I've never seen an albino chipmunk, but I've seen some amazing things in the woods.

That is what I enjoy about hunting, you never know what the day will bring. Killing a deer is sometimes secondary. The enjoyment of watching nature, sometimes provides greater unexpected treasures.

I've had a deer to eat leaves off a vine growing up a tree that I am against (ground hunting, I could have reached out and petted it, if it would have remained still). I've had 6 deer within 5 yards of me while ground hunting. I had 2 deer jump over my bow that I laid down while relieving myself. I thought they were going to run over me, and there was nothing I could do. I'm glad they didn't because I would hate to think what others would have thought, finding me dead in the woods, killed by a deer, with my... well, you get the picture. They just stopped and watched me finish doing my thing, then started snorting at me as I tried to slowly get my bow.

I've seen a bobcat chase a squirrel up a tree, hawks swoop down trying to catch an unsuspecting squirrel or rabbit. I've seen turtles, coyotes, racoons, possums, snakes (one was eating a frog), flying squirrels, armadillos, turkeys, quail, a goat, and even an emu. You talk about an eye-rubbing experience, when that emu popped up over the rise at about 30 yards on Thanksgiving day while I was hunting from the ground. I wish I would have killed it, just for the proof. I would have had the biggest Thanksgiving bird in the country that year.

I've had a bird to land on my boot, squirrels so close I could hear them sniffing at me and thinking they may jump on my head, mistaking it was a knot on the tree (no jokes please, even though I set myself up with that one). I've had deer close to my treestand during an unexpected and quickly developed hailstorm (I was pinned to the tree, trying to protect my head and body - with no regard for the deer, whatsoever). I've had them jump over the trunk of a fallen tree, in which I was hiding in the tree top. So many other memories flood my thoughts, but time and space do not permit me to describe them fully. I'm sure all who spend time in the great outdoors also have similiar experiences.

Watching the world come alive is one of my favorite things to do. Thank God for this wonderful world.