine grow large as I do not remember moving. The buck immediately wheeled and jumped back behind my tree.  The animal was close enough I could have touched it with my longbow if I was reaching out with it by the lower limb.

 

I never moved, especially with the two twins watching.  The 6 point then calmed down seeing the other two bucks and after a few minutes cautiously walked up the hill toward the twins.  I could have easily taken a shot at the smaller 6 at this point, as he was quartering away and walking uphill.  I was suddenly a little greedy though and wanted one of the two larger bucks that were approaching.  The lead was walking down toward me still, and the rear guard was thrashing a tree and making a scrape.  The two stranger bucks mingled and exchanged some posturing before the smaller went off on a tangent up the hill and away.  The lead twin cautiously came closer but was still suspicious of the wooden indian and the way the smaller buck reacted there.  Finally he was standing facing me at 20 yards and we remained frozen for what seemed like 15 minutes, but was probably only about 3.  Finally the buck caught a wiff of something he did not like (I am guessing since I never moved) and snorted quick and jumped back.  He trotted to a position quartering away at about 30 yards and paused.  I knew it was time to shoot or watch it leave.  I had a small hole to shoot through but it was doable.  I drew and released and a loud “CRACK” followed as by broadhead smashed into a half hollow standing dead tree about 15 yards to my front. That buck hightailed it for the laurel.  The rear buck actually hung around for a while and I attempted to grunt it in, but he acted like he did not even hear me and meandered toward where the first buck exited, melting back into the laurels.

 

Oh well, A great and memorable morning with a small lesson in decision making.  The way my season has been I should have just taken the small buck when I had the chance.