10/17/09,a walk in the woods

I have not been out all week.  An unexpected funeral in addition to the normal parish work.  It also has been unseasonably cold, even our first traces of snow.  It was 33 degrees this morning with a light rain and snow mix, so I went to the church and finished my sermon, then came home and split a wheelbarrow full of firewood and then decided to put on the camo and take a slow, quiet walk in the woods.  I was thinking that the cold weather may have caused the rut to kick in a little early, so my goal for the walk was to find a fresh scrape.  I was carrying two 4 ounce bottles of urine, one doe and one buck which I intended to add to any scrape I might find.  It is plain doe urine, no estrus yet, although I think I will be able to buy some to the fresh, good stuff next week.  I have a call in to order a quart from West Wind Whitetails in Kane, Pa.  Mom is coming down for a visit next Thursday and she would be able to bring some fresh doe in heat urine.  It’s cheaper to buy by the quart, so my friend Don and I will split it.  A pint should be plenty, don’t you think?  I was carrying my bow just in case.  Also, since it is Saturday, I was willing to shoot a doe so that my 7 year old neighbor would be able to experience helping me gut and drag a deer.

Because of the recent rain and snow, the walking was quiet.  I went into the north end of the hollow and crossed the creek.  No sign.  As I approached the draw on the other side of the creek I saw a small tree that appeared to sport a fresh rub, but on closer examination, it was only woodpecker damage.  As soon as I crossed the draw, a buck jumped up from his bed, only 50 yards in front of me.  It was a small rack, but the body looked pretty big.  The buck was looking straight at me and after waiting a minute or so I slowly moved to the right.  I didn’t want to really spook the deer, but I also wanted to finish my survey and get on with other things.  Soon I had a tree between us so I moved a bit faster away from the deer.  Then I saw that the deer was coming toward me.  I put another tree between us and moved faster yet, only to see the buck begin to trot in my direction.  He would stop and lift his nose and try to identify me.  Then it occured to me that maybe he could smell the bottles of urine in my pocket.  I was sure they weren’t leaking but maybe there was a drop around the spout on either bottle that would be noticeable.  I couldn’t smell it and it was in my vest pocket which isn’t far from my nose, but my nose isn’t nearly as long or as sensitive as a deer’s.  As I continued to move the buck gave a half hearted snort and bounded up the hollow.

Shortly after that I replaced the card in my trail camera.  I suspect it only has picture of that small buck.  If there is something larger, I’ll post again.  The walk back to the house was uneventful.  I know I spooked another deer because I came to a fresh bed at the bottom of the briar patch near the grave of our dog, Dotty.  More about her perhaps in a later post.  She was a great companion and magnificent rabbit dog who died last spring after a prolonged illness.