[onenut58]

Years ago two friends and myself decided to hike across the Bob Marshall wilderness area in montana a few miles from where we lived.About twenty miles in, we stopped to build a fire and set up a camp.I was piling some rocks for a fire ring and one of my friends was gathering up some fire wood . The other had went down to the river and was catching some cutthroat to cook in thimble berry leaves on the fire.I was squatted down on one knee looking down placing a rock when I heard a sound and looked up.
A white tail doe was no more than ten feet from me with her front feet spread wide apart and looking at me. She held this stance for about a minutte then ran in a circle around me comming to a stop again in the same spot.She did the same thing twice more. I never moved a muscle and just watched in amazement.
I have seen a lot of white tails in my time and unless they were doing the stand still you cant see me thing. Mostly what you saw was there tail going boing boing as they dissapear of into the brush and timber.This little doe was actualy acting like a puppy playing making circles and stopping speading her feet way out and looking right at me.My friend gathering wood comming back seen her and stopped to watch as I was doing but she stared at him a second and took off.I thought it was a interesting encounter and thought I might put it in here.

 

[Charlie]

Whitetails can act strange. We have a herd that hangs out around the house 'cause I fill a large bucket daily with water (drought goin' on here). When I go out the back door and go to the reloading room or garage, of course they all look up at me (about 10 to 20 ft. away) but if I start talking to them while I'm walking, they just go back to drinking and generally ignore me! I really think they recognize my voice and know I'm just the guy that fills the bucket.

 

[Nframe]

I had a crazy young doe here that lived in my front woods. I went out one day and she spooked about 10 yards in front of me. I hunkered down and waited and watched. She had only run about 20 yards off then stopped and pranced around a bit. She then bounced back to where she had been 10 yards from me and just stood there staring. I could have shot her with my 686 but didn't want to at the time.
Unfortunately in December she was hit by a car up at the end of my drive.... I couldn't and didn't want to salvage anything :ymsick:

 

[onenut58]

Yeah they can be wierd for sure.Back home the deer and elk will come down in peoples yards in winter when the snow pushes them down and a lot of people feed them because Idaho fish and Game are a joke.They seem almost tame and more tolerant of being close to humans.
You rarely see a deer or elk in town in summer but the bears like to smorgas board out of every bodys garbage and the cougars like to come in and kill pets.The wolves they planted a few years ago are becomming a pain from what my friends tell me have been realy played havoc on the deer and elk.
But I never had any wild animal come up to me and start playing with me like a puppy.It was in summer toward the end of july and not hunting season.Even if it was hunting season I would not have shot her she was to cute. I would feel like I was shooting a pet.
I totaly understand why N frame didnt shoot the little deer. The ones come in your yard and stuff are like pets.I got a bunch of these california quail that live around here in nevada and water is scarce here so they like to hang out in my yard.Out in the desert I wouldnt hesitate to shoot them they are good size and good eating. But around here they are cute and I love watching the moms leading there little ones like ducks dnly thing I kill here is snakes and scorpions and coyotes they are not welcome on my place.

 

[azmick]

The brother of a friend of mine got the tar kicked out of him by a doe mule deer when they were calling coyotes with a fawn distress call. I had a doe muley stomping her feet about 10 feet from me while bow hunting after the spray pump on a bottle of cow elk lure went wackey.

 

[onenut58]

Azmick you hunt up around Paysen?A few years ago my parents were considering buying some land there until my dads health went to hell and they figured they would be to far from hospitals. But I got online and did some surfing looking at pics and reading about the area.I seen pics of some nice country and big healthy looking elk there.
I never have done any bow hunting but have thought about it a number of times.A lot of the game I shot I was close enough it could have been taken with a bow.
I never have used any type of scent before. It sounds like it can get the critters fired up from what your saying.I have never used a cow call or bugle before either.The rut is over during rifle season any way and they are pretty much calmed down and very seldom answer them any way.Back in the seventies when I was a teen my nieghbor was hunting with my dad and me and I was with my nieghbor
He is a big fella about 6foot4 and has a huge adams apple and can grunt a bull elk up using just his throat.We spooked up a bull one time in heavy brush and it grunted at us thinking we were another bull.
He would grunt back at the elk then stomp his toe into the ground and scratch his foot.He had the bull all fired up and he was crashing all around in the brush stomping and snorting. I was fasinating to watch my nieghbor and then listen to the bull get madder and madder. Finaly the bull started crashing right at us but we could not see him and came almost close enough to see him and get a shot but caught our scent and stopped and blew for a second then turned and crashed off into the brush.
A few minutes later we heard boom and knew once again my Dad had skunked us and we would have to listen to him explain to us he had to shoot our elk for us.When you hunted with my Dad if he shot something he always said it was your elk or deer and he had to shoot it for you so you had to gut it.

 

[azmick]

Payson is a great place. Not too big, not too small. The weather there {compaired to the Phoenix area} is a bit cooler in the summer but a bit colder in the winter too. Nice thing about Payson, in 30 minutes, you can drive up the hill { area 6A, home of some of the biggest elk in Az.} and be 10 degrees cooler or drive 30 minutes down the hill and be 10 degrees warmer. Elk, muleys, white tail, antelope, javalina, turkey, and bear all within a short drive. And not the 'touristy' kind of place that Prescott is {where else is there a Whiskey Row?} and not the college/tourist place that Flagstaff is {too stinking cold}. Payson/Pine and Strawberry are where Barb and I are looking to retire

 

[onenut58]

Azmick I think It would be a realy nice place to live.It appears to have every thing I like to hunt and then some.A nice cabin there would be nice to retire in.I used to get layed off in winter and drove truck until spring. I have been all over the usa. I have been in flagstaff in winter a number of times and it defianaley gets cold there and the snow can pile up pretty good there to.
The idea of retiring in the paysen area has occured to me also. Maybe some day we will be nieghbors.You can come over and we will sit out on the porch with shotguns loaded up with rocksalt and shoot at the sales men like on second hand lions.hehehe