The closest I've ever been to a wild deer, was a buck last November while out for a trail run before work in a nature preserve in the suburban Detroit area. I came around a corner and saw the buck, it was before sunrise but light enough to see him. He had a real nice rack that was well past his ears with nice length to his tines and 8-10 pts. I stood behind a tree and watched him as he stared at me for several moments, until I thought about the Rut and took off down the trail, wasn't sure if a whitetail buck would come after me due to the rut. But it was quite a thrill.