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little angel...little devil

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
Had one on each of my shoulders last night whispering in my ears.

Got out with redcloud for the last bit of gun hunting last night. We were both hoping for our first ever muzzleloader kills. When I dropped him off on the west side of the property we both agreed, bucks only, since we had each already taken a doe for the freezer off this property. He sat the west side, I drove around the block and came in from the east.
this place is actually 2 properties side by side. We have permission to hunt both, but the owners on the north side ask us to stay out during gun so their kids and grandkids can hunt it. No problem, but there is nothing saying we can't sit on the neighboring property and hope something gets pushed out to us.

The east side of both properties is all ag field divided by a Long brushy fence row. As I was walking up the edge of the fence line, I heard a commotion and stopped to watch a young buck bust out of a thick spot, jump over to the side we can't gun hunt and take off up the row. He looked like he was starting to swing back around towards the side I was on so I hustled to get up the hill and maybe get a shot off on the other side if he came back over. I got about 30 yards or so and spotted another deer sitting in the high grass along the same edge. It stood up and I was looking at one of the biggest does I have ever seen. She turned, crouched, and loaded up like she was going to bolt...took one leap...and 2 steps...and stopped and looked back at me.

We stood there staring at each other for at least a full minute. I'm not sure who was more confused, me or her. I couldn't figure out why she wasn't running, she couldn't figure out why I wasn't shooting. I did raise my gun thinking that she would bolt, but all she did was keep staring at me.
I put the gun back down and sent a text to adam letting him know what was going on here. He laughed. As I was texting him I heard some grass moving and looked up thinking she was finally taking off...oh no...she stepped out to the field edge and took a couple steps towards me...

Huh!?... you are now going to offer me an unobstructed view of the boilerroom?..

Again, I raised the gun. The little devil on my right shoulder convinced me to take the safety off and put her in the cross hairs. The angle on my left convinced me not to cock the hammer. I switched the safety back on and lowered the gun...still no reaction from the deer.
At this point I got my phone back out and took another picture of her and sent it to adam. I told him I was going to flip a coin, (coin flip app on my phone) heads I'm shooting. It came up tails, but he later told me he expected to hear a shot.
As i was checking the weather on my phone to see what the temps were going to be the next few days, just incase i needed to let her hang in the backyard a day or 2, i heard more crunching from her direction... did she run off? Hell no, she stepped out about 5 or 6 rows into the cut corn field, lowered her head, and started to feed. Broadside at 50 frigging yards! The deer gods are testing me, "no does huh? What if I do this?"

The little devil started talkin again, the gun was raised, safety was off hammer was cocked, cross hairs were on her brisket which at 5 yards would send my powerbelt through both lungs. The angel told me that this is one of those experiences that will make a much better story than shooting a doe that obviously had some sort of a deathwish. Let the hammer down, switched the saftey back on. As long as I had her in the scope I took the opportunity to check her over for any sign of obvious injury. Nothing. She appeared to be perfectly healthy and uninjured

I knew our little moment wasn't going to last forever, and the truth was the angel had already won and I wasn't going to shoot this deer. I did, however want her to go away, I had been here long enough and wanted to get to my stand in case that buck came back. Thankfully she decided she had somewhere else to go as well and started to walk away... in the exact direction I needed to go. I actually followed this deer down the edge of the field for at least 200 yards. Just a nice leisurely stroll. She would stop occasionally and look back at me and I would stop and tell her to go get her boyfriend. I had my phone out on video the whole time. 3 minutes it took for her to get to the woods where she turned and took one leap into the woods. I continued walking that way and when I got to where she popped into the woods...yup, there she was. 20 yards, watching me walk by. As I passed by I looked back to see her just wander down into the woods. The whole, encounter from the time I spotted her in the grass to the time I lost sight of her in the woods, was almost a half hour.

The best we could come up with was that she had been getting ran by hunters all week and the presence of that buck made us think she had been getting dogged by him as well. She was just to tired to run. As I walked by where she was bedded I made it a point to look at it. No blood or anything so it's not like she was wounded.

I won't have a problem recognizing this doe should I ever see her again, like I said, she was huge, and she had the biggest head I'd ever seen on a deer. I said this was the only pass I'm giving her, but the truth is I kinda hope she has a long life.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Loved the write up Dante! Bizarre how it happened, but I could see myself in your shoes as I read along. Very Good write up. Really enjoyed it.
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
You will have to drive out that way and check but I'm pretty sure she was hit by a car in the last couple days. Told ya to shoot her because that's what would happen lol.

I got a text from Dave asking if he should shoot this dumb doe and take her out of the gene pool and was telling me what she was doing and sent a pic of her out in the field broadside. I told him to shoot her because if he didn't she would just end up getting hit by a car lol. I think she did. Laying in the ditch dead. Guess that's what happens when you walk when you should have run lol
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
Very neat encounter Dave!

Dang Adam I hated reading that last post! Why don't those who hit a deer along the roadway keep the deer or at least call someone who may want it!

As long as Dave watched her through his scope I bet he'd be able to identify her while standing over her dead. Lol
 

CJD3

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
14,630
201
NE Ohio
That was a really neat story!
I enjoyed tagging along w/ you as I read it. Thanks for the post!