One last little coda in all this: when I went to retrieve the rest of my gear back at the stand, the doe that had been hanging out all weekend had bedded only about 10 yards away from the ladder. She rose up and started to run.

“Don’t worry.” I said. “You’re fine. I’ve got my business to do, and you have yours. I’ll get on to mine, and you go have a nice day.” I guess she had decided to figure out exactly what had been chattering at her from the stand all weekend, and camped out there determined to have an answer. Fully satisfied, she took my admonition to heart and walked off.