Originally Posted by
adriaticum
About 5 years ago I was hunting this area that had a good number of white tails.
It was pretty easy to pattern them in these areas, every time I drove by on the way to my hunting spot there was a few deer always in there.
These couple of spots had deer with regularity.
So one day I decide I am going to go there in the doe season to get me a wt doe.
In the morning I park about 1 km away from the place "I know" the white tails would be.
I practically crawl from the truck on, quiet as can be.
Breathing only when wind picks up, waiting for every squirrel to stop bitching.
Last couple of hundred yards I stop breathing, enter into a hybernation mode, rifle at the ready, loaded with safety off, pointed in front of me like in the army.
I walk between 8 foot tall bushy pine trees hiding behind them laser focused on this little gully where I expect to see deer.
It's raining and the wind is perfect I can already taste the backstraps.
Everything is perfect.
I keep slowly moving between trees to 50 yards, nothing moves, no sounds anywhere, 40 yards, 30 yards, 20 yards.
I'm starting to think maybe they are just not there.
It's not my day.
Maybe they changed their patterns due to rain.
I come to 10 yards from the spot.
I am laser focused and look in between each blade of grass.
Between each tree.
I'm ninja quiet.
Nothing.
I wait probably 5 minutes right in the spot where they should be, not breathing, gun ready to shoot.
I don't see anything.
Well I think to myself, another day, another dollar.
Mentally I am exhausted by now and start losing concentration.
It's over. It's done.
As soon as I start lowering my rifle down, 4 whitetails jump in front of me within 10 yards in all directions.
They disperse so fast I don't even twitch.
There were so close I could have clubbed them to death.
Bucks and does together.
To this day I don't understand how they could run so fast through that shit and not break legs or something.
I mean I spooked them they were in full flight.
Well, it's funny to me now, but I didn't sleep that night.