A hunter’s remorse (Use this one, it works!)

I never got a good look at the deer. All of a sudden, it was standing there, 50 yards away. (It is true that last fall, on the fifth day of the season, I had an inappropriate relationship with a buck.)

I was looking the other way when I heard a crunch. I turned. (It was a critical lapse in judgement.)

When I realized it was an eight pointer, I raised my rifle but forgot …

At first, it was only a faint squeak that caught my attention. Then, the telltale snap of the smallest twig. Drawing upon my finely honed hunting skill acquired from over a quarter century of combat with the mighty whitetail, I turn my gaze slowly, pinpointing nature’s alarm bells like a hunting machine.

Fawn bleat, crack, crunch… multiple deer! Instincts take over. Brain begins to battle physical reaction of muscle twitches. Twitches become spasms. Brown moving – one deer. Flash of white …