Feel like a jackass.

Troop

Troop

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
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Not 10 minutes ago, taking a break from BF, I go out to the woodline bordering my property, throwing out some ashes from the woodstove (cold, of course). Anyways, I'm stopped, hunched over, emptying the ashes out of the can...head must have been in the clouds, when, not 5 ft. away (at the most), this little fawn jumps up, bleats for Mama (startling me half to death), and takes off. I mean, I consider myself a Woodsman.... this little fawn was lying so still, all spotted-up, I had no idea she was there. This says something for the fawn's camo, and for my poor eyesight.
 
Man you still have a woodstove going now ? Where do you live ?
I'm sat in my shorts sweating just reading this post !!!
 
pitdog said:
Man you still have a woodstove going now ? Where do you live ?
I'm sat in my shorts sweating just reading this post !!!
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No, I haven't used it in a while, just too lazy to have cleaned it for the season until today.
 
Thats how those babies stay alive, hide, hide, and more hiding.....if it fools a predator, then you shouldnt feel bad =P
 
I have walked up on more than a few fawns and had one walk up to me on a crick bed. They are camoed well.
 
No reason to feel like a jackass. All I saw today was traffic and bosses. A fawn would have been quite a spirit lifter.
 
Fawns are especially hard to see because of their size. A few years ago an organization I belong to was working with the department of fish and wildlife to capture fawns for a several year health study at a local university. We would sit all day waiting to find a doe feeding a fawn and once the fawn was found someone would keep a spotting scope pointed to the fawns last seen place. The person with the scope would then guide another person into the immediate area to capture the fawn. The first fawn I captured was nearly crushed by my foot because I couldnt see it.
 
It is amazing how nature takes cares of it's wildlife. I remember many years ago phesant hunting, I was walking through a waist high hay field and almost stepped on an big 8 point buck. :eek: He jumped up within a few feet of me. Even with his big rack, he still managed to stay hidden. It also amazes me how a deer can stand still in the fall woods and practically vaporize. They blend in so well.
Scott
 
Thanks, guys. Yeah, I guess you guys are right; Mother Nature does a pretty good job hiding her critters. 'Guess now I won't return my "Woodsman Certification" to Yule Gibbons. (Remember that guy, "Grape Nuts"?) :D
-Yeah, I know he's gone under.
 
Troop said:
Thanks, guys. Yeah, I guess you guys are right; Mother Nature does a pretty good job hiding her critters.
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Got that right, I know a whole bunch of folks that can't see the forest from all the trees being in the way. :D
 
The funny thing about it. Just think of all the Fawns and other animals you didnt see because they didnt move when you came close to them. You only seen the ones that moved.

sasha
 
Don't feel so bad. I was deer hunting when I lived in Georgia and called myself slipping in to my stand. I slipped all right walking just about into a big buck standing in front of me. He snorted and took off and left me in a heap. Way worse than stepping on a covey of quail!
 
Just last week I forced a gopher out of the lawn with the hose & water approach. Put it in a bucket and walked out into the woods.

In a clearing I pitched the gopher about 10 feet out of the bucket and into the dark woods. It landed about 2 feet from a Doe who had been laying in the shade of many 30-50 ft Douglas fir trees. Surprised me.

My eyes had been in the sun just before pitching the gopher and I didn't see the Doe until it jumped up and ran off. Not sure if the gopher was alarmed by the deer or not.

oregon
 
I've had rabbits make me jump like that. The biggest surprise was when I was walking on old snow and got too close to a tree and fell through. I pulled my foot out, to be immeditately followed by a rabbit coming out of the hole-- I can't tell you which one of us was more scared.

There's something primal and reflexive about having furry animals pop up unannouced--- I'm sure it is bred into us.

There is a book called Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. One thread in the book is how we were probably evolved by our predators, selecting the meanest SOB's to survive. It's a good read about his travels in Austrailia too.
 
Attack by the killer Rabbits.... I would have loved to see that one Dale. Something about seeing a grown man run away from a rabbit if i had a video camera you know it would have been on U tube lol.

Sasha
 
A few years back, while walking on my grandparents ranch, I almost walked on top of one. I probably came within two feet of it. I agree with ashtxsniper about the animal's ability to camouflage itself.
 
I once drove a large tracked excavator into a wooded job site and then walked out. On the walk out I followed the tracks Id made. Lying within 2 ft of the tracks of this large noisy machine was a fawn that had never moved and still didnt until I stopped in amazement and it took off. Incredible camoflauge--
 
Don't be hard on yourself. She got up and ran. If she got up and kicked your butt I'd say you should re-examine your place in life. Mac
 
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