Do you ever hear things while you are in the woods hunting? Like, things that the person sitting in the stand next to you doesn’t hear? That’s definitely how I am. About 8 years ago, my dad and I were deer hunting, and I kept hearing a specific noise that I just knew was some animal walking through the woods. My dad kept telling me that a.) he couldn’t hear anything and b.) I was probably hearing squirrels… Or nothing, that my ears were playing tricks on me. But, I stood by my conviction and sure enough, not 5 minutes later, 7 turkeys came strolling out of the woods in a line. Hah! Told you I wasn’t crazy, Dad. Even after seeing them, he still hasn’t heard those turkeys. Bottom line – trust me. When I think I hear something in the woods, there is something in the woods. Regular every day life? Not so much. But in the woods – bionic ears.
So what was the point of that story? Well, Friday afternoon John and I traveled to a place between Erhardt and Hampton to deer hunt with a coworker of his. We arrived late on Friday, only allowing for about 30 minutes in the stand before it became too dark to see. Even though we didn’t shoot anything that night, we saw 5 or 6 deer driving to the stand, and heard a ton of activity in the thick woods while we were sitting. Enter my bionic ears. Without a doubt in my mind, at one point I heard a doe blowing at us. The sound is unmistakable once you heard it a few times. My stand-mate? Still hasn’t heard it. But there was enough activity to ensure that I would sit in that same stand the next morning, while John hopped in a climber deeper into the woods.
Another thing I should mention – it was cold on Saturday morning. Not “crisp fall” cool, either. More like “Iiiii’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was January in October” cold. When we left the house just before 6 am, it wasn’t too bad. As the sun came up, though, that temperature dropped a solid 8-10* and ended up in the mid 30’s. Not exactly what I had planned for when I packed up on Friday.
Back to the hunting. It was {obviously} dark when I climbed into the stand at around 6:15, so I huddled down and waited until I could start to see more than a foot in front of my face. Slowly, but surely, I began to make out more and more shapes as the sun crept through the trees. Waking up with the woods is one of my favorite things in the world. As the mist lifts, it goes from an eerily calm silence to geeze what kind of party are squirrels and birds having, and can I be invited? in minutes. Even 3 or 4 turkeys decided to join in the festivities, gobbling and putting and getting me excited for turkey season already. I love it.
Unfortunately, though, it is this time of morning that my eyes also decide they want to play tricks on my brain. Prior to getting in the stand, I had been told to watch out for a nice buck (i.e. a shooter) right at first light down at the end of the lane directly in front of me. He apparently likes to stop by and have an early morning snack, then head on back into the woods, so I made sure to follow the advice. I propped my rifle up and stared down that scope, seeing nothing but oddly shaped tree branches, an old stump, and a patch of grass that looked like this. It was still a little too dark to see clearly, and I gave up on my watch after five hours a few minutes and searched through the trees around me for some more activity. As I looked back up the lane through my scope a minute or two later, I noticed that the old stump had suddenly gotten much wider, and was now moving. Holy you know what, what is that? Obviously I knew it was a deer, but by the time I focused in, all I was able to catch was the hind end of a large deer walking into the woods. Was it that nice buck? Was it a large doe? Courtesy of my lying eyes, I will sadly never know. But you better believe I was on my game the rest of the morning, hunting hard and trying to keep as quiet as possible despite my shivering in the dropping temperatures.
See? There’s actually not a stump down there.
Finally, around 7:30, I had a little more activity for my eyes, rather than just my ears. I had heard a buck grunting in the thick woods towards my right, so I kept a sharp eye for something cutting across the lane. A little tiny doe came out around 140 yards away, immediately followed by essentially her twin and a larger doe. This momma and her two yearlings fed for the next 20 minutes or so, and kept looking to the right back into the woods the whole time. I felt certain that a buck was going to show himself. Any. Minute. I know, I know – I am probably definitely inflating the suspense as I recall the hunt, but that’s how I was feeling and I don’t want y’all to feel left out….
No buck. Just 3 does eating a leisurely breakfast. I know a certain question is running through some of your minds – yes, the big doe was an excellent shooting size. But, no, I could never bring myself to take a doe like that with yearlings. I just couldn’t. So, instead, they walk off and 30 minutes later I am shivering even more and passing the time of listening and hearing but not seeing by taking photos like this. So surprising, I know. Instagram followers, hello again.
But! As luck would have it, just as I was ready to pack up and call the hunt, dreading taking my hands out of my Hot Hands-filled pockets, another doe walked out just beyond where the other 3 had been. Right around where the stump mystery deer had been, a nice little doe walked on out. I watched her for a few minutes, and decided to take my shot. Down she went! The property where we were has been seeing a lot of does that are fairly thin, with just too many of them competing for food. This one weighed in at 110 lbs or so and fell into that category, so she was a good doe to take, and I look forward to some tasty recipes coming your way!
We spent the rest of the morning riding around the property, which is just incredible. Acres and acres to big fields, beautiful woods, and lots of wildlife, and we enjoyed every minute of it!
Aren’t oaks just the best trees?