A Forest Encounter

I was up at the butt-crack of dawn. I loaded my gear, my bow and snacks and made my way into the woods. It took me a few wrong turns to find my tree blind. I haven’t been in a few years and some trees and bushes had grown enormous in the time that I was away.

Hauling my gear and bow, I lumbered up the makeshift ladder onto the blind platform.It was a lovely dawn with purple and orange dusky hues escorting the sun to the horizon. I settled in, spread my gear, opened my snacks and sat there with my bow…waiting…waiting.

The moment I picked up my first snack, I saw a deer, a beautiful doe and she saw me. It was the exact moment that the golden rays of the sun blinded me. I bobbled my snack and it dropped to the leaf covered ground below.

I watched as the doe crept over and sniffed the chip, she sniffed it again and looked up at me with curiosity as she stuck her tongue out and licked it up. She backed away munching and looked up at me again, seemingly to ask for another. I looked at her as she pawed the ground with her hoof. She stamped the ground, demanding another.

I dropped another chip and she licked it up. I sat there and fed my chips to the doe. It was at this time, I put my arrow back into the quiver and shared my snack with this deer watching the forest wake up to this beautiful fall day. I didn’t get my deer tag, but I left knowing two lives were saved that day.


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