Wildlife encounters not just for trophies

You never know what you’ll see in the woods

By Guy Carl
Outdoors

Memorable outdoor moments come in many forms. Of course you always remember that giant bass you landed, the huge buck you shot, or that beard-dragging turkey you bagged. You have pictures to remind you of these feats, and probably a trophy on your wall as well.

And the ones that got away, well, those burn a special place in your memory too.

But there is so much more to an outdoor adventure than what bit on your line or wandered into your gun sights that day. A chance sighting or unexpected encounter with wildlife can be every bit as memorable.

Whenever I’m outdoors, I am always on the lookout for anything I can see, hear, or even smell. It’s amazing what you can find out there if you just keep alert for it.

On a recent turkey hunting trip, I was fortunate to have two entertaining encounters with wildlife on the same morning.

The night watch-bird

I was hiking my way to the spot I had picked out to set up for the morning fly-down. It was still dark, but the eastern sky was beginning to show the first signs of light.

Midway up a particularly steep embankment I paused to catch my breath, and to take a quick listen. It was too dark to really see much, so my eyes naturally turned towards the narrow band of pale blue between the eastern horizon and the star-filled sky above.

Against this backdrop I caught the perfect silhouette of a great horned owl, perched atop a dead tree branch not more than 30 yards away!

I smiled at my good fortune for having stopped at the only place on the hill where I could have spotted him.

With his excellent night vision he easily spotted me too, even though I was dressed in full camouflage and was doing my best silent sneaking.

We watched each other for a few moments. Then he called out, leaning forward with extra emphasis as if to say, “Hooo-h-who is this suspicious-looking character sneaking through my territory in the dark?”

I gave him a reassuring smile in an effort to communicate that I meant no harm to him or his family. But he called out again, this time with a heightened shrillness to his tone that was clearly intended to alert the entire forest to my presence.

I think I even saw him pointing at me with one wing while advising, “watch out, he’s right over there,” to the unseen masses behind him.

So instead of digging for my camera to snap what I thought would be a pretty cool photo, I decided to move on before every turkey in the county knew right where I was!

Camo field test

I quietly hurried off to my chosen hunting spot. I set up my plastic hen turkey decoy in a small clearing, and sat down under a small tree about 20 yards away.

Daylight began to reveal the details of the landscape. I put the finishing touches on my camouflage by slipping on a facemask and gloves.

It was a warm spring morning so I just wore overall pants and a hooded sweatshirt, both in the Seclusion 3D pattern. I find this pattern blends in well with the local terrain, and the 3D effect gives the illusion of natural depth.

I could hear turkeys gobbling nearby, but none came my way. However, I did get another kind of visitor when a deer wandered into the clearing to breakfast on the fresh spring grasses.

At first she was just casually glancing from side to side between bites, not overly concerned about the immediate surroundings. But then, suddenly, she became extremely nervous — she had spotted something amiss!

But it wasn’t me that caught her attention. It was a small dark object in the middle of the clearing that had her worried. My turkey decoy was a serious threat!

Every muscle in her body tensed as she stood up straight and stared anxiously at the intruder. Just like a cartoon character’s shocked expression in response to a horrifying sight, her eyes bugged out and her neck jerked straight up. She did a double-take and her neck went straighter, then a triple-take, a quadruple-take — I lost count of how many takes!

She stood completely frozen for a good minute, not even blinking. Then she took a brief, nervous look around, but her head quickly swiveled right back to watch the decoy. She really did not trust that, that whatever-it-was standing there in the clearing.

After a while her stomach began to beg for bite of grass, but before her head had dipped halfway down she caught herself and reverted to her straight-necked stare at the decoy. At least three or four times she went for a bite, but just couldn’t bring herself to release her watch long enough for even a quick nibble. This went on for several minutes.

Finally she looked forward and took a short step, but then immediately the eyes were right back on the decoy. She took a hurried look around and another quick step, then the head jerked back towards it again.

In this manner she slowly skirted her way around the clearing, all the while maintaining a safe 20-yard distance from the decoy. What she didn’t realize is that she was skirting directly towards the small tree under which I was hiding! In her quick glances around she looked right at me several times, but with no sense of alarm. It was all about the decoy.

Finally, when she had reached within 15 feet of me, she realized I might be as much of a concern as the decoy. She might have come even closer if I wasn’t wiggling around trying to stifle my laughter at the deer’s comical, nervous antics!

Eventually she wandered off, thoroughly confused but grateful to escape attack by the strange plastic creature in the clearing.

I’m not quite sure what this encounter says about my decoy – I can’t imagine a deer would have been this upset about a real hen turkey. But my camouflage passed the test with flying colors!

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bdcocpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.outdoors@sbcglobal.net.

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