Absolutely one of the neatest days hunting of my life…
Four deer picked their way across the oak flat in front of me. I knew well where they were heading, and wasted no time in circumnavigating the area, heading to the mass of green briar they were sure to enter. I reached the thicket at the same time as the gray-coated does. Each deer passed me at a short twelve yards, never offering a hole to slip my Grizzly tipped shaft through.
Fair enough. Rather than push them from the comfort of their beds, I elected to slowly back out and still hunt through a familiar creek bottom. It was December, and Mother Nature was making sure I was fully aware as I met a gust of bitter wind head on. The fallen leaves did little to help my cause, with each footstep seemingly louder than the last.
Across an ancient, fallen maple, two squirrels enjoyed a game of tag. Another squirrel busied himself with the task of collecting breakfast, conveniently, in my direction. Having never been a picky fellow, I quickly traded the broadhead for a blunt and waited. The hungry squirrel seemed to turn over every leaf in this path on his quest for acorns, and closed the thirty yards slowly.
As my fingers began to strain the Hickory bow’s limbs, I caught movement from the Osage stand to my right. A red fox, much like myself, was hunting the squirrel. Finding this far to interesting to take either, I eased the selfbow down and watched, enthralled in nature’s game of tag.
The fox stalked the rodent with skill enough to turn any cat green with envy, closing the distance quickly and quietly before lying in ambush mere yards from the clueless squirrel (Not more than 15 feet from me...).
Then something happened that took all three of us by surprise; a silent shadow sped through the canopy, barreling down on its quarry at warp speed. The Red-Tailed hawk connected with outstretched talons, instantly killing the squirrel. The fox, obviously surprised and offended that this newcomer should take his brunch, leapt from his ambush and confronted the raptor.
The hawk covered her prize with outstretched wings as the canine circled. In a display intimidating enough to unnerve even me, the hawk shrieked and hissed at the would-be robber, convincing him to search elsewhere for a meal. Once satisfied that the fox was far enough away to cause no further disruption, the hawk collected her victim in her talons and glide gracefully off to parts un-known.
The rest of the morning passed relatively un-eventfully, but the convergence of three predators was more than enough that day. We, as bowhunters and outdoorsman, are truly blessed…
Topic: Three Predators (Read 1028 times)
