The winter of 1986, christmas time, I was doing morning chores for my great uncle Elwin near our farm in southern Utah. He had gone on a trip to spend time with his children for the holidays and I was in charge of his farm for the four days he was gone. One morning while feeding his cattle I saw a mule deer in the barley field about 150 yards away. Deer were rare that low in the valley so we would see them only occasionally, twice per year was an average sighting in the community.
The chores took only a few minutes and I kept my eye on the doe while I hurriedly fed the cattle, chopped the ice in the water trough, and gave the horses a taste of oats and alfalfa. I was on my way across the field to get a closer look at the doe. Between the time that I first noticed her and when I got the chores done she had moved from the ditch bank to the 10 acre orchard of peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, and apples. She had disappeared into the fruit trees as soon as I finished my duties. My 14 year old brain was focused in, my heart was on fire, and I covered the 300 yards across the pasture and barley field to the orchard like a marathon runner pased and steady taking care to not twist an ankle on the frozen ground. As I closed in to the trees I slowed and watched under the branches. The trees had not yet been pruned for the year so the branches were thick and hard to see through. The sun had not yet risen, it was cold, the wind was coming toward me from the north so I believed that the deer may be close and not know that I was there. I fell to my knees to see better through the thick branches, quickly I surveyed the light on the other side of the orchard from the north to the east At first I could not make out the doe but I had been hunting enough to know that the best thing to do at this point was to stay still and quiet for at least a few minutes and just watch the daylight get brighter. This is when I began to think. Up til now I was operating on adrenaline and I hadn’t used my head. I hadn’t made a mistake yet of scaring the deer but I started questioning my every move from the barn to where I now sat quietly waiting. I was disappointed because I thought I would not see the deer again. So I sat there being pretty hard on myself trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Was I too noisey running? Did the deer see me? Had I done something else wrong? I couldn’t think of anything. Then without warning I saw a deer emerge from a tree gazing toward me 50 yards away. I suddenly forgot all previous emotion and was filled with extreme joy. Instantly I was thinking in stalking mode again. The breeze was in my favor taking my scent away from the keen nostrils of the deer. She was eating contently and walking slowly as she ate. I had the plan clearly and perfectly in my mind. As soon as her eye went behind the tree where it would be blind to me I would quickly and silently advance forward and then stop an instant before the eye of the deer came out from the other side. This was a good plan but I made a fatal mistake. It was an assumption I had made because of the rarity of deer in our little desert valley. The deers head disappeared I moved forward perfectly. No panther has ever executed such an honorable display. I made no noise, I covered a good distance, I was close to my prey, and is head came out just as planned to meet me completely still, to the doe’s perception I was only a rock, or a stump, it continued grazing content. Then to both (if both can exist together) my horror, and complete delight another deer appeared in my sight 50 yards behind the first one. The problem was this deer was walking very nervous and cautious, looking right at me. I knew it had seen me move and it was trying to figure out what I was.It quickly trotted away in an act of defense which alarmed the deer I had been stalking. Stalking a single deer can be done but stalking a herd is nearly impossible because the predator cannot keep track of all the eyes and see who is watching and who is not. As they trotted away I watched with amazement as eight does quickly left the orchard.
What I learned:
Original observation :Deer
My Decision: get as close to the deer as possible, just to enjoy it’s beauty, touch it if possible.
My first action: finish chores so I could commit the time it would take to reach my goal.
Accomplishment # 1 I got as close as possible without the deer ever knowing it
Mistake # 1 I let myself believe it was my fault that the deer weren’t in the orchard even though I had obeyed the laws of a proper stalk for those circumstances.
Accomplishment # 2 I held still even though I believed the deer already left the orchard
Mistake # 2 I assumed the deer was alone. I should have checked more closely And waited in my concealed spot for the deer to get as close to me as possible before I advanced toward it.
Accomplishment # 4 I let the deer leave the orchard completely before moving so I did not further alarm them as to my presence as a threat.
