OUTDOOR Tales and Trails

BY DAVE BECK

It’s time for the gun season report and I have a lot to pass on to you. Actually, “pass on” could be the motto for my entire season. Did I just give away the ending?

I was walking to my stand on Saturday morning, in the darkness, when something caught my eye. Three dark flashes were heading towards me so quickly that I flinched when they screamed by. It took a minute to register that they were deer and honest to goodness they came so close to me that I thought they were going to knock me over. I wasn’t even in hunting mode yet and deer were running at me. How do you not look at that as a great sign?

I managed to get to my stand without further incident and climbing up the steps I was grateful that it was enclosed. It doesn’t look like much but it keeps a hunter dry and out of the wind. Without it, I would have been long gone by the time the buck showed up about five hours later. Actually, the four-pointer barely qualified to be called a buck and the only way he was going to get my tag was if he stole it. Other than a few does that ambled by my stand, the only other notable thing to mention were the three deer that I bumped into on my way out of the woods. I couldn’t help but wonder if we had met some 10 hours earlier? I silently hoped that that was true.

Sunday was different in that it was windy and even colder. The temperature was around eight degrees and the wind chill was Siberia cold. It didn’t stop the hunt and it didn’t stop the two bucks from cruising by my stand. The first buck was a seven-pointer that took his sweet time making his way through my lethal zone I took practice aims at him, filmed him with my phone, and then silently swore at him for being both slow and small. Number One browsed so much while in range that he gained five pounds of body mass. His eating habits didn’t affect his rack size so my buck tag stayed safely in my backpack. The second buck was even smaller. If I said the first buck had a small rack, then the second buck had a tiny rack. Number Two sported four points that could all be covered up by one baseball cap. He also lounged his way past me as if he knew I was there but not a threat.

As the days passed by, so did a pile of does. Every day but one, I had a chance to harvest a deer but I passed on them. The bucks were easy to let go because they were small. The does were easy to pass up because I didn’t want to be dealing with a doe and miss out on a chance for a decent buck. In the end, it seems that all decent bucks passed on me.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at [email protected] Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @ thepiercecountyjournal