It was one of those late season days. Cold, a little snow cover, slate grey overcast but no wind at all. The calm before the storm we knew was coming. Animals seem to know when a storm is rolling as well and tend to be active the hours before the snow starts flying.
I was hunting with my buddy, Will. Will’s shot more deer than anybody I know and just plain has that killer instinct in his blood. I was still learning the craft of deer hunting so he was good enough to put me in one of his tree stands. He was going to do some still hunting in a huge circle around the tree stand and in the process try to push a buck my way.
*** Visit my website to see rifle scopes and scope accessories. We carry quality scopes like the Nikon Buckmaster Scope.
I was getting pretty comfortable in that stand observing the squirrels collecting acorns and the inevitable conflict between the reds and grays. The red squirrels are a lot smaller than the grays, but they kicked the grays butt every time two of them mixed it up. It was really fun to watch.
I heard a twig snap and it brought me back from my ring side seat at the fights to see a doe coming my way. I only had a buck tag, so she was safe. I was hoping there might be a little late season rut action going and there would be a buck in tow behind her.
She walked about 30 yards from the tree stand and she bed down! What happened for the next hour and a half was an education. She lay there obviously unaware of my presence. She curled up and put her head down. At first her ears were up, twisting around like a couple of radar antennas and her tail flipping once in a while.
After maybe 10 minutes her ears lay back on her head in a relaxed fashion and her tail stopped flipping. I figured she must be sleeping now. Ten minutes or so passed and about 80 yards off the squalls started doing the Hatfield and McCoy routine again and that does’ head shot up right fast. She looked in the direction of the racket, and finally decided it’s those damn noisy neighbors again and put her head back down.
This scene played itself again and again. She would look like she was sleeping, and then sometimes just the ears would perk up then lay down. Sometimes the head would move a bit, and sometime come up completely. If I slept like that I’d be at some clinic for sleep apnea. I don’t know how she got any rest.
Finally, her head jerked up and she looked in the direction of where I know Will would be coming from. She got up pretty slow and casual. No alarm in her demeanor at all. She walked in the opposite direction that Will was coming from, looking over her shoulder periodically as she browsed and walked away.
I looked at my watch, and wondered how long it would be before I heard Will. The wind was dead still and the leaves were down off the trees and crunchy. I waited. I saw patches of his blaze orange way off through the hardwoods, and finally heard him. It was 12 minutes since the doe first got up. He came to me in slow, steady, careful gait and it took another 10 minutes before we met up.
I asked him if he had stopped or changed course in the last 15 minutes. He said he hadn’t. I told him about the doe. As seasoned a hunter as Will is, he was amazed the doe made him so far off compared to when I finally heard him. We both learned a good lesson that day. With no background noise from wind and noisy stalking conditions, we had about zero chance of jumping a doe, let along a respectable buck.
Deer’s hearing is far superior to ours, and I have an appreciation how much better. When all is quite in the woods, I’ll stand hunt all day. That’s the only chance I’ve got. If the leaves are wet or there’s snow, it levels the field a little and those are fun, challenging hunts. Otherwise, dress real warm and prepare to be still for a long time.
