Weekend in the Wild

Northeast Alabama Community College finnally let us out on fall break, so I took this weekend to spend some time in the woods. Since Saturday was opening day of gun season for deer, I also brought along my newly “zeroed” in 30-30 caliber Rifle. When I left the house at 5:15am my mother told me “Zach, we need some deer meat in the freezer so don’t just wait on a buck.” Not wanting to dissapoint her I left the house and pulled in at my hunting location, and that was when the fun started.

 I walked into the woods to my prime location, still dark outside, I collected a few branches and put them around the spot I had chosen to break up my body so I would not be as visible. I then sat down in the chair I had brought and sat still, just waiting for the sun to come up so I could take in my surroundings. Just as dawn was breaking and Owl glided through the woods about 30 yards away from me, gracefully flying through the air without making a single sound. It was just after that moment at 6:00am that I realized that I was starting to get cold….that meant I was underdressed….. Big Mistake! I held myself tight and squezed every muscle in my body to stay warm and not shake to much but I was chilled to the bone. Trying to concentrate on my surroundings, I suddenly heard a sound to my left. As I slowly turned my head, I saw a average sized doe slowly coming out of the thicket I was near.  I raised my gun and was waiting for a chance at a clean shot when I heard something else behind it, so I lowered my gun and waited to see what else was comming. Whatever it was they were all comming straight for me! With my heart racing I finnally saw what was behing it, not 1 but 2 small fawns, one still had spots on it. As much as I love home made deer jerky, there was no way I could kill a doe with 2 fawns still with it and leave them to die, so I just watched them. The trail that they were following went right in front of me. Amazingly they never saw me or smelled me! One fawn was so close to me, I could have touched it with the end of my gun. As much as I wanted to reach out and pet it, I resisted and sat motionless, just incase anything else should come by. As the 3 deer trotted off, I knew that just seeing them so close was worth the trip. Although I didn’t kill anything, thats not what hunting is all about, hunting is about enjoying the outdoors and soaking in the experience.