This is our last few days of the Northern Zone rifle season in New York. Dad and I headed into the woods today in an attempt to get Dad a nice buck. he has seen piles of deer this year, but he hasn’t seen a buck he wants to take.
I decided to do some exploring today while he was hunting. He told me had had every intention of sitting all day, from sunup until sundown. I figured I would use the time to see if I could locate a place where he might be able to knock one over in the last few days.
Since he wanted to get to the place he wanted to sit well before daylight, I decided to go with him and veer off along the way. I would wait just sit for a while and see what I could see before heading in another direction.
The snow hung on the trees today and didn’t seem to want to let go. As I was sitting under a tree, I caught some movement through the snow shortly after it got light. As I peered through the branches, I couldn’t see very well through the snow, but I could see well enough to know that there was a nice buck standing a short distance away. After looking closer, I could easily see that it was a really nice buck. It didn’t have a clue I was in the area.
As I observed him walking away from me, I was almost certain he would walk right past my father. I was still fairly close to Dad, and the buck was headed in his direction. I was really excited and figured the buck would be lying dead in the snow within a half hour.
After the buck got past me, I knew it would end up in front of Dad. Then, the wind swirled and hit the back of my head. Within seconds, the buck was running, and it wasn’t running toward Dad. That would be the last time I saw the buck. He disappeared faster than he appeared, and my heart sunk because I wanted Dad to have an opportunity to take him.
Shortly after the incident with the buck, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Looking at it, I could see that it was a text from my mother. She told me to tell my father that she was having issues with the furnace.
After calling him on the radio, he decided to pack up and head home to fix it. The deer were just starting to move, so I was disappointed that we had to leave. I felt good about his chances of taking a buck.
We will see what happens tomorrow. Time is running out. I hope Dad can get it done.