Report from Deer Camp — Week 2, 2012 – Genesis9:2-4 Ministries

Forty Years ago, I remember a writer for a fishing magazine proposing a time machine for every tackle box. You get to the bait shop and everyone is saying “You should have been here last week. Boy, were they biting!” I was reminded of that when stopping in to the processor to pick up SuperCore’s doe. We had missed two fantastic days of hunting, last Wednesday and Thursday. Peak of the rut? Probably. It was certainly the peak of an otherwise unsatisfying season.

Often times Weekend 2 of KY’s Modern Weapon Season rivals the Opener. This one was a fizzle. Not only did we never see a deer worth shooting, but the number of shots had dwindled to the point where I stopped counting in the first hour. The weather was cooperative, but the deer were not.

Saturday, I was the only member of the shamanic dream team to even spot deer. There were three doe at the extreme edge of the pasture I was monitoring. Yes, I could have shot. The distance was about 200 yards an I had my beanfield 30-06 with me. However, I was still hoping at that point to see some antlers. Sunday, Angus had a doe nearly come into his blind. That was also the day I saw little Lorelei, the trick doe, do her thing.

Look, I know deer do not think like humans. I really have no good explanation for what I see. I just try and report it the best I can. Lorelei (or I think it is just one doe) comes by my stand every time I come out to Campground. She is prone to two behaviors worthy of note. The first is pretty usual for a doe. She comes around, spies me up in the stand and then runs off, only to come by some time later from another angle and spends a long time seemingly daring me to shoot her. She alternates between hiding behind trees and standing out in the open, presenting wickedly simple shots at her broad side.

Okay, I can buy this. She’s a deer. She sees something she does not really comprehend, and she reacts to it in a typically deer-like fashion. The antics are cute. She gives me some laughs, and she really does not disrupt my hunt.

But wait! There is more to this story. Lorelei has been doing this for three seasons now. You would think she would have gotten tired of the game or figured out what I was up to. She’s caught me peeing off my stand and standing up to stretch on more than one occasion. I have talked to her more than once. I have to assume she knows. She knows it is me.

. . . and she knows what I am doing. How do I know this? Look back 2 years. That was the first time I ran into her. On one occasion she came by my stand, busted me, and ran off. Later she came back by the stand with a buck in tow. I shot the buck. She ran over, checked the dead deer out and freaked out. Later I found her camped out on the base of the ladder to the stand, bedded amongst my gear.

Now all this assumes this is the same deer. The deer looks the same– a slightly smaller than average doe that never seems to have a fawn in tow. She acts the same.

Last Sunday was fantastic. Angus and I were hunting out of Midway, the big blind. It accommodates two hunters. There are windows at either end of the blind. Each overlooks its own pasture. The blind is built into the fenceline between the pastures. I had the south window, that overlooks The Garden of Stone and my stand at Campground. Angus took the north window overlooking the Honey Hole.

After 10 AM, I saw a deer, I have to assume it was Lorelei come out into the pasture. She snuck down the treeline, peaked around the corner at my treestand and then go through a 10 minute dance in front of the stand. I can only suppose that she thought I might be up there and wanted to taunt me in her usual fashion. At the end of the exercise, she got hinky and ran back and forth in the field a bit before tearing back the way she came, exiting the field into the woods. About 10 minutes later, I saw her peek out again. This time, she had closed about half the distance to the blind. She went back into the woods, and a short while later Angus reported that a doe had come out directly in front of his blind and was eating right up at the window.

She slowly wandered away from the window, munching as she went. Presently a 4-point buck came out and was trailing her. She made sure he passed directly in front of the window where Angus was sitting. Presently, the buck began to think something was up– probably heard us talking, and came 180 degrees around, through the fenceline and popped out a few feet from my window. Angus had mentioned that the buck might be wounded. However, I was able to see it was just that semi-alert stomp/walk deer do when they are mildly honked off.

Just then, my cellphone rang. I could not do anything about it. The deer was too close. Here is what he heard:

Leakspin

That is my ringtone. I had forgotten to put it on vibrate, and it was turned up to full volume. The buck just stood in the window and listened! I won’t say he liked it, but he did not run off. When it was over, he wiggled his tail and slowly walked off eventually angling back into the trees about 50 yards from my window.

As Mark Trail would say: “WT?”

BTW: The call was from the local CO. He was calling to chew the fat. I still have not connected with him, but we have been trading calls this week.

A last piece of news: SuperCore has decided he wants a pop-up blind to give him a bit more mobility. I showed him mine. He and Angus set it up. I found it great for small kids– it’s hard to believe Angus and I used to hang out in there 10 years ago. I also liked it for exploring new spots, before I commit to building a blind or putting up a stand. Mine is a Hunters View Wigwam I got from Walmart for about $50. I bought it in 2002, and it still looks like new.

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