Love At First Sight

When I first saw a picture of him, my heart started to beat faster. I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach as I thought of what it would be like to see him, to stand next to him, to be able to reach out and touch him  in real life. I knew right away he was the one. He made the others look small in comparison; the way he carried himself, the width of his shoulders. I knew then and there he was worth the wait. 

That was in early September when I saw the picture. I carried it with me in my wallet, had a picture on my phone, and set as the desktop on my computer. People would say “Wow! Where did you get that picture?” But I wouldn’t tell. Now, its mid October and though I have got quite a few more pictures of him,  I still have yet to meet him. The thing is, though I’m dying to meet him, and making every effort to make it on time, things just haven’t been working out.

Though for me it was love at first sight, I don’t think that he knows I exist. And if he does, I’m not so sure that he wants to meet me. Whenever I go to The Place in hopes of meeting him, he is always there too early or too late. Surely I’m not the only girl  (or guy) out there with this problem? I lay awake at night wondering if I am doing something wrong, or if maybe it all has to do with timing. If he met someone else, it would break my heart. 

“When the timing is right, He will show up,” My dad tells me. 

“Stay with it,” a friend tells me. “When He starts looking for a girlfriend, it will be sure to happen.” 

“Don’t give up, you’ll get Him!” My boyfriend tells me.   

Yes, “He” is a deer, but so what?? At least my parents wouldn’t mind if I brought him home.

It’s not weird to be obsessed with a deer is it?? 

My Moultrie Trail camera introduced us in early September. I started calling the buck “Mr. Big” for no reason except that he is BIG!!!! I always say that I hunt the “Pike County, Illinois” section of Northern New Jersey, and really, that it is true. Of course there are bigger deer than Mr. Big in the area…but not on my trail camera!! 

He has been frequenting the salt lick under my stand more and more often lately, as the rut rapidly approaches. The first week of October he showed up in the pouring rain during shooting hours. Idiot that I was, I didn’t hunt those days. As soon as I checked my trail camera, I made a solemn vow to sit out the next rainstorm.

Lucky for me, it rained a few days later. Unluckily, Mr. Big was a no-show.

Then last week Thursday it was about 45 degrees, pouring rain, extremely strong gusts of wind; it was the first time all hunting season that I actually had to put on a pair of gloves. I wasn’t exactly sure if I should go or not since it was so windy; whenever I cant decide I usually ask someone else to decide for me. Its pretty simple.

I texted my man “Think My Buck will be moving tonight?” His answer:  “Yes, its cold out!”

Decision made, I was going. And so I put on my rain gear, and went out in the wind and rain for 2 and a half hours, my Hoyt in hand, hoping that:

1. I wouldn’t get blown out of the stand
2. A tree or a big limb wouldn’t fall on me
3. I could figure out how to text my boyfriend without taking my gloves off.
4. I could put a Rage through Mr. Big
5. Next time I would remember my rangefinder

I was in luck when it came to the first three hopes, (although my man told me to get down immediately when I told him that there were limbs coming down all around me), but unfortunately Mr. Big was yet again a no-show. It was fun though! I saw a nice 8 pointer, some smaller bucks, and about 20 does. I passed them up since I already shot an antlerless deer this season and want to film my next one. (Rain=no video camera).

Last night it was kind of warm out, I wasn’t really expecting to see much. I checked my trail camera (rather loudly I have to admit) and climbed (yup, kind of loudly)  into my treestand. Standing on the top step of my ladder stand, I looked to my left at the hay fields. The farthest field was 200 yards away, and ALWAYS had deer in it. Unfortunately,  it was private land I couldn’t hunt, and I was as close to the property line as I could get.

When I looked into the field, I didn’t really expect to see anything. Two deer. Big deal. But wow…that one looked like a hog!!! Of COURSE I’d forgotten my binoculars…but not my rangefinder!!! I ranged the deer and very nearly fell out of my stand. It was MR. BIG!!!! At 5 in the afternoon! After I had made all that noise getting in! Talk about adrenaline rush!

Upon closer inspection I saw that there was a whole bunch of does in the field. I settled back in my stand to wait, bow ready, video camera ready. They stayed in the field for about a half hour, I watched Mr. Big chase off a few smaller bucks. Sure enough, pre-rut activity had started!!! A little early, but I wasn’t complaining!
Then, I saw some does appearing in the field I was hunting. They were still about 90 yards away, but it was still closer! I strained my eyes to see if Mr. Big was following, but I couldn’t see him. Another twenty minutes and the does suddenly scattered. There was Mr. Big, pushing all of his girls around. I had about forty minutes of shooting light left, and I was feeling optimistic….until Mr. Big decided to bed down…in the MIDDLE of the field…at about 70 yards…and NOT MOVE!!!

Now THIS was killing me. On the outside I was calm, still as a statue as my video camera took it all in. On the inside I was jumping up and down and screaming and throwing things…mostly at Mr. Big. Talk about FRUSTRATING!

He just laid there, happy and content. I wished I had a decoy to bring the does in. I had a feeling, where the does went, so would he. Sure enough, just at dark the does left the field and he followed.

On a positive note, I am VERY excited for the next few weeks! If I put in the time, all my hard work and long hours in the woods will pay off. With a little luck I’ll have him by next weekend. He may have outsmarted me, but I’m on to his tricks…he will be back…and so will I (With a decoy).

>>--->When all else fails…GO HUNTING :)