Many over the years. But one that came as the biggest surprise was while duck hunting. I parked the 3-wheeler at the edge of a field and waded into some flooded thick woods about knee deep and found a little opening and threw the decoys out. Proceeded to call in some mallards and shot a couple. They fell in front of me and I left them floating there and waited for more. Reloaded and did more duck calling, and watched while more birds circled. Was there probably twenty minutes.

Then suddenly this very loud splash and huge explosion of water about 15 feet away. No farther than that. I had no idea what this was and it was quite startling. I turned to my left and looked and saw a good size doe bounding off in the water. She had been silently standing there concealed in thick willows and I guess just watching the proceedings.

It was about the most surprising thing I've seen one do. I couldn't believe not noticing her or a deer being willing to put up with a bunch of shooting and duck calling right in front of her.

I had walked right up on her by sheer chance and she elected to stay still. I suppose she was trying to wait me out and finally decided it was plan B time.

Have you guys seen your share of strange deer goings on too?

Two weeks ago I was duck hunting in a flooded river bottom, and I jumped 5 deer (1 respectable buck, another buck, and 3 does) from a patch of dry ground (apparently the only patch of dry ground) that was no more than 15' by 15'. I'm thinking about hunting there next year when the river is up. Crazy to see deer after deer hauling butt through 3 foot deep water away from this tiny island.

A few years ago, on a lease in the Texas Hill Country.....I was walking to a ladder stand I had set up on a long fence right-of-way. I was covered head to toe with Realtree Advantage Max-1, which is the absolute perfect camo pattern for this area (Mason, TX). I parked my 4-wheeler about a quarter mile from the stand, on the opposite side of a small hill. It was approximately 2:00 PM. I was about half way to my stand when I nearly stepped on a young 3.5 year old 10 point and a doe he was with. They had been bedded down, and jumped up not 5 yards from me in the brush. I froze. I never use grunt calls, because I've tried to master the art of grunts with my mouth. Apparently I'm not half bad, because after I froze I gave 2 casual grunts and waited. After 30 seconds or so, both deer bedded back down. I just stood there in awe and watched them for another few minutes before I finally decided to keep on walking, which of course scared them away. It was one of the coolest things I've experienced in the woods.

I once was installing a new seat on a deer ladder stand and making much noise with tools while talking to a friend who accompanied me. I was up on the stand at its top. I heard the sound of what I thought was someone walking thru leaves in the woods and looked, but my friend was still just standing there. I looked again in back of the deer stand and saw thru the cedars a very big bodied buck slowly walking uphill out of the creek bottom and headed straight for us.

We got quiet. He cleared the woods and stood and faced us in the field's edge no more than 15-20 feet from me and even closer to my friend. I'd say about 10-12 feet from him. I saw some of his big rack through the branches between me and the deer. My buddy was right in front of him and could count the points. He looks up at me and says "he's a 12 pointer". The deer didn't react and all three of us stood for probably 2-3 minutes looking at each other.

I was actually concerned for the safety of my friend because I could tell what was going on here. But, eventually the deer slowly turned away and headed back the same way and to whatever he was doing. He stopped twice and turned his head and looked back at us. He wasn't in any hurry leaving at all.

There is zero doubt in my mind as to what this was about. He was protecting his turf and that was his way of saying "keep off the grass". I'm sure he was ready to rumble. If my friend had been another buck, there's no doubt in my mind that a down and out brawl would have ensued.

One morning I was hunting on the side of a hardwood ridge when I saw a small buck about 75yds away making his way slowly towards me. Every dozen steps or so he would do a 180 and walk a few steps back the way he came from. Then 180 again and head back towards me. As he got to within about 40 yards, I noticed something small following about 20 yards behind him that was evidently his cause for turning around so often. It was either a bobcat kitten or the smallest bobcat I have ever seen. Could not have been more than 10lbs, but was a bobcat for sure. The bobcat would stop every time the buck turned around, but made no effort to run away or pounce on the deer. They passed my tree at 15 yards and headed on down the hill out of sight still playing the same game. About an hour later I was getting ready to climb down when I saw them coming back the way they had gone. The buck wasn't turning around now, but the bobcat was still in tow. They passed right on by and headed back over the hill. Guess the buck had gotten used to having him back there and didnt think him a threat. I can't imagine a bobcat that small would try to take on a 150 # deer..maybe he thought he was his daddy.

While living in Sheridan, Wyoming I was out near Wyarno with a .222 Sako. I encountered a red fox and commenced shooting at it. It opted to escape via a very steep/rugged hillside. My shots at it were at the far end of range (200+ yards). As the fox made it's way up the steep hillside it crossed a narrow ledge at end of which was a mule deer doe with a fawn behind it. The doe commenced to seriously flailing out at the fox with it's front hooves. The fox was caught between the devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea as the mule deer doe was very intent to defend it's fawn and I was shooting at it at the other end. Let me tell you, a doe deer can be very serious about defending it's fawn from the likes of a fox on a steep hillside trail. The fox retreated and got shot at by me and then advanced on the narrow trail and get flailed at again by the wigged-out doe.

He eventually opted to invent a new path up the steep hillside which caused me to chuckle and wish him well.

There was this very small doe moving slowly thru the old growth woods near the deer stand unaware of being closely studied thru a 3x9 varible. But she was too small. That decision was already made. So this was just watching for entertainment sake.

She cautiously nosed along until she came upon a great long thick fallen tree trunk. And then very suddenly she lept high as if dodging something and sprinted off at flat out speed.

It appears that all this time a rather large Bobcat had been patiently lying in wait with premeditated malice on its mind. Just as she jumped the cat sprang up from behind the fallen tree and lept at her with paws outstretched. Our intrepid hunter's lunge missed, but the cat had invested enough in the hunt to feel obligated to chase after her a few yards before conceding defeat. It slowed and stopped. After standing there a few moments it turned and looked toward the deer stand. The thought going through its mind seemed quite clear -

"Well, this has certainly not been my best work".

Several years back we were hunting Deer north of Rifle, CO in the Piceance Creek area. We had a couple wall tents set up for camp and a fire pit too. I had just hiked up to camp out of the canyon we were hunting and walked up to the fire pit and as was customary hung my rifle in a tree with an open bolt. A son of a friend of mine about 13 years old or so had done the same we were talking and joking and not being quiet in the least and I saw a young buck (forked horn) walk out of the brush and walk straight to us, I said "Chad there is your buck, get your gun" so the youngster did and dropped the buck with a straight on chest shot at about 15 feet as it was walking right up to us!
Had to drag it out of camp to gut it!

Baited Idaho bear hunt while wearing only cheap woodland camo and a mismatched balaclava. I was sitting literally in the bushes at the base of a tree watching the bait. At about 15 feet, a whitetail doe then walks in front of me. She must have caught my scent because she stopped, looked in my direction, then proceeded to walk in three or four progressively tighter circles around me for about 15 minutes. I sat dead still the whole time until she eventually reached out with her nose to smell the air less than a foot from my head. I still didn't move and she just casually sauntered off. If it had been deer season, I think I could have taken her with a knife. I shot my bear the next day off the same bait.

Bow hunting white tails last fall I was sitting in the woods behind a big cedar. Doe walks by too far for a bow and behind bushes and I am just waiting if she comes back and closer when these two stupid fawns run through the woods like crazy and pass me in distance of no more than 20 feet and keep running up the hill.

While I am thinking about what just happened - it was over in a fraction of a second - one of those morons comes back, stops 8 feet from me to get a better look at me in my ghillie suit.

I was on my way to work during bow season, wearing an airforce-blue double breasted suit, and drove down the driveway of the property I hunt. At the end of the driveway is a very large brick house which the landowner treats as his weekend retreat. (I check on it to and from work to help discourage trespassers.) As I got within sight of the side yard I saw a yearling doe, about 20 yds away, grazing on some of the flowers.
I stopped my truck and put it in park. The doe jerked her head up, looked at me a moment and went back to her breakfast. I turned off the engine and rolled down the window. She stopped, looked up a moment, walked a couple steps and started eating the grass.
I wondered if she would let me get out of truck. I opened the door and got out. She jumped a bit, looked at me, and went back to her breakfast. That was too much for me. I didn't have to be in court for another three hours and I had my bow in the back of the truck. I slowly made my way to the back of the bed, opened the topper, got my bow out, put an arrow on the string-- and drilled her. She ran off into some trees and I heard a crash. I drove back home, called the office and said I'd be a bit late, changed clothes, dove back to the house and had the deer dressed and skinned-- and myself back in my double-breasted suit-- in time for my first court appearance of the day.
That is my killer suit and now I always wear it when I'm picking a jury. Haven't lost a case with it yet!

I was photographing Brown Bears in a remote area of Kodiak Island...

2 minutes after I saw this guy on the far bank...


I saw these deer on the same bank...



I guess Sitka blacktails aren't that smart.

sdirks that's a great one.

not my story, because the few seasons I've hunted I never get one. okay, I do have one story.

inevitably I never get an opportunity. we usually go out and hunt early, then come back, eat breakfast, go out again midday and then afternoon/evening. we'd just come back for breakfast, I'd set down my 06 and picked up my 597 in 22mag, went to go plink. I walk about 100yds from camp and all of a sudden a 4 point walks out of a stand of trees and stands looking at me. I wait till he turns and walks off into some other trees and high tail it back for my big rifle. never found him again.

yes, a 22 mag semi-auto would have done the work as he was only about 20-25ft' away, but I didn't want to break the law.

here's a priceless one though. 40 years ago my stepfather was hunting with his dad's hunting buddies. all old tough wwii vets, he says they were a great group. there was one buddy that mostly fished while they hunted, and acted as cook. He'd be first up, straight razor shave, then make them all breakfast.

one morning they'd all left camp and he went to dig a hole. he's squatted down when a buck walks out and doesn't even notice him, just grazing. he picks up a large rock there and it's close enough he's able to smack it in the head. I s*&t you not. knocks it out. goes back to camp and gets his revolver, goes, shoots it and they come back to camp and he's the only one with a deer.

I was hiking late one summer in a nice 2,000 acre area.Then a doe came along obviously wanting to attract my attention. She stood up straight ,stamping her feet and calling .She kept it up for a while and I just kept walking thinking she was a nut case !
I then saw she dad two fawns some distance away ! Funny thing this was late enough in the year so that the fawns were good sized and could easily avoid problems. It was just like the injured wing act I'd seen performed by grouse !

These stories bring to mind a similar incident with a doe in Kittrel, NC.....20 years ago. I find myself smiling at the memories. THANKS, guys.

It was the last day of deer season decades ago when a friend of mine (a decorated WWII combat vet, now deceased), myself and his setter were quail hunting. We used to have wild quail back then. After the hunt we decided to set off exploring the thickest part of the woods. We followed a dry creek bed (sand erosion gully actually) back a half mile. My partner and his dog were walking down in the creek and I was walking alongside up on the bank in the woods.

I heard him call out to me real excited.."look at this!" I looked down and about 30 yards in front was an enormous buck. It was lying down in the sand under an immense overhang of tree roots. Almost like a cave. He was more than 10 points. In fact biggest I ever saw out there.

But there was something kind of sad about it though. Somebody, not one of us or anyone hunting on our property, had shot and wounded him badly. And he had travelled a long way from some other place to get to this remote, hidden spot. No telling how long he'd been there.

Just then I had the bad timing to get myself tangled up in sticker vines and thorns and it was impossible to move quickly. In any event all I had was the shotgun with bird shot. I was able to watch however as the buck got up, moved across the creek bed, climbed the bank and disappeared off into the woods.

My partner didn't shoot either. He said if he'd known I couldn't do anything, he'd have fired and knocked the buck's legs out from under him, then got next to him to finish it. We tried trailing it aways but without any luck.

After that for several years I went out there and did a season's end sweep of that same dry creek bed by slowly walking its whole length. Except with a .30-30 instead of a shotgun.

But, fate decreed that to be a one-time ever event.