How close

[MT Gianni]

Camouflaged, I had a doe and fawn at 4'. Elk at a scatter, get out of Dodge moment were 10 feet and on the run. I had no tag. I have had birds land on my shoulder on two occasions.

[Bazoo]

I was setting out on a log looking for squirrels when I heard some rustling leaves. It got louder till a young doe walked about 2 feet from me. I could have nudged her with my NEF 20 gauge's muzzle. That was real neat.

This fall, I was talking on the phone out in the yard one evening, letting the dogs do their business when out of nowhere a big ol doe jumps in front of me no more than 8 inches from my head. Turns out the dogs had spooked it and she tried to jump over me. I felt the wind off her.

[big bore 99]

I once was up in a tree blind bowhunting. Got there just at daybreak. I stayed up there about 4 hrs. I gave it up and hit the ground and a big buck jumped up out of the tall grass about 25 ft away and took off. There was a railroad track only about 50 yds away and had 3 freight trains go by in that time and never even spooked him.

[Rick Hodges]

I have sat in brushed in blinds while deer ate the brush....not a foot from me.

[Winger Ed.]

Didn't happen to me, but this thread remined me of a couple of stories:
On another forum there was a guy up in snow country that fed deer in his back yard.
After dark, they'd come in and eat. He started sitting outside on the patio to wait for them. After awhile they didn't spook and came in.
Then he'd move their feeder closer and closer to his patio, and they would still come on up to it.
It took about a year, but one night his wife got a picture of him hand feeding a 4 point while sitting on his patio.

Back in the 1960's a Aunt & Uncle who had a ranch down in the Texas Hill Country found a real small orphan fawn.
They kept it inside the house and bottle fed it until it was healthy enough to go back outside.
It stayed close to the house. It would come to you and get a piece of bread until it was a few months old, and then went back to the wild.

[GhostHawk]

Bigbore that train is no threat to a deer.

I was in a stand overlooking a partially picked corn field one nice oct afternoon.
Farm about 1/4 mile down the road on the other side. 3 does, 2 fawns out browsing some 50 yards from me.

Farm screen door slams, not an ear twitch. Car door opens, slams shut, nada. Motor starts, tires kick gravel, car takes the corner at speed and down the road it goes. Not a head raised.

Tractor starts up, nada.

2 squirrels under me snap a twig and I have 10 eyes and 10 ears radaring me, heads up, tails up. The squirrels went running up a tree, were spotted, identified. Slowly heads went back down.

Normal noises, no matter how strange they seem to us, but stuff that happens daily, weekly. The deer hear, spot, identify, understand it all. And promptly ignore it.

A strange sound in a direction a predator could be approaching from gets their full attention.

My funnest hunting experience was a blue jay who tried to land on my fiberglass arrow shaft when I was hid in a bush. He'd lock on, and slowly start to slip, tip, one way or the other. He tried at least 6 times before giving up. Same day I saw a rough grouse climbing in the same bush as me looking more like a parrot than a grouse.

Squirrel hunting I once had a young one run up the tree, climb onto my toe and give me a piece of his mind. What the heck is this dang boot doing here in the first place. I felt so sorry for the young fool I did not shoot him.

[brewer12345]

I have had them walk up to me as I stood there out in the open. If you don't move, have the wind and are in their path they will just keep coming. Usually when they get within 20 or 25 feet of me I start moving around because I know they are dumb and panicky. Not interested in being stepped on/trampled, gored, etc.

[yeahbub]

On a hunt that should have been planned better, I had snoozed off in a brushy spot where I could see deer when they came out of the trees 30 yards or so away. I had been sitting cross-legged, wrapped up in my sleeping bag with my 12 ga. across my knees, but I had sagged over to the left and woke up looking at the ground - and a hoof - within easy snatching distance. I heard some sniffing above my head and resisted the temptation to grab that leg (and with my luck, find out what kind of championship MMA fighting skills this deer had). After a few seconds or so he/she hurried away a few feet. I looked up and saw a half dozen other ones standing around, watching the bold one check out the odd "blob" on the ground. With several backward glances, they hurried off after that. I watched them go and called it good, determined to not stay up so late the night before the next time I went hunting.

Years ago, when I was squirrel hunting at the Lexington Wildlife Management Area in Oklahoma I was set up against a tree in the bottoms where there were decent stands of forest, waiting for daylight. In the dimness, I thought I spotted movement on the ground 15 or 20 yards out. I watched as a raccoon materialized, sniffing about and coming in my general direction. It was getting closer and started trundling along in a beeline toward me. I thought this thing will be in my lap in a few seconds, so I quietly said, "Hey!" No response. "Hey!", louder. Finally the raccoon took notice and about fell over in total surprise when it got a good look at me from 5 feet away. It looked at me for a long moment and started shambling off, but not in a panic. In a few seconds, it was meandering away, unconcerned, seemingly taking in stride our chance encounter. I was just glad it didn't turn into a close encounter of the unpleasant kind.

[Texas by God]

A friend of mind was in an elevated box blind and a hawk flew in the open window. Fecal matter of both species was expelled according to my friend.

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[NoZombies]

About the distance from my drivers seat to the front of the hood...

They come up to the kitchen window pretty regularly while eating the clover that grows in the yard though, and the kids love that.

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
My closest buck was while I was out backpacking up a mountain in east California on a lonely flat. Was in my bag half awake in the early morning and knew I was not alone. Opened my eyes and slowly stuck my head out of the untied tent flap. Looking over and around the left front of the tent stood the buck looking down at me close enough I could smell his breath. I am not sure whose eyes were the widest at that moment. He jumped spun in the air and was 20 feet away in one instant. But he stopped and turned around just standing there watching me slowly crawl out the open front looking at him. Maybe he went and told all his buck buddies he just saw where humans come from ??

Next next closest buck was while my wife & I were kayaking the North Fork River. Just gliding along with the current I saw a deer at about 50 yards on the right (west) bank laying still. Being curious I turned my kayak slowly to nose up to it. At about 25 yards saw it was a big racked buck. At about 10 yards could see his head clearly with his right eye closed and breathing slow and even. At 5 yards I decided to let my kayak nudge into the bank and touch his rump with my paddle. When the bow very quietly pushed against the grassy bank Mr. Buck's right eye opened quickly and opened very wide. He quickly stood and leaped over me and kayak. I could have grabbed his belly fur or hind legs as he flew overhead.
He ended his short airial display in a true belly flop soaking my backside and kayak rear. I quickly back paddled, turned and escorted him across the channel with my wife not so close on his right side. Could have easily grabbed his antlers. About 6 feet from the approaching bank I stopped and let him honorably exit the water leaving us with one very well directed snort.

My closest deer while hunting was a young buck who came trotting along early one morning following a small dry creek where I was set up in a ground blind between a huge cottonwood and a small maple about 4 feet from the old giant. The creek was only two feet wide at the spot I choose. The young buck can trotting along the far edge headed what would have been up stream. As he got directly opposite of me he was maybe one foot from the muzzle of my caliber .58 Zouave musket. At firing the ball went through the chest but the blast set his fur on fire. Talk about a young buck running like his fur was on fire ! He ran to his right, up a bank, around a tree, back down the bank and kindly slid to a stop maybe 10 feet away.
Mike in Peru

[quilbilly]

I almost got stepped on once by an elk bull while sitting in a bush during mule deer season.

[Walks]

This isn't a Deer story.

Years & years back I was sitting back up against a tree, cocked .357 on top my knee. Full camo, I had rubbed Sage all over my skin & clothes. I had a call in my mouth and a squeaker in my left hand up against my thigh. I was trying to get this antsy coyote to come closer then 125yds. He was working in slowly. The only thing that was moving was my left thumb.

I felt something tug at my left sleeve, and then again.

I looked down and there was a FREAKING BOBCAT Tugging at my sleeve !!!!!!!

I froze & then the coyote moved into the Bobcats eyesight. Bobcat jumped over me, coyote froze and I nailed him at 75yds with a head shot.

One of the best Hunting Experiences of my life.

[RP]

When a doe blows its just like a person lots of spit with that gust of air.

[Thumbcocker]

Got pretty close to these little guys. They couldn't resist the shiny keys.

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[Messy bear]

Fun thread to read!
Last year I was hunting one of my favorite bowhunt spots during deer gun season. Following a trail into the wind, I noticed a small muley buck walking my way. I sat down sideways with one leg across the trail knee pulled up. Watched as he came expecting to see him blow up when he got close. Instead he just walked up and put his nose on my knee. Pulled his head back quickly and went around me on the trail downwind and never looked back. It's amazing how some of them are affected by the rut.

[rking22]

Be glad you didn't have a pocket full of " doe in heat"

[Hickory]

Got pretty close to these little guys. They couldn't resist the shiny keys.

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If you have ever raised sweetcorn you soon find that these little rascals are not so cute.

[dragon813gt]

Had a young doe get close enough that I could have touched her if I wanted to. I was spring turkey hunting and was in the open sitting w/ my back against a small tree. She actually woke me up from a very restful nap.

[Mr_Sheesh]

A friend was camping one time in early summer, just ground cloth and sleeping bag as it was a nice night. About 4am she woke to feel a warm presence snuggled on top of her; Full moon so she could see that it was a skunk... She decided "Well, I might as well go back to sleep" and when she next woke up it was gone. That could have gone FAR worse! She has weird stuff happen to her, I saw someone who was splitting wood (with his back to a 10'x20' puddle so no one would be there accidentally) who she warned she was coming past behind him, he then proceeded to throw the double-bitted axe over his shoulder WAY early, right as she was behind him; I hadn't known that she could teleport but she vanished and re-appeared 20' away on the other side of that pool, from a walk on his side of it. (A few of us then proceeded to have a little safety chat with that guy, it's bad when you split someone's skull with an axe, unless it's the Zombopocalypse and they're a Zombie!) She did a good unprepared broad jump!

Shot a grouse one day here, part of the season .22LR is legal, so I'd head shoot them; No sooner did that grouse flop on the ground but a red blur grabbed it and ran. I hadn't seen that fox before then! Stealthy little beast.