One of the most enjoyable aspects of hunting is catching deer doing things you would never think they would do. I guess that’s what kept me in the woods so long! Let me share some of those times with you:
Back in the early ‘80’s, I was bowhunting a new area in Michigan’s thumb and I wasn’t sure where to go. I checked out some trails that crossed a paved road not far from camp. Two well-worn trails close together warranted further investigation. One trail skirted a cattail swamp, the other paralleled the first trail 30 yards to the west. I decided to sit on the ground, in-between the two trails. I was trying out a new scent product called Deer Formula (made by the same company who makes Fish Formula). Deer Formula was a deer tarsal gland scent that could be used any time of the year. I placed some scent on the trail to the west, hoping it would stop any deer long enough to give me a shot. I also placed some doe-in-heat further up the trail…just in case. The wind was blowing out of the west, so I figured I wouldn’t see anything behind me. As I sat there watching to the west, something told me to turn around. To my surprise, I saw a doe and two fawns! The doe and one fawn looked my way, then continued along the trail. The other fawn, a button buck wanted to check me out. When he got to within 10 feet of me, he got a whiff of the doe-in-heat. He would look at me, look toward the scent, look at me, look toward the scent. The doe noticed him and she turned around to come my way. I finally said “boo!” and he jumped into the air, spun around and about broke his neck trying to get out of there!
One morning while bowhunting in Kentucky, I had two fawns come in for some breakfast. It was very dry that year, so I decided to put out a water bowl to see if that would make any difference. Did it ever! Those fawns fed, then decided to take a nap…one 10 foot away, the other, right at the base of my tree! Every so often, they would get up, take a bite of corn and a drink of water, and lay back down. They spent over an hour there before wandering off.
A couple years ago, while gun hunting in my back yard (we have 40 acres) I watched a wounded buck appear from the pine thicket 100 yards to the north. I was hunting in my elevated shanty and couldn’t get a shot at him because of the 2 apple trees 30 yards away from me. Another spike was also with him. I could tell he wasn’t going to give me a clear shot, so I decided to get out of my stand and sneak up to the apple trees to see if I could get a shot. I almost made it to the apple trees when I noticed the buck I wanted turned and headed back into the pines. The spike saw me and started to come my way! I sat on the ground, in the open, and watched as the spike came to the apple trees, ate some apples then worked his way over to where I placed some corn (which was 15 feet to my right) all the while keeping one eye on me. He ate some corn, went back to the apple trees in front of me, circled around me about 15 feet away, stopping to look at me after every few steps, then he headed toward my blind! When he disappeared behind the blind, I looked to the north to see if the wounded buck had come back. Since he didn’t, I got up, turned around, and the spike was watching me from behind my blind! He didn’t stick around after that!
On another hunt in a new area, I had a blind placed across a small meadow where the deer were feeding. The two-track leading up to the meadow was overgrown with very tall grass and small trees. I was running late for the afternoon hunt, so I wanted to check the field for deer first. As I approached the meadow, I got on my hands and knees to crawl up to the edge so I could see. Sure enough, the deer came out early! I sat there trying to figure out what to do to spook the deer without scaring the dickens out of them. Ok, maybe I can sound like a coyote, I thought. Yeah! That should do the trick! I started barking and howling like a coyote, and all the deer looked up, but didn’t spook. I did it again, while I took a few steps toward the deer (on all fours). The biggest doe started across the meadow toward me! Then the rest of the deer started my way! Big mistake on my part…I was out numbered! I barked and howled again, but they just refused to leave! I finally had to stand up in order to get the deer out of the field. A make-believe coyote sure wasn’t going to do it! Needless to say, I didn’t see another deer that afternoon.
Every season brings new adventures. Get out there and enjoy it!
