Disappearing Act

By A. Sayward Lamb

This is another instance to substantiate the fact that it is possible to have a deer in your rifle’s sights, and still not get a shot at it. This happened to me one year, in early November, when I went hunting at Sanborn Valley, in South Woodstock. The ground was bare, and it was a crisp morning, with no wind. Just a nice quiet morning for still hunting. I chose to hunt up the mountainside along a ridge that runs parallel to Sanborn Brook.

I walked through the woods very slowly, stopping every few steps to watch and listen for deer that might be feeding on the beechnuts, that were very plentiful in the area that year. I had gone about a quarter of a mile when I happened to catch a motion to my right. I stopped and scrutinized that spot, and at first I thought I might have been “seeing things”, because I noticed nothing there. A moment later I saw the head of a doe, as she stretched her neck up high, in order to nibble leaves on the low lying branches of a hardwood tree. I watched her for a minute or two, and when she put her head back down I brought the rifle up to my shoulder, getting ready to fire a shot.

I aimed the rifle on the spot where I had last seen her head and neck. Shortly, the doe brought her head up to feed on the leaves again. I could only see her head and neck, so I took aim at her neck, and was about ready to squeeze the trigger, when a shot rang out right behind me! It sounded very close, so I thought someone else must have also seen this same deer. When the shot was fired, the doe disappeared instantly, and being distracted by the shot, I never saw where she went. Thinking the other hunter must have shot her, I stood where I was for several minutes, listening attentively. No one else showed up, so I walked towards the spot where the doe had been standing, about two hundred feet away. There was nothing there. Whatever happened to the deer and where the shot came from were a complete mystery to me.

That evening I found the answer to the question. A friend of mine, Jim Young, was hunting along the other side of Sanborn brook, from me. He told me he had shot a deer in that area that morning. From what he told me, I believe he was no more that two hundred yards away from me when he fired that shot. No wonder it sounded so loud! He also said he had no idea that anyone else was in the area. Of course, I had no way of knowing that he was nearby. It was just by sheer coincidence that he happened to shoot just as I was taking aim on the doe I was watching. . Fortunately, this is something that has happened to me only twice. Another story of mine entitled: “Close–But Not Close Enough.” , tells of a similar happening. Needless to say, it is quite a let-down, especially when you are sure the deer in your sights is going to be yours, and it doesn’t end up that way.