Turkey and the doe

 

It must have been a blue moon last week because I looked out the kitchen window and saw a deer in our field.

We live on a fairly big piece of land – a mixture of forest, meadow and crop fields, so you would assume that we see the occasional deer. I guess the property is just big enough to keep them happy without the need to come in sight of the house, because they rarely do. We know they are there because their little high-heeled hooves stamp patterns into the snow and soft earth of the fields. The rams make scrape marks on the trails, marking with their scent to claim their territory. They also scrape their antlers against the rough bark of the trees to relieve themselves of the downy felt of youth.

The Farmer had been out hunting wild turkey earlier in the day, so I’m surprised all that activity didn’t scare the doe into hiding. Quite the contrary – in fact, she appeared to be carrying on a consultation with the aforementioned wild turkey in the middle of the field directly following the hunt.

When I told my husband what I saw, he was so surprised he went and got his binoculars.

“But I was just out there a minute ago,” he said.

“They must have been watching you. Now they are discussing your skills,” I smiled.

The next day he headed out again and once more he returned without having fired his gun.

“See anything?” I asked.

“Nope,” he replied.

Ten minutes later I was doing the dishes when something caught my eye out the window. The deer was back. This time she had a beau with her and they were bounding around in a circle. They were actually frolicking in the same field I saw her in with the turkey the day before. Bizarre. I reported my discovery to the Farmer.

“No way!” he declared. “Where? Show me.”

“Same place as yesterday!” I said. “Seems to me if you want to see a deer or turkey you might consider hanging out in those cedars beyond the stone fence. They know where your tree stands are, and they are staying clear of them.”

Advice from someone who will never hunt to someone who has been hunting every season for the past 50 years.

My husband doesn’t hunt at the cottage, and there are plenty of deer there to entertain him. At sunset they pick their way through the old abandoned apple orchard beside our cottage lot. Sometimes they tiptoe through our property, bounding away and flashing the white underside of their tails when they hear the dog coming.

 

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