Home › Forums › Campfire Forum › MUSHROOM BILL
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This is a complaint… of sorts.
“Saw the deer today.”
“Huh”
“The deer in back of work, third time this week.”
Turns out that when Bill went out for a cigarette break, this doe was standing there totally unconcerned. Continued to brouse a few minutes, then ambled off just as Bill was putting out his cigarette. He even showed me a pic on his phone. So now I’m looking for camo that blends into a cement wall, and thinking about shooting from behind a dumpster.
That’s not all..
In tramping the woods looking for mushrooms, he sees lots of rubs, scrapes, scat, and ….. DEER. No he doesn’t take a shower with scent free soap before going out, doesn’t own camo (frequently wears plaid golfer shorts), doesn’t pay attention to where he puts his size 10 feet. But he sees all of the sign, and the deer. I’m scouting in the same WMAs where he is looking for the damn mushrooms (even found some mushrooms for him). At our backyard campfires, he sits there talking about the mushrooms he didn’t find, and showing me mushroom pics on his phone, and casually mentions all of the deer sign he sees, and shows me deer pics. Not big white tails running off into the woods, but deer casually nibbling, with their tail relaxed.
On the other hand not everyone smells the same. Arwen has never had a mosquito bite, and I’m sure it is somehow related to the way she smells, or doesn’t smell. Now that I haven’t had a cigarette in over two months I can smell. Most of what I smell is not all that pleasant. I know when the skunk has walked across the back yard, I can smell the dumpster every morning when I leave for work, and every once in a while a patient comes into the office that makes me want to turn inside out and run.
To be continued….
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Tell ya what, Grumpy, get Bill to take a walking stick along on his “walk-abouts” and see if it makes any difference…?8)
I can’t count the times and places I’ve read that body posture is read by wildlife! When you’re not there to do them harm, they KNOW it. Guess if you live by your instincts 24/7/365, you’d better develop that ability.
I’ve known people who swear if you LOOK at a deer, they can FEEL it! I don’t know I believe that, but it makes you wonder.
Ever have an old head bobber doe trying to figure you out and then STARE into her eyes? I’ve seen their eyes get real wide and nearly turn inside out when the recognition sets in… but like Bill, just pokin around the woods taking pictures, I can dang near get up on em to count coup!
BTW, congrats on the non-smoking campaign! 2 months is very admirable!
Keep it up. Vicks under your nose takes care of the bad smelling patients! Claim you got allergies!:lol:
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I swear that’s totally true Doc about making eye contact with deer. Years ago I was walking out of the woods, heading in for a late breakfast and I noticed a spike whitetail heading right at me. I wasn’t interested in shooting him and I sure wasn’t sneaking out so I just kept my head lowered and kept ambling on. He stopped when he noticed me and just stood there. I walked right past him about 10 or 15 yards away and once I was past, he continued on his way! Dumb, young deer? Maybe? But he certainly had more than enough time to size up the situation and react to it.
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Well, Dfud, I’m no wildlife expert but I’d think many of us, (from stories heard) have had very similar experiences.
I hunted a ground blind one year… neat hidey hole. Up comes a deer, walks past, (too small) and catches this thing out of the corner of it’s eye…walks over to the right side, (can’t shoot easily to that side, and it was more open, and walks right UP to the blind… I was on a stool wearing a shaggy suit.
He literally poked his head INTO my blind while I’m looking toward him with my eyes squinted and sniffing around. The suit had the rectangular eye opening… so he’s 3′ from me… but when I opened my eyes wide, he about imploded!
Ran 15 yards and stopped and looked back and looked embarrassed as to say, “now why’d I do that”. I about fell off the stool wanting to laugh! Hunting is so much more than about the kill!:lol:
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Doc Nock wrote: Well, Dfud, I’m no wildlife expert but I’d think many of us, (from stories heard) have had very similar experiences.
I hunted a ground blind one year… neat hidey hole. Up comes a deer, walks past, (too small) and catches this thing out of the corner of it’s eye…walks over to the right side, (can’t shoot easily to that side, and it was more open, and walks right UP to the blind… I was on a stool wearing a shaggy suit.
He literally poked his head INTO my blind while I’m looking toward him with my eyes squinted and sniffing around. The suit had the rectangular eye opening… so he’s 3′ from me… but when I opened my eyes wide, he about imploded!
Ran 15 yards and stopped and looked back and looked embarrassed as to say, “now why’d I do that”. I about fell off the stool wanting to laugh! Hunting is so much more than about the kill!:lol:
HA HA HA! I can picture that happening!!:shock::shock::shock:
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There were times, up on a roof, when I was concentrating on work, and I suddenly looked up right into the eyes of someone who was watching me. Once it was into the binoculars of a lady in a second floor window across the street, other times into the binoculars, of some other contractor spying on me. Very common to look up and see the home owner walking out on his lawn to watch me, or ask a question. I surely didn’t hear them, nor did I see them out of my peripheral vision. Granted, since I was 30 or 40 feet off the ground I was hyper alert, but there is really no logical reason for me to look right in their eyes. I have no doubt that wildlife can do the same, since they are hyper alert 24/7. I have NOT noticed this ability when my life is NOT in danger. Only happened on the roof. Suspecting there is something that kicks in when we (mammals) are hyper alert. ColMike?? Aussie?? I don’t have the experience you do.
For the record, Bill is a very non threatening person, despite his 6’3″ stature, and size 10 shoes.
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I’m sure I’ve seen more deer fishing than I ever will hunting. Don’t think they expect people to be walking in the river, and the sound of the river covers up any noise I made. Once I was within a few feet of two, that scared the living bleep out of me. Don’t know who was more scared, I swear I could have reached out and touched them.
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Demeanor….that would have been a word I was searching for earlier in my post(s). No suggestion Bill is threatening… just that I find when I have nothing in my hand, not even a stick, I get WAAAY closer to wildlife…pick up a hiking stick and they seem to vamoose first sight… but that is pure visceral perception.
I think when we’re in predator mode, our “demeanor” changes. And De-Meaner we be, the scarier we gets… :?:roll:
I know I’ve had the hair on the back of my neck start to “buzz” when someone or something is watching me… Animals have to have that or they’d all be ‘lunch’.
That’s pretty cool story , Grump, about the people watchin you doing roofing.
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