We decide to split the expanse of east facing slopes that are broken by small east/west trending valleys into two, from north to south. I'm glassing the south half, he is glassing the north half.
My half has the does.
I can't help but focus on them. But I know I need to watch the rest of the country. I scan the other valleys and the east facing slopes above them. But every 5 minutes I return to the does and count them. I am praying the number goes up each time.
They are meandering down valley. I do quick scan of the country and return to them, I count, I count again, then one more time.... I whisper to my buddy "we have a 7th deer..."
He says "are you serious?" and I quickly reply "you betcha"
I count again. Seven deer. I'm watching intently as they walk in a broken line down valley. I'm focusing on the last one, it looks like a doe from this distance, as I watch I see it scoot forward as the doe in front of it stops, it drops it's head... and then it leans in for a butt sniff.
"We have a butt sniffer!" I loudly whisper. It's about 3:05. This is all the information we need. I immediately follow with "pack up, time to hike."
The deer have worked their way down valley to a small flat spot on the furthest slope. We think we have a pretty surefire line to stalk our way up the ridge opposite on our side of them:
red is the deer, yellow is us
We work our way down and to our right. Walk up a flat ridge to get eyes on where the deer were; they are still meandering, in no hurry. We drop back down in the wash below us.
As we pick our way through it we occasionally come across small deer carcasses, some bleached by the sun with intact rib cages, missing heads and legs; we also find some legs that are not yet bleached by the sun. I imagine large rain events have probably pulled some of these bones from up higher as these small canyon bottoms turn into small creeks during thunderstorms. I wonder if these bones are the result of lions or hunters; predators nonetheless I presume.
But we don't stop to ponder these things. We press ever so slowly onward, waiting to reach the intersection with the larger canyon opposite the deer, in hopes to sneak up on the ridge and be within range of deer that have not been carried away by whatever it be that carried them away.
My half has the does.
I can't help but focus on them. But I know I need to watch the rest of the country. I scan the other valleys and the east facing slopes above them. But every 5 minutes I return to the does and count them. I am praying the number goes up each time.
They are meandering down valley. I do quick scan of the country and return to them, I count, I count again, then one more time.... I whisper to my buddy "we have a 7th deer..."
He says "are you serious?" and I quickly reply "you betcha"
I count again. Seven deer. I'm watching intently as they walk in a broken line down valley. I'm focusing on the last one, it looks like a doe from this distance, as I watch I see it scoot forward as the doe in front of it stops, it drops it's head... and then it leans in for a butt sniff.
"We have a butt sniffer!" I loudly whisper. It's about 3:05. This is all the information we need. I immediately follow with "pack up, time to hike."
The deer have worked their way down valley to a small flat spot on the furthest slope. We think we have a pretty surefire line to stalk our way up the ridge opposite on our side of them:
red is the deer, yellow is us
We work our way down and to our right. Walk up a flat ridge to get eyes on where the deer were; they are still meandering, in no hurry. We drop back down in the wash below us.
As we pick our way through it we occasionally come across small deer carcasses, some bleached by the sun with intact rib cages, missing heads and legs; we also find some legs that are not yet bleached by the sun. I imagine large rain events have probably pulled some of these bones from up higher as these small canyon bottoms turn into small creeks during thunderstorms. I wonder if these bones are the result of lions or hunters; predators nonetheless I presume.
But we don't stop to ponder these things. We press ever so slowly onward, waiting to reach the intersection with the larger canyon opposite the deer, in hopes to sneak up on the ridge and be within range of deer that have not been carried away by whatever it be that carried them away.
