Last night found the breeze more out of the north than it has since the beginning of the extended archery hunt this year. As most of the deer we have seen have come from the south and east of our ground blinds, Weasel decided he should move from his place on the north end of the grove of trees we have been hiding among. His new position is farther south and east of my blind and a place close to where the deer come out of the swamp and into the meadow.
We arrived about 15 minutes earlier than we had been arriving so as to give him the extra time to work his way over to where he would make up a new blind and let the woods settle down from the extra noise.
As the evening sun dipped behind the Promontory mountains to the west, the sky lit up with a stark orange/red hugh, not as much as in past evenings but still a stunning display of God’s work. The temperature also dropped a noticeable amount and I was reminded I need to start wearing wool gloves into the field. I texted Sherry about this as a reminder I needed to purchase some gloves.
As the light of the evening darkened, I moved from my seated position to one closer to the edge of the grove and edge of the meadow and stood with the lower tip of my bow resting on the top of my left foot. My tab readied under the nock of the arrow. I was calm and looking mostly toward where Weasel’s position was, although I could not see him hiding in the thick brush and overgrown vines.
My view was a narrow strip of the meadow from where most of the deer have been coming and all I needed was a glance of one approaching in order to raise my bow and get ready to draw back.
I was thinking it was almost to late for any deer to come out, when suddenly as I slowly turned my head from looking more westerly, back toward the narrow strip to my left, there stood a deer right in the middle of that space! A doe I thought, as I could not see any antlers, even though the light was very dim and it was over 100 yards away. I saw her stepping out into the meadow farther and farther with every step. Behind her was a young fawn, probably one from this years birthing. The fawn held back some 50 yards behind her and she continued to step out into the meadow.
The meadow has a ring of low growing wild meadow hay grass that grows from the edge and for about 20 yards in it is all you can see, from the 20 yard mark out into the middle is a taller stand of red clover and the deer love that stuff. The doe and fawn were not concerned of my presence and were munching down on the clover as if they were starving. The doe was at least 30 yards out, maybe 40, I didn’t have my range finder, nor would I have used it had I had it, I just know she was out of range. She would have to be at the edge of the clover stand and in the ring of wild grass in order to be within my range.
She continued to graze to my right and soon the slight breeze we had going shifted and took my scent straight to her. She snorted to warn the fawn and the fawn ran back toward Weasel and where they had come out of the swamp. Then the doe started to search for where the smell was coming from. Her curiosity took her farther to my right, then she turned and went back toward the south. When she had gone far enough to lose my scent, she turned back to the north and slowly worked her way until she picked up the scent again. At that, she stared into the brush trying to locate me. I was standing, but not moving and my leafy suit was hiding my human shape perfectly.
Suddenly, without warning she dashed toward the south part of the meadow, then stopped and started walking toward my position. A very surprising move in my mind. I tensed up and watched as she slowly walked toward me. My muscles were tight in my arms as I rehearsed in my mind the moves I would have to make in order to get a shot should she give me one. She kept coming, and soon she was standing in the short meadow grass, her back feet in the clover. She was well within range and my guess is she was 15 yards from me. Staring straight at me. I only had a frontal shot of her should I decide to take it.
The light of the evening was darkening quickly and I knew I only had maybe two more minutes of legal shooting light, when she turned her head away from me and looked toward where Weasel was hiding. My mind raced and I began to raise the bow to the height I usually draw from. I figured Weasel had left his hiding spot in order to draw her attention from me. I needed her to move her whole body to her right to give me the shot I would take. A straight on frontal is not a shot I want to attempt. If it was a paper target or a 3D target, I’d shoot that shot all day and into the night, but this is a real live animal and I want a “best odds” shot to ethically take the animal. She maintained her frontal position and slowly turned her head back in my direction. I saw a slight glimmer of something in Weasels direction, perhaps his bow quiver, arrow tip or something that shined in the nearly dark conditions.
At that I moment I knew my shooting day was over and I stood motionless but not so tensed up, I knew I would not be taking any shots the rest of the evening and I just had to wait until she left the area to walk out and back to the truck. She suddenly looked back toward Weasel who had made it to the road by this time and she bolted straight west and out of sight into the darkness.
Folks, the RUSH IS REAL! When you are that close to the game animal you are after and the time slows to a crawl as the scenario plays out. I’m not sure how many more of these “rushes” this old man can take, but I’ll be back to do it again…..One of these days, the deer will make a mistake and we will be enjoying liver and onions!
October 23, 2020
Bears Butt