The Rut is On!

By Mike Faulk

This old boy threw caution to the wind chasing three does into the mouth of the sluice and to within 40 yards of my position. He tried to keep all three rounded up but paid special attention to the largest doe which kept moving away from his entreaties.

Earlier, at daybreak, I had watched three other does run and stop and run and stop. True to form, they were being chased by a sizable 9 point buck that displayed a swollen neck and considerably more caution that the buck pictured above.

Deciding the 5 X 4 was a shooter, I lowered my binoculars, retrieved my Remington 700BDL, and located him in the Leupold 4X12 power scope.

Alas, I remembered loading the magazine but had not chambered a round. Sure enough, the faintest metallic click made as that shell was loaded spooked him. With self-disgust, I watched as he and his harem ran away.

I could hear Dad's voice, "Son, that's why they call it hunting instead of killing."