A few years ago, I was on a stand and after several hours decided to move to another one. I was down along the edge of a wetland in some forest, at the bottom of a little valley of sorts. As I slowly worked my way out, I could suddenlyfeel the presence of something watching me. I have learned over the years, after making many mistakes, to trust my gut feelings when I hunt. I can't explain, but I am sure a lot of you know exactly what I mean. The 6th sense at work.
I began to still hunt my way up and out, taking 1 careful step at a time. With each step and new position, I would carefully scan the forest ahead of me, slowly and carefully looking up the hill, out in to the furthest reaches of my vision in the trees and brush ahead. The energy got really intense, and I knew the buck I was after was somewhere right ahead of me. Step. Study, then a baby step again, being as silent as I could be. A stone wall was just a few feet ahead, and as I slowly looked it over I began to wonder how I was going to get over it without being detected, without making noise.
Another careful step taken. As I looked up (making sure I didn't step on a twig and snap it) a sudden movement caught my eye, right before me, on the other side of the stone wall. And I mean right on the other side, 2 or 3 yards from it. With a sudden loud snort, the buck materialized as it leaped away in to the trees, and as it was going up hill away from me I caught just a glimpse of the antlers, my only "shot" was at it's gut or a$$. I had to stand there and just watch him escape, which he did in about 2 seconds, gone from view. But I listened to him bound away in the distance.
That buck knew I was there the whole time, and he had been watching me coming closer and closer to him as I inched up the hill. I was wearing my own camo and no doubt he wasn't sure what I was. The wind was in my face, and he couldn't smell what he was seeing, so he stood his ground, studying me as I slowly approached him. In all my intensity-and it WAS really intense, as I just somehow knew he was there before I saw him-I forgot to look at the forest right in front of my nose, and was instead concentrating on what was out ahead of me. And he blended in so beautifully with the forest, I never saw him even though I was less than 20 feet away from him. How many times have I made this error? More than I'd like to admit.
Thus it is. As you can see from the photo, the fall color of a deer is perfect camouflage for the surrounding forest. Someone here in this forum recently posted in a thread that the best way to see a deer is to look for pieces of a deer. This advice is spot on. You won't see a whole deer. Instead, look for legs moving in the trees, or maybe an ear flicker. Look for the horizontal line of a deer's back. The 2 black dots of the eyes. And especially, look at every spot of white you see. They are masters of camouflage, of standing stock still. They are smart. They are often like ghosts, almost invisible even when they are right in front of you. I am always amazed at how silently a deer can be as it moves through the forest.
BTW, did you see all 3 deer in my photo?
