Check out my pictures that correspond with this post. It is titled 2/13/15 Pictures.
Last week I decided to go sit on a hill and view wildlife from far, far away. Today I had closeups like I never thought possible. It was another beautiful day with temps in the mid 30's and brisk westerly wind. Other than a few clouds on the Western horizon it was cloudless. As I turned on to the gravel road leading to the farm I saw 12 turkeys feeding in the field at 3:00. It was good to be able to finally get a few pictures of these turkeys as I had only been able to glimpse them for a few moments so far this year. At 3:25 I was walking the ridge of a field and I was able to peek over the hill top to see 9 turkeys out feeding 100 yards away. After a few moments they noticed my outline on the horizon and took off and soared over the tree tops. A few minutes later I was trying to figure out where I wanted to sit when I noticed this tree that had grown on its side. I realized I would be able to set the items I needed on this "bench" so everything that I needed would be in arms reach. Before I had everything out of my backpack I had pulled out my binoculars and started focusing them on the far hillside so they would be ready when I needed them. Because I had just sat down, I certainly expected that anything that would have been in the area would be gone by now from detecting my presence. It usually takes several minutes once you sit down in the woods for your senses to become fully aware of everything that is happening around you. I was in no way prepared for what was about to happen. As I sat there looking through these bulky binoculars I realized that with all my attention focused on what I was seeing through the glass I had completely ignored the crashing of leaves to my right. I looked out the side of the binos and could not believe what was happening 13 deer suddenly surrounded me from all sides. I was in shock! I stood up and turned in circles trying to comprehend what was happening. I saw small deer behind me, big bucks in front of me, they were on my right, then on my left, all within a matter of seconds. I had never seen anything like this before. I did not even have time to think about grabbing my camera. I could feel their hooves thundering through the ground, hear the leaves crashing in all directions. I remember just trying to get a count of the deer that were there and I know I saw 13 yet they kept popping up in different places, there could have certainly been more. As quickly as it had started, it was suddenly over. I remember watching a big buck trotting at the back of the herd as they moved down towards the river. I was left shaking on my stool as the adrenaline from what had just occurred left my body. I could not even begin to process what had just happened. After a few moments of sitting there pondering what I had just witnessed I started to hypothesize what reason there would be for these deer to run right at me as they did. The only plausible reason for this behavior would be that something had spooked them further away and they just happened to run directly at me. Either way I could not have asked for a greater experience to start the day.
About 45 minutes later I heard corn stalks breaking behind me. I looked back and five deer were running through the corn somewhat towards me before they ran away. A moment later I noticed a single doe lagging behind the rest, but instead of following the others she went directly behind me. She stopped at one point and noticed me and took off bounding in the other direction. This is where I photographed the flying deer from my most recent post. From what I can gather this deer was either trying to jump over the snow drifts or letting the other deer in the area know to be cautious. As I talked about in my communication blog about deer, they use their tails to warn other deer of danger. You can see in the photo that this deer had its tail straight up, and if the deer went flying into the air like she did in the photo she would have a better chance of catching the other deer's attention.
For the next hour I sat their listening to cattle filling the air with their hoarse bellowing, coyotes shrill howls, and the hooting of the wise owls that inhabit the forest. The squirrels started working on their nests and finding food, and I may have heard the clucks of a few turkeys. As sunset approached I realized that I had brought the wrong boots, and I needed to get to the car to warm my feet up. I hoped that I would be able to spot a few deer with the last of the sunshine filling the fields. Sure enough as I was walking out, I spotted a couple deer racing away from me in the timber, but also a small buck feeding in front of me. Every time the deer would put his head down I would get a little closer. I did this for about ten minutes as he moved from my left to right. Finally when he was about 100 yards away he spotted me and ran to the top of the hill and stopped for a perfect photo opportunity. Eventually he ran across the hill not to be seen again. On my way out I spotted the same group of 13 deer I had noticed coming from the woods near the river that I had seen last week. In the car ride home I saw a few groups of deer totaling at least 40. Just having the opportunity to be in the woods and share my passion for God's work was a great way to release all of the stress of my week. I can only hope I can continue to have exciting encounters like this all year. I am afraid I may have set the bar a little too high now!
About 45 minutes later I heard corn stalks breaking behind me. I looked back and five deer were running through the corn somewhat towards me before they ran away. A moment later I noticed a single doe lagging behind the rest, but instead of following the others she went directly behind me. She stopped at one point and noticed me and took off bounding in the other direction. This is where I photographed the flying deer from my most recent post. From what I can gather this deer was either trying to jump over the snow drifts or letting the other deer in the area know to be cautious. As I talked about in my communication blog about deer, they use their tails to warn other deer of danger. You can see in the photo that this deer had its tail straight up, and if the deer went flying into the air like she did in the photo she would have a better chance of catching the other deer's attention.
For the next hour I sat their listening to cattle filling the air with their hoarse bellowing, coyotes shrill howls, and the hooting of the wise owls that inhabit the forest. The squirrels started working on their nests and finding food, and I may have heard the clucks of a few turkeys. As sunset approached I realized that I had brought the wrong boots, and I needed to get to the car to warm my feet up. I hoped that I would be able to spot a few deer with the last of the sunshine filling the fields. Sure enough as I was walking out, I spotted a couple deer racing away from me in the timber, but also a small buck feeding in front of me. Every time the deer would put his head down I would get a little closer. I did this for about ten minutes as he moved from my left to right. Finally when he was about 100 yards away he spotted me and ran to the top of the hill and stopped for a perfect photo opportunity. Eventually he ran across the hill not to be seen again. On my way out I spotted the same group of 13 deer I had noticed coming from the woods near the river that I had seen last week. In the car ride home I saw a few groups of deer totaling at least 40. Just having the opportunity to be in the woods and share my passion for God's work was a great way to release all of the stress of my week. I can only hope I can continue to have exciting encounters like this all year. I am afraid I may have set the bar a little too high now!
Incredible! You make me want to go out to just sit and observe nature too. Your posts continue to be so well written that I feel I am right there with you!
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