Here a Buck, There a Buck, Everywhere a Buck Buck

I awoke this morning to the sound of rainfall. It was a little disappointing to hear that sound because my Mighty Hunter had plans to take down the great buck this day but deer don’t come out when it is raining.
I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was only 4a.m. Perhaps the rain would let up by sunrise and there would still be time to hunt. I quietly slid out of bed, not wanting to disturb the Mighty Hunter, and went downstairs to watch the weather report.
Sure enough, the report stated it was early morning showers which would be stopping soon and clear sky was coming in behind it. Perfect for hunting! I got G.I. Joe rollin’ and made breakfast. By the time I left with G.I. Joe towards town the rain had quit.
Upon my return home I suggest to the Mighty Hunter that he might want to get out on the hunt this morning, seemed the perfect conditions for a good hunt. Of course he just kind of grinned at me--what do I know about hunting, right? It’s not like I’ve ever been out in the pasture up in a tree stand to observe every intricate detail of deer behavior. So we made plans to do some running around in the morning and then the Mighty Hunter and his faithful sidekick Psycho Seth would head out for an afternoon hunt.
We gathered a few things we needed for our errands and headed out to load up in the Flaming Minivan of Death. Down the driveway we went. No sign of deer, no shots ringing on the still morning air. Just a beautiful, quiet, overcast morning, the grounds freshly washed from the gentle rain.
We pulled out onto the highway and drove about a half of a mile when, to our right, standing right smack in the middle of a wide open pasture was a buck. A nice young buck. We slowed and admired him from about 30 yards away and he just turned and watched the car as we went by.
Well, kind of funny to see a buck out this late in the morning.
Along on down the highway we go--over the river and through the woods as it were. Three miles later I glance out my passenger side window as a flicker of white catches my eye. Sure enough, there’s a nice big doe standing in a pasture right next to an electric fence.
Then I see him.
The great buck!
He stands just on the other side of the electric fence, all attention fixed on the beautiful doe.
I jump in my seat and yell to the Mighty Hunter who immediately applies full brakes and puts the car in reverse (maneuvering as only the Flaming Minivan of Death can). We back up and the view that unfolds is one of those rare scenes which just stays with you until the day you die: Standing about 20 yards in front of us is a great, magnificent buck--huge, wide rack just bristling with points. It was difficult to count how many but there had to be at least 12, probably closer to 14 points. He stood there in all his regal glory daring us to take a breath.
A truck coming toward us from the other direction on the highway slowed to see what we were staring at and as the driver caught sight of the great buck I watched his eyes bulge and his mouth drop open. I’m pretty sure at this point beautiful light shown down from the heavens and an angelic melody rang through the air.
But I didn’t hear it, only the guys did, because of course I’m not a hunter and I don’t know anything about deer.
After shaking the Mighty Hunter from his deer-induced stupor, we continued on our journey down the highway. Soon we came to our turn-off which is a dirt road running along farm area. Along we sped, dodging the worst of the potholes and running over the old-troll bridge. Another mile or two down the road we glanced into yet another open pasture and sure enough, there stands yet another beautiful buck, maybe 20 feet from the road, just watching us drive on by.
As we continued our journeys through the morning we saw several more deer--one running across the road right in front of our car, another along the side, in the ditch next to the road, another standing right in the middle of a road we went past. All in all we saw nearly a dozen deer this morning.
But of course that was all just luck because I don’t know nothing’ about the behavior of deer or when is the best time to be out huntin’. ;)