robschmidt

I'm writing a story about a fictional character. Part of the story involves a hunting ritual in a Southern forest—sort of a rite-of-passage thing. The character is supposed to stalk a deer and get as close as possible without spooking it.

This hunt isn't the main part of the story, so I don't want to dwell on it. But I'm trying to make it dramatic, not cut-and-dried. So I'm trying to think of a few incidents that would increase the tension along the way, delay the outcome.

An obvious incident would be something like stepping on a twig and startling the deer, or accidentally rousting another animal from its nest or burrow. But I want to come up with more creative incidents, if possible. Incidents that will show the character is truly a hunter, that he knows how to outthink a deer.

Any ideas?

In “Oh No! I Shot a Doe” (http://www.whitetaildeer.com/article...e.asp?a_ID=256), Bob Hendricks writes:

“I wish I had a dollar for every time a smart and alert doe has busted me. I had one old gal that I hunted in particular and had promised if I could kill her I was going to have her head mounted and put up on the wall with my trophy bucks. She was smart, adaptable and knew every trick in the book.”

What are some of the tricks deer play? They might work in my story too.

Thanks for your help,

Rob

nodog

Wish you well. Sounds like a great story. Don't know if this is what your after but I used the comings and goings of a group of starlings to stalk up on a nice deer. They make an awful racket and sound like a baseball bat being swung over your head when the take off. Great cover.

Maybe you could have the predator being the prey of another predator. Those are always good.

defectivedabbler

Maybe give readers something they didn't expect ?

Two bucks going at it. Being chased by a hog. Being chased by a preditor. WItnessing a gator snatching a deer off of the bank.

I really like the preditor angle.

Whatever you decide, perhaps it should be from the perspective of helping readers get to know to your character. Make the character's experience, while not a focal point of his life, at least a building block for who your character is or will become in the book. Or he can somehow draw upon what he learned in the experience later in the book without you ever having to mention it.

My 2 cents.

Jimmy S

Rob....Just a couple of thoughts....
I would emphasize how difficult it is to out-think a deer. His sense of smell separates the contenders from the pretenders. It has been said that man cannot conceive how well a deer can smell and that he is constantly, 100% of the time alert for danger and he knows every square inch of woods in his home range.

By "setting the table" and explaining what this hunter is up against, may shed a different light on how difficcult it may be....

Good Luck...

danowak

Like most hunters, I enjoy the simple pleasure of just being in the woods and watching the wildlife doing what they do. Once I was watching a small buck feeding out of bow range. All of a sudden, he picked his head up and stood still like a statue. 30 secods later, a small black bear ambled up between me and the buck. We both watched the bear stop, get upon his hind legsand sniff the air, get back down again and amble off. I was downwind of both of them so neither animal knew I was there.P.S.the deer walked off soon after the bear and disappeared, but itwas neat toobserve thisclose encounter.

i shoot stuff

a gunshot spooking the deer or it beding down and the kid dosnt see it

Trapper_Hunter

sounds like it would be a pretty cool story

nchawkeye

It would help if we had some more info...Southern forest are usually pretty thick and don't lend themselves well to stalking...What is this hunters experience level??? Has he been a small game hunter and just took up deer?? Is he hunting in 1805? 1905? 2005? What is his weapon of choice??

That being said...Back in the mid 70s...I used to hunt a big block of woods across from our old homeplace...My younger brother and I were going to hunt that woods on Thanksgiving morning...we were both in college...I was using a Remington 1100 deer shotgun...loaded with one slug and backed up with buckshot...Well, brother slept in...told me to go ahead and kill the big buck that we had seen feeding in the beans that summer....As I slipped down the old logging road a covy of quail flushed ahead of me about 50 yards ahead...I took a postion behind a pine because I knew I hadn't flushed the covy....I had my gun up...and a doe slowly stuck her head out of the woods and crossed the path....right behind her was a beautiful 9 point buck...he stepped into the path, and looked in my direction...I dropped him with one slug into the shoulder....After field dressing him I returned home...Mom had breakfast ready, little brother was just getting up, when he came to the table he said "So did you get him?"
I said "I sure did after breakfast I need for you to help me drag him out".....Of course, he didn't believe me...Until we went back to drag him home....

robschmidt

Some good ideas here: startling birds to create a diversion...another animal interposing itself...having the deer duck and temporarily disappear.

If it helps any, the story is supposed to be timeless. It could be set in 1805 or 2005. The hunter is experienced at hunting deer. His weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. In fact, he could be an Indian from years ago as well as a non-Indian from today.

If Southern forests are too overgrown, how far would you have to go from the Deep South to find one that isn't overgrown?

What else does a deer do besides stand still like a statue while scanning for danger?

Rob

knifemakerbill

you might include what i saw a really smart doe do once. dogs were running the doe and she came up beside my deer stand. tounge hanging out, sides heaving. she ran up with her nose to the ground. she found where another doe had walked past me about 20 min. earlier. she went down that trail for about 20 feet till she was even with a small briar patch/thicket. she took a great leap into the briars and lay there watching her back trail. the dogs came up, made the turn on the older trail, and took off on the fresh doe. about 10 min. later, the doe stood up, jumped back on the trail, and walked back past me going in the opposite direction. pretty smart old doe. swapped out on the dogs and they never knew what happened! i had a grand view from about 15 yards away to the whole thing. would have been a great shot on either doe, but season was buck only!