Absolutely one of the neatest days hunting of my life...
Four deer picked their way across the oak flat in front of me. I knew well where they were heading, and wasted no time in circumnavigating the area, heading to the mass of green briar they were sure to enter. I reached the thicket at the same time as the gray-coated does. Each deer passed me at a short twelve yards, never offering a hole to slip my Grizzly tipped shaft through.
Fair enough. Rather than push them from the comfort of their beds, I elected to slowly back out and still hunt through a familiar creek bottom. It was December, and Mother Nature was making sure I was fully aware as I met a gust of bitter wind head on. The fallen leaves did little to help my cause, with each footstep seemingly louder than the last.
Across an ancient, fallen maple, two squirrels enjoyed a game of tag. Another squirrel busied himself with the task of collecting breakfast, conveniently, in my direction. Having never been a picky fellow, I quickly traded the broadhead for a blunt and waited. The hungry squirrel seemed to turn over every leaf in this path on his quest for acorns, and closed the thirty yards slowly.
As my fingers began to strain the Hickory bow's limbs, I caught movement from the Osage stand to my right. A red fox, much like myself, was hunting the squirrel. Finding this far to interesting to take either, I eased the selfbow down and watched, enthralled in nature's game of tag.
The fox stalked the rodent with skill enough to turn any cat green with envy, closing the distance quickly and quietly before lying in ambush mere yards from the clueless squirrel (Not more than 15 feet from me...).
Then something happened that took all three of us by surprise; a silent shadow sped through the canopy, barreling down on its quarry at warp speed. The Red-Tailed hawk connected with outstretched talons, instantly killing the squirrel. The fox, obviously surprised and offended that this newcomer should take his brunch, leapt from his ambush and confronted the raptor.
The hawk covered her prize with outstretched wings as the canine circled. In a display intimidating enough to unnerve even me, the hawk shrieked and hissed at the would-be robber, convincing him to search elsewhere for a meal. Once satisfied that the fox was far enough away to cause no further disruption, the hawk collected her victim in her talons and glide gracefully off to parts un-known.
The rest of the morning passed relatively un-eventfully, but the convergence of three predators was more than enough that day. We, as bowhunters and outdoorsman, are truly blessed...
Neet story. That squirrels number was up.
I wish I had been there to see that with you.
Dennis
Now that was cool!
i have had an extremly hard, crappy week of work. this story just picked me up and made me smile, i would give anything to have been in your shoes. thank you so much for sharing this story!!!
Really great story showing what it's like to be a hunter and why we love it so. Thanks!
Great story, and very well written!
That was a great story and you did a fine job of relaying it to us. Thanks!
Great Story! Thanks for sharing!
Seeing that would make my day, something that few get to witness, treasure the memory, because it surely is a treasure!
David
I had a hawk bush within two feet of my face a few days ago. It's events like this that keep us in the stand for hours on end. It's something non-hunters will never understand. Thanks for the story.
That is incredible. Nearly the same thing happened to me 3 years ago. The exception is none of us ended up with the squirrel as the convergence of predators confused us all enough that we lost track of our prize for long enough for it to escape. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome story and an incredible experience.
Great story! I agree well told/written.
I was in camo and scouting for deer or turkeys years ago, and had made a twig and leaf dying rabbit call. I was blowing it and not paying any attention as I wasn't actually hunting. I was suddenly in shade and had not moved! I ducked and turned just as a hawk wa about to light on my head!!! I think he thought I was a stump to sit on while he looked for the victim. Scared the c--- out of me and him.
Thanks for the reminder.
How cool - great story!
Great story, sounds like you had a pretty successful day!
Wow! thats just an awesome hunting story. I'll bet you wish you had taken your camera along! Things like this are certainly the reason I spend so much time in the hills.
That must've been an awesome experience! Great writting of the story too! Thanks for sharing! :bigsmyl:
Nigel
As good as bagging one of those deer.Very cool.
Matt,
You were blessed that day.....now whatever camo you were wearing, stick to that stuff, it must have worked well. To be that close to predators on their own hunt that did not konw you were there is a great testament to the effectiveness of your camo within that particular environment.
That's just too cool! It's stories like this one that makes me feel sorry for those people that never step foot into the woods. They just have no idea what they are missing. Thanks for sharing.
Bill
Matt, it's up close encounters with critters in the woods that many of us enjoy as much as the harvest. I believe some hunters put too high of a priority on getting a trophy animal and miss a lot of the stuff that you detailed so well.
My hat is off to you for this story. You obviously handled yourself well in the woods, and then told the story extremely well. I'd say that you have a bright future in hunting or writing. Good luck and hope to hear more stories.
I think you could'a whooped that bird for that squirrel. :biglaugh:
Good story though.
Good story...you never know who is watching.
Extremely well written, I was right beside you the hole time!!!
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Fantastic story! Poor squirrel never had a chance, wonder what he done to bring on such bad karma :D
A few years ago, I watched a golden eagle kill a young antelope. He came barreling out of the sky and whacked the goat right in the neck. Very impessive predatory behavior.
Matt,
One lucky man to witness mother nature at her best. You have some great memories to charish over the winter months.
Good on you for that minute of good reading.
How I love sitting back and reading a captivating story filled with the things I seek when I go to the wild. Thank you for stopping and penning your experience for us. I hope you will go to the Baltimore Bowmen Trad Classic in May for some fun on the range and a sit by the campfire with us.
Killdeer :wavey: :campfire:
Wow great story! You and Killy must have taken the same Creative Writting Class. I can read you folks anytime!
Enthralling, Matt.
These are the kinds of things we go to the wood for. Oh, sure, we're out there hunting game ourselves, and it's great when things come together for us and allow us to harvest some food for ourselves; but there's no replacement for the kind of moments you experienced out there watching the eternal drama of nature reveal itself to you so personally. I've had deer walk up on me while I was hunting squirrel; I've had deer run past me so close I could have reached out my arm and stroked one's neck as she and her fawn ran by; I've been standing out in the open on a wide trail, still and quiet enough to have a bear walk up on me, and I've been atop a ridge and seen a hawk from above, slaloming through the trees at speed only 15 yards below me; I've been sitting on the ground and had a Winter Wren give me a threat display from no more than arm's length; but I've never seen such as you described. I'm a little envious, but not in a bad way. By sharing it so eloquently, you have given us all some of your experience, and I thank you.
Keep hunting, and bring us the stories when you have them; but most of all, treasure every moment out in the woods that you are given. There's nothing else like it.
Awsome story. I say a blue jay kill a mouse one day. Until that day I was unaware they were meat eaters. Or they could be just plain mean.
That's so cool Matt. I had a similar experience years ago. Me, a Yote, and a squirrel ended up about 10 yds from each other at the top end of a hollow. The squirrel never knew we were both there until the coyote figured out he wasn't alone and took off down the hill. We screwed each others hunt up, and it was one of my best days afield.
My fishing buddy, tells a story of seeing a Bald Eagle, buzz and Osprey, who had just caught himself a trout. The osprey dropped the trout, and the Eagle swooped down and pluck it out of the air, right before it hit the water.
As cool as that sounds, I think I would have rather seen the fox, hawk and squirrel.