To start off, I don't consider myself a hunter. I did do a (notably unsuccessful) elk hunt once. But that was it.
My Northern KY back yard has a steep dropoff to a stream bed and has some thick brush divided by a path that my dogs trample fairly clear through the middle of it.
I was able to spend about an hour watching 5 whitetail slowly move onto my property and negotiate their way through the area this afternoon. Roughly 4:00 PM
And when it was all done I realized that they had moved very tactically.
A lead deer (I assume doe) carefully made her way up to the cleared area with the rest of the herd following in a rough file. She stayed next to that clearing for some time, then carefully crossed it into the brush on the other side. The rest of the herd stayed put.
After she had moved maybe 200 feet through the brush, she looped back on a different route and then stopped in the middle of the clearing while the rest of the herd started crossing. She then continued maybe 50 feet down their back trail and froze solid for a good 10 minutes watching their rear. Then she jogged to catch up with the rest and on out of my sight.
It was a rare privilege to be able to see all that from my home. I guess I never gave it a whole lot of thought before, but I gotta say that you hunters have your work cut out for you. It would be damn hard to catch those critters by surprise.
My Northern KY back yard has a steep dropoff to a stream bed and has some thick brush divided by a path that my dogs trample fairly clear through the middle of it.
I was able to spend about an hour watching 5 whitetail slowly move onto my property and negotiate their way through the area this afternoon. Roughly 4:00 PM
And when it was all done I realized that they had moved very tactically.
A lead deer (I assume doe) carefully made her way up to the cleared area with the rest of the herd following in a rough file. She stayed next to that clearing for some time, then carefully crossed it into the brush on the other side. The rest of the herd stayed put.
After she had moved maybe 200 feet through the brush, she looped back on a different route and then stopped in the middle of the clearing while the rest of the herd started crossing. She then continued maybe 50 feet down their back trail and froze solid for a good 10 minutes watching their rear. Then she jogged to catch up with the rest and on out of my sight.
It was a rare privilege to be able to see all that from my home. I guess I never gave it a whole lot of thought before, but I gotta say that you hunters have your work cut out for you. It would be damn hard to catch those critters by surprise.
