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Wildlife encounters...
Hail all;
I know that a love of and respect for Nature in all its infinite beauty and variety is close to the heart of most, if not all, of the folks on this forum...
Share a memory or two of an encounter with the Wild, which has remained a clear moment of Awe...
I'm a hunter, particularly, I pursue the White Tail Deer, a magnificent creature of grace, strength, speed and canniness in its own places...
I was bow hunting in November, 1978 on a property of mixed orchards, wood lots and rough spots in Vermont. The owner was an alumnus of the school I attended and picked 4 hunters each year from the entering class; 16 hunters with about 1600 acres to roam (well,17,the following year, as I was in my 9th semester ,-) He had a system so each f us was assigned 100 acres or so...only 3 - 4 at a time on any given day.
I had been "still hunting," which is the parlance for actively stalking.
I sat down after a couple of hours on a downed tree in the midst of a mountain laurel thicket in a rough part of the property to which I was assigned for that month. It was lovely ground; the bones of the earth upthrusting, mountain laurel bushes and hemlock trees, sloping away to a stream bed, which divided his land from the neighbor's...a hawk soaring overhead, glimpsed through the occasional gap in the canopy...
The breeze was blowing into my face, across the deer trail I had been treading...
I was about 2 yards back from it on the fallen bole, in a natural alcove, mostly hidden...
I glanced to my left, up the trail and spotted a pair of ears bobbing over the thicket, coming my way...I froze.
A large bodied doe came into view, passed me by, and then paused with just her head, neck and shoulders obscured by the bushes. I slowly turned a little so I could draw string to ear, my arrow was aimed to take her just in back of the ribs and angling forward for a perfect
kill shot; skewering diaphragm, liver and lung....
I slowly relaxed and laid down bow and arrow.
Her fur was coarse under my hand; I had been able to lean forward and knee walk up to her.
She was away in a flash.
I had no venison, but I had touched a deer.
Pip
I know that a love of and respect for Nature in all its infinite beauty and variety is close to the heart of most, if not all, of the folks on this forum...
Share a memory or two of an encounter with the Wild, which has remained a clear moment of Awe...
I'm a hunter, particularly, I pursue the White Tail Deer, a magnificent creature of grace, strength, speed and canniness in its own places...
I was bow hunting in November, 1978 on a property of mixed orchards, wood lots and rough spots in Vermont. The owner was an alumnus of the school I attended and picked 4 hunters each year from the entering class; 16 hunters with about 1600 acres to roam (well,17,the following year, as I was in my 9th semester ,-) He had a system so each f us was assigned 100 acres or so...only 3 - 4 at a time on any given day.
I had been "still hunting," which is the parlance for actively stalking.
I sat down after a couple of hours on a downed tree in the midst of a mountain laurel thicket in a rough part of the property to which I was assigned for that month. It was lovely ground; the bones of the earth upthrusting, mountain laurel bushes and hemlock trees, sloping away to a stream bed, which divided his land from the neighbor's...a hawk soaring overhead, glimpsed through the occasional gap in the canopy...
The breeze was blowing into my face, across the deer trail I had been treading...
I was about 2 yards back from it on the fallen bole, in a natural alcove, mostly hidden...
I glanced to my left, up the trail and spotted a pair of ears bobbing over the thicket, coming my way...I froze.
A large bodied doe came into view, passed me by, and then paused with just her head, neck and shoulders obscured by the bushes. I slowly turned a little so I could draw string to ear, my arrow was aimed to take her just in back of the ribs and angling forward for a perfect
kill shot; skewering diaphragm, liver and lung....
I slowly relaxed and laid down bow and arrow.
Her fur was coarse under my hand; I had been able to lean forward and knee walk up to her.
She was away in a flash.
I had no venison, but I had touched a deer.
Pip
oh I like skunks ..mind you I have never smelt one
Uh... missed a skunk on the highway the other night... it would really STINK if I'd hit it... hee hee....
Me too have any of you got a story to share ?
i like the way you told that story, and I am so glad you didn't kill the deer. I was holding my breathe and didn't want to finish reading it, glad i did now though.
The true heart of a hunter... knows when and why....
Yeah, as you can tell, I was quite taken with the moment for it to stand out so after over 30 years.
It seemed so much more important to make the connection with the doe like I did, didn't need the venison at the time...I think that's one of the "ah ha" times where I truly learned the difference between need and want.
I wanted venison, the shot would have been easy, the death quick...the need to touch a live deer became so much stronger.
It seemed so much more important to make the connection with the doe like I did, didn't need the venison at the time...I think that's one of the "ah ha" times where I truly learned the difference between need and want.
I wanted venison, the shot would have been easy, the death quick...the need to touch a live deer became so much stronger.
OMG I was about to click off I just love nature so much, I respect the gun and hunting for food but it still hurts me , thank you Pip for saving her.
Wow...what a neat experience!
:-))))
:-))))
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