Shrewd Doe

[chowder]

Greg's comment about the difficulty of taking mature does w/ a bow reminded me of an incredible incident I witnessed about 15 years ago. I had 2 stands in a funnel leading to a crop field. They were set up to allow me to hunt the travel route under 2 different wind patterns, I could see one stand from the other. Ok, I get busted by a really big doe the first week and I keep an eye out for her b/c she is distinctive and she "looks up". Never see her again till almost the end of bow and she is on pins & needles so I'm sure she is trying to avoid a buck, I'm in the other stand on this day, not the one she busted me in.What came next was incredible cuz here comes dummy, crashing out of the tucker brush after her, she bolts around trying to lose him but he's a basket rack 7 w/ nothing else to do so he pesters the daylights out of her. Eventually she leads him right in front of the stand she busted me in two times, the 2cd time she was way out in front of him and she stops about 50 yards from the stand she busted me in and looks right at it from 3 different head angles as if to say " where's that guy w/ the stick & string when you need him?" I nick named her the Black Widow but alas I never saw her ever again...

[W.W.IV.]

Chowder I think you hit the nail on the head,many times I have had doe bring bucks to me and stop and watch the show. They came down time tested runs and doesn't prove much. On an other hunt,same stand the wind started switching around,I like to use a little coon urine as cover sent when that happens but I was out. I did have a bottle of apple cider in the back pack so I let some run down the side of the tree. Shortly here comes a nice doe and two kids about 20yds out and stop,she checks the air,walks up to the tree and sniffs it and looks up at me. she didn't spook and run she just walked off with the kids.Maybe 5min.later here they come on the run right under my stand and up the hill. I looked to see what spooked her and here comes a dandy 8pt. He came to about 30yds, no shoot. She know I was there and I thank she had a plan. Or it sure looked like it. What do you think, are we reading to much into this?

[Reel Doc]

I do not think you're reading into it at all. I think just like our own mothers, they are more protective of the kids than Dads are. As a result, they know their surroundings better, and oh by the way, we let them go over and over while the bucks get fewer second chances. Then, cloud the male psyche with hormone urges and bucks are apt to make the same mistakes that we woke up next to after an evening of pops at the local drinking establishment.

Greg