It's a cold morning around low 40's. It is extraordinarily quiet and still. This could be a good day for deer. After getting cleaned up I add an extra layer of clothing. My traditional outerwear is taking a back-seat to practicality today. I don't have a traditional set-up for cold weather. I do have some green wood pants from the 1950's but I left them home. I have a black wool poncho with accents but it is not rifle friendly. My Mexican blanket capote is pretty thin and does nothing to stop the wind - but there isn't any wind this morning, so it will do as the outer-most layer. Now I have deer color on me so I need to put a blaze orange hat band on and a put a blaze orange vest into both back pockets, just stuffed in there so I have an orange butt. I pull the rifle from the case and look it over. All seems well. I wipe the frizzen, pan and flint with a dry patch. I'm not going to prime until 1) I can see and 2) I am actively expecting deer to show up. Off I go. My first stop is a pinch-point where deer leave their bedding area and funnel out into the more open wooded area to feed. The morning is slowly going by but there is a hint of movement in front. About 5-minutes later a red squirrel makes its way into the little opening I am watching. Soon, he or she is joined by another one. These squirrels are busy digging and eating. About a half-hour has passed and suddenly both squirrels break into a run in the same direction. I know something is coming and has spooked them. I see what I can discern as a deer in the heavy brush off to the left. I can see a dark spot, two legs, a sliver of white that occasionally moves and a sporadic ear flick. At one point a branch seems to move and I realize it is actually antlers. This buck is hung up over there. We are in a "stand-off" for over 20-minutes. At the 20-minute mark I see a tail go up and then a rump hustle into the brush. I wait another hour and then make a sweeping circle back to my starting point.
Wait for it............
