The pathway to my tripod stand led me across a rocky creek bottom and then up a long since abandoned roadbed. Following a scant trail through sections of hardwoods spotted with open areas of grassy prairie lands led me to the top of the ridgeline where I turned and followed the fence line westward. Anyone familiar with the terrain of Southeastern Oklahoma, specifically the Ouichita and Kiamichi Mountains knows that a walk in the darkness can be treacherous to say the least. The rocky ridges and escarpments coupled with hidden rocks in the sometimes waist high prairie grass pose a stumbling and falling hazard in full sunlight let alone in the morning darkness. After 20 minutes of exacting steps, I reached the stand and settled to await first light.
The clear sky was decorated with a miriad of stars. As I gazed to the East, the slight glow of morning sun began to creap over the hilltop. A family of tree rodents (squirrels) began to stir from their nest above me and I became occupied with their antics. One came headfirst down the tree trunk and stopped less than 3 feet from the top of my head. The quizzical look on his face seeemed to say "Who or what are you and what are you doing in MY tree." I chuckled to myself for a moment. It was then the brief levity of my silence was broken by the unmistakable sound of a deer shuffling through the dried grass below and to my left. I watched as a nice doe meandered her way around trees and through waist high grass about 20 yards from me. All I could see was the top of her head as she casually strolled her way through the area. She stopped occasionally to bend down and extract a choice morsel from the ground and stand there chewing. I watched her for better than 15 minutes just wandering around staying in the trees and high grass and never offering a clear shot to the vitals. At 7:20am the floor show ended as a slight breeze swirled. She blew, stomped her foot, raised the white flag and fled to the West in the direction of Bill's stand.
After seeing nothing for the next hour and a half, I climbed from my stand and headed towards the area where I'd meet Bill and see where his new stand was located. I went back up to the ridgeline to the South and found the fence line then turned West once again. 300 yards later I came to the point where I once again would start back down towards Bill's stand. As I neared the creek a doe jumped from a bedding area in the tall grass. She acted strange as if she were hurt. I immediately thought that Bill had shot the doe and I had inadvertently forced her from her bedded area. Sick at heart and knowing for certain I had spoiled and extended a tracking job for my friend, I turned back to the West away from the doe. I would leave her alone and skirt the area and approach Bill's stand from the opposite direction. I felt truly disheartened at the reality of jumping a wounded doe and ruining things for my friend. I dreaded having to tell Bill what I'd done.
Topic: A Saturday morning hunting story...pics added (Read 1959 times)
