Hunter scratches buck’s head
Deer hunting is all about stealth. You have to sneak slowly to your stand. When you see a deer, the very act of breathing too heavily will get you busted — and leave you with nothing but a memory.
Right?
Well, that’s the traditional wisdom, but one hunter videoing a basket-racked buck was stunned when the deer walked right up him for some nice head scratching time.
“In my 12 years of hunting or the additional decade of experiences of going hunting with my dad and uncles, I have never seen or experienced anything like this,” Jordan Maxon wrote about his Youtube video posted in October 2016.
The video starts with a buck easing out of the woods into an opening in front of Maxon.
“I had just finished hanging a new stand in an area that I frequently saw deer traveling and feeding,” the hunter explained. “Just wearing jeans and a T-shirt, I spent about 20 to 30 minutes setting up a new spot. After everything was setup, I put my camo on and got ready to climb up in my new spot, but figured I’d turn around and see if anything had come in or been walking in in the meantime — and this buck was 70 yards away, so I figured I’d wait for him to leave the clearing.”
The deer was in no hurry.
“… (A)fter 5 minutes of standing there he wouldn’t leave, so in efforts not to spook him, I just sat at the base of my tree and waited,” Maxon said. “(B)ut before he left the clearing the most unreal thing I’ve ever experienced while hunting happened.”
The young buck walked in front of Maxon, and stopped and looked right at the camoflaged hunter. After a staring for a few seconds, the deer put its head down and began meandering around the hunter’s left.
Soon, the deer was just paces away from Maxon, staring at the hunter as if trying to figure out what he is.
When the buck takes several more steps and is what looks like just arm’s length away, Maxon makes a blowing sound and stands up.
Predictably, the deer spooks and hops away.
And then the unthinkable happens: The buck stops, turns around and starts walking right back toward Maxon, who begins making clucking noises as if calling a horse.
Maxon takes a step closer to the deer, all the while clucking to keep the animal calm.
The deer soon steps around a stump and walks right up to the stunned hunter. It licks Maxon’s hand, and the hunter begins scratching the deer between the eyes and ears — which meets with apparent approval from the young buck.
“Glad I took the time to take this video,” Maxon wrote. “(It’s) a little long, but worth the watch.”
