This morning I was in my treestand at sunrise. I brought along a new toy- a 'shake' call borrowed from my brother. About half an hour later, after a few calls, I heard rustling and crashing in the woods. It was coming from out of sight over the ridge. I suspected that it was a squirrel but kept my eyes open- and who should appear but the two young deer from my first day! Mama was not in evidence. It is hunting season- she may have been bagged by another hunter. In any case, the two young deer wandered along giving no evidence at all to the theory that deer are great survivors... they rustled leaves, crackled over twigs, shook themseves (which flashes their inner, white coat and quite ruins the camoflage effect of the outer coat) and generally announced to the world that they were tasty and dumb. I watched for a while and eventually decided to try a shot. 25 yards off, though brush. It would have been an easy shot except for that brush. I bagged a maple branch. The deer were spooked, obviously. They dashed further into the woods... and stood under my tree stand looking around for the scary bang! I carefully, quietly started reloading. They hung around , one of them not two yards from my tree, until I was almost loaded- then one of them snorted me and they both fled. Half an hour later, a much larger deer crashed through the woods at a full run- all I was was a flash of body and the flagging tail, vanishing. I'll be back around at sunset. | 
