A momentary lapse...

[Brokennock]

Time to hunt seems more and more difficult to find, but, I had a couple hours to take the new Early Virginia smoothie for a walk in the woods this afternoon. Between drive time and all else it would be a walk of maybe an hour and half to an hour and 3/4 before legal light ended. So I figured it as just a walk, a chance to get outside for a little while, and maybe take some pictures of the new gun out in the woods. I headed for the nearest state forest which I've not paid much attention to in years, due to having more productive places to hunt and a few hunters who live on the borders of the state land having the best areas locked up. I didn't expect much but fresh air, but tried to maintain focus once away from the road. Walked about half an hour on a state marked trail, turned north off the trail for a few hundred yards, and stopped to look around. The edge of a hill heading down into a depression was another few yards ahead.
Got lost in thought for a few minutes and lost focus for a moment and didn't regain it before taking a few steps forward........
Yup, you guessed it,,,, white flag bounding off toward the property line (which was closer than I thought at that point), busted. Started running from a point out of range due to too much brush only to put more brush and distance between us until out of sight. I moved closer and slightly east to position myself with the wind in my favor in case the deer came back and/or circled to get the wind right and come check out the disturbance, and hung out at the base of a big oak that had a blow down leaning against it about head high. Nothing,,, just cold.
Guess where I'll be tomorrow evening 2 1/2 hours before sunset.

 

[Spikebuck]

Doesn't take much loss of focus to get caught, does it?

I was so intent on sneaking up on one buck this year I almost had a collision with another big 10 point...I guess he wasn't paying attention either! We were both surprised, but he reacted a lot more quickly than I could! Hey...the deer need to win the contest too or it wouldn't be any fun at all.

Good luck next time.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Hey, that was a good account and yep it happens like that all the time.
You got out and your scouting just might pay off yet!

B :thumbsup:

 

[Choctaw]

Being in the woods and lost in thought is a good thing. :thumbsup:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

white flag bounding off toward the property line

AH...BUT the deer was there... I find it very rewarding even if I don't get a shot to see a deer moving out of range, or some really fresh sign.... but a little sad if the day is cold and quiet, and nothing at all moves, even a lack of birds...

LD

 

[Jaeger]

Good account, Brokennock, and well-written. Like another hunter once told me as we were bemoaning the lack of deer sightings " I like to go deer hunting for the TOTAL EXPERIENCE...". Yeah, me too...but I like to see deer and get a shot at one occasionally.