I have posted this before on the Internet. It is a paper I wrote for my first English Comp. class in 1994. It is about my first deer taken with a bow many years earlier, what I heard, smelled and felt. I still hunt that area and took a nice fat doe there this year about 20 yds from that old oak. Hope you enjoy.
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Encounter at Dusk
Was that a movement up there, or was it a leaf flipped up by the soft autumn breeze?
In the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by dense woods, stands a large white oak. For two hours the only sound to be heard is an occasional acorn falling through the great canopy of leaves and limbs just before it drops softly into the tall grass growing beneath the weathered old tree. There are no birds in the big oak this day, nor squirrels for that matter, which is unusual.
Was that a small quick movement half way up in the white oak? The trunk of the tree peeks out through large overhanging limbs still covered with big green leaves. It has been a cool, overcast day. The fresh smell of cedar trees is carried into the clearing by the gentle breeze. Occasionally the musty fragrance of the earth is so strong that it seems as if the soil has been freshly turned with a spade.
Dusk is rapidly approaching now and still no birds have come to roost in the white oak. This is uncommon because a large tree of this size in an open area is an irresistible spot for the roosting birds of central Oklahoma.
From a distance of three miles the faint but regular sound of a natural gas fueled motor pumping oil from deep within the earth can barely be heard. It is amazing how quiet it becomes just at dusk when the last light is turning gray. All sounds that are not natural are magnified just like the thump... thump... thump of the pumping unit.
What is that movement there in front of the white oak? It is pale gray, just like the dusk. The silhouette is a strain to make out, even at twenty yards. If it were not for the cream color of the antler tips, he would be all but invisible.
The movement in the white oak is so slow and deliberate that it can only be sensed, not detected.
In front of the white oak the young buck's senses are on full alert as he flicks his ears, straining to pick up any hint of danger. His eyes search the underbrush for movement as he sniffs the breeze for an uncommon scent. Finally, the buck makes a fatal mistake. Warily, he lowers his head to browse on the tall grass. At that moment, a very faint sound comes from the old oak, a subtle noise that mimics a person spitting. As the buck hears the sound he responds by instantly dropping to a crouch and then exploding into motion. He whirls in a complete circle and starts to run toward the heavy woods, but the startled animal's pace quickly slows to a trot, then to a walk. The buck travels forty yards, stumbles and lies down.
From the canopy of the white oak comes yet another foreign sound. A small flame appears and then melts into the orange glow of a cigarette as the bowhunter tries to quiet his pounding heart.
Dave
:-)
