# company in the woods!!!!



## ditchdoc24 (Apr 7, 2008)

I went to a tract of land that our club leases in Monroe County trying to get a gobbler.  When I'm in the woods, I always check behind me every few minutes when I'm walking down a trail. Well, this time when I turned my head to check my back, I had an unexpected visitor

This guy was walking along behind me and about scared the tar out of me. I almost shot him out of reflex. Anyways, he hung around with me as I was walking along and would walk right up to me. I was busy snapping pics with my phone and trying to figure out what he was doing.

Anyways, I figured that I wasn't going to be very effective at turkey hunting while I was being followed around by a yearling buck, so I started walking back to the truck. The buck had walked off into the brush but he came running up the trail looking for me. He stopped for a second about 10 yards behind me and then began following along as I walked almost a half mile back to the truck. He would walk behind me for a ways, then speed up and walk in front of me for a ways. He walked with me all the way to my truck and wandered around while I took off my vest, unloaded the gun and put it all away. He ran off a little ways when I started my truck and backed around to head out the gate. When I last saw him, he was wandering around our camp as I was driving out towards the gate. My question is this, has this happened to anyone else before? Do yall think he was someone's pet? I've never heard of anything like this before.


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## Unicoidawg (Apr 7, 2008)

Well at least ya had your camera phone or nobody would have believed ya............. Man that would have been cool if you'd had a video camera.


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## Hooked On Quack (Apr 7, 2008)

He was looking for your corn pile.


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## ditchdoc24 (Apr 7, 2008)

Unicoidawg said:


> Well at least ya had your camera phone or nobody would have believed ya............. Man that would have been cool if you'd had a video camera.



My phone can do video clips, I never thought about it. I was just trying to get as many pics as I could. I called my buddy Gary (cgn526) and my wife as I was walking back to the truck. I don't think either of them would have believed me without pics.


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## K80 (Apr 7, 2008)

That's hard to believe even with pics.


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## BPR (Apr 7, 2008)

I suspect that he was raised in captivity.  Maybe someone raised him and released him after deer season?

Pretty cool, but I think I would run him off if I saw him again.  He won't last long next fall helping people to their deer stands.


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## Stan in SC (Apr 7, 2008)

*little buck*

What a neat occurrence.I envy you having that happen.

Stan


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## 11P&YBOWHUNTER (Apr 7, 2008)

Yes i have heard of this before on two accounts...one was a lost pet deer from a neighbors enclosure and the second account was of a deer that followed my dog and I home from the top of a mountain.  The deer even walked down the side of a road for a piece.  ONe car that was coming towards me screeched to a halt and sai "There's a deer behind you!!"  I looked at the lady and was like...NO Kidding!!" but not in such pleasant words.  Anyway, when i got home we called the ECO for my area (Game Warden) and he came out to investigate.  The deer stood next to the stone wall near my house the whole time.  When the ECO showed up i almost got a beating from my uncle for fibbing but a few minutes later the ECo and my uncle come a running down over the knoll behind the house with the little buck right behind them...my uncle got his feet tangled up in the dogs chain and hit the dirt hard.  The ECO headed to his car pulled out his shotgun and killed the deer a mere few feet from the car.  So why did this deer act this way???  He was taken to Delmar, Ny which is the NYSDEC Wildlife biologist lab.  A few weeks later the deer tested positive for Distemper.  In Dogs, Distemper usually will make them mean and sickly.  The deer was underweight but the biologists could only conclude that in deer, it makes them curious.


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## NOYDB (Apr 7, 2008)

Deer are very curious. My sister has a small farm and is the local animal Lady. Whenever someone finds a fawn that's been abandoned, they bring it to her. She has an enclosure next to the horses, the fence is only high enough to keep dogs out, they can jump it a leave whenever they want once they  get past the first year. Most do but a couple have stuck around for years. 

They watch everything you do. And if you go by the pen they are right there to see what you are doing. When you go in they expect treats and will stick their nose in your pocket looking for one. If you're slow with the goodies they will bump you like a goat, only not as hard. For some reason they like mustaches. Several of them over the years have stood on their hind legs and put their front hoofs on my shoulders so they can nibble on my stache. I've got a pic in the album of my BIL reclined back in his chair with a very young fawn standing on his chest nibbling on his stache. That fawn was raised by a Rottweiler. My sister's house dog, Mercy raised kittens too. That fawn would curl up next to the dog and they'd be sound asleep on the dog bed. The fawn liked to jump up on the arm of the couch then on to the back and run down the length of the couch then down across your lap and back around.

If they get habituated to humans they get very nosey about what you are doing and downright pushy when it comes to food.

I would guess your little friend may have been raised by someone.


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## cgn526 (Apr 7, 2008)

Wow Patrick, now I believe you (I believed you before, but the pics.....wow!). 
Maybe he's one of those lonely, gender confused types.


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## ditchdoc24 (Apr 7, 2008)

That's the thing, I was PETTING this deer. There's no way a wild deer would get this close to a human, much less allow physical contact. I kept trying to get a picture of the two of us together but it wasn't possible.


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## SELFBOW (Apr 7, 2008)

Got any panther pics?


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## MERCing (Apr 7, 2008)

That is a super cool story, especially with the pics !

 Had a similar experience with a spike several years ago on opening morning of bow season. 
I've got a bunch of pics of him but they are on hard film(35mm) and I'll have to try and find them.
 I even hesitantly drew on him but it was still too dark to see the pins clearly at the time.
After I found out how friendly he was, I was sure glad that I hadn't been able to see them. 
 I went on to see him several more times during bow season and got some additional pics.  

I always carry a camera in my dayback, just for those crazy, normally unbelievable moments.

Thanks for sharing that with us.


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## Rich Kaminski (Apr 7, 2008)

He might have been someones pet. I leased property from a guy who would spray paint his buck hunter orange so nobody would shoot it during hunting season.

Now on the other hand I had a button buck walk up beside me while I was sitting on the ground last year and he smelled me, walked a few steps away, came back and smelled me again and they tried sitting down next to me.
I scared him off for his own good and mine. With that type of behavior he would never live to be a 8 pointer or better. So he needed a scaring, to learn to be more cautious.


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## redneckcamo (Apr 7, 2008)

honestly you should have sat down an talked too him a while !!!......never can tell what he mighta bleated out


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## 11P&YBOWHUNTER (Apr 7, 2008)

redneckcamo said:


> honestly you should have sat down an talked too him a while !!!......never can tell what he mighta bleated out



True Redneckcamo...he also might of been suffering from BUCK FEVER!!  Or, he might of seen the movie Brokeback mountain and thought it was Buck Backs Mountain...  Dern...I am on a roll!!!


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## SuthernStix (Apr 7, 2008)

Several years ago I was walking around during bow season on a lease in Putnam Co. I walked up on a doe that was bedded down. She stood up and just looked at me from about 10 yards. It just seemed to easy so I didn't even draw my bow. I walked around the doe and the whole time she just watched me. When I looked back she was following me up the trail. This went on for a couple hundred yards. She would stay about 20 yards behind me. When I stopped the doe would stop, soon as I started walking she would be right behind me. Followed me all the way to the truck.


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## redneckcamo (Apr 7, 2008)

11P&Y ..... maybe the movie that is floatin round here tonite  bout baby an mama wanna be yo baby mama


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## 11P&YBOWHUNTER (Apr 7, 2008)




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## short stop (Apr 8, 2008)

cool pics ---
 growing up  cutting hay   we 'd catch fawns all the time  in the Spring .
 And  when they 'd  a lil  older get  a few dumbos  like you got here   --they  seemed  to forget  who  /what you were  -- or   curosity   of the  cat   you might say   . They'd run up to ya  like you were lost  sheep --really they were no diif than our  calves   running around -- very curious about everything .  
   Usualy took  a gentle  swoft kick in the  rump   &  it  would send em packing   occasinally you'd get one that seemed to tolerate  the boot  and  youd have to grab'em by the ear  and   escort them to the edge of the field .  Kinda funny  watchin grown men  get all tore  up   shootin  at  em with  Bazzokas   a few months later --lol

     great pics --  I woulda believe you even  if you didnt have  em . Looks like you found  a  knuckle head  too .


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## Jim Thompson (Apr 8, 2008)

thats why folks should not shoot little bucks...dumbest animals on the planet

although they do grow up to be some bad bad dudes


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## dixie (Apr 8, 2008)

Jim Thompson said:


> thats why folks should not shoot little bucks...dumbest animals on the planet
> 
> although they do grow up to be some bad bad dudes



Yep, I've had them walk toward me on the tractor and act like they wanted to play


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## kornbread (Apr 8, 2008)

i had a fawn that was about 3 months when the doe got hit by a car and he would not come around when she was alive but as soon as she got hit it was like a light switch you could call him by name and he would come running to you


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## 60Grit (Apr 8, 2008)

That behavior will make for an easy shot on a trophy in a few years....


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## gadeerwoman (Apr 8, 2008)

Someone had obviously raised him when he was little so he got imprinted on humans. Had 1 like that around the house for a couple years until someone shot him. He used to follow me when when I'd go bowhunting. Cute little fellow.


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## 01Foreman400 (Apr 8, 2008)

That would be cool.  Thanks for sharing.

Darrell


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## Jake Allen (Apr 8, 2008)

That was a cool experience, kind of freaky.
One never knows what may happen when you head to the woods.
He may have been hanging around the dairy farm.
Thanks for the pictures.


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## John2 (Apr 8, 2008)

*Company*

That is a neat experience.  I wish something like that will happen to me one day.


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## dawg2 (Apr 8, 2008)

I'll bet someone raised it and let it go.  Especially if you were petting it.  Cool story...but that deer won't have a chance in the wild.


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## hevishot (Apr 8, 2008)

I would bet he was someones pet that was released. Great pics and amazing!


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## Wild Turkey (Apr 8, 2008)

Years ago, during bow season I was walking to get a buddy from his stand and bleating a tune while walking. I looked back and a young fawn was following me. It followed me all the way to my buddys stand. He wanted to shoot it but I stopped him. It was just a baby. The bleating tune was too much for it to resist.


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## puredrenalin (Apr 10, 2008)

Too cool, unusual but cool!!! LOL!!


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## Ozzie (Apr 10, 2008)

I had a doe come up to me in the dark a few years ago when I was wearing a green streamlite and setting up a pop up ground blind.  She got within 3 feet of me and I had to run her off in order to finish setting up the ground blind before daybreak.  I suppose she just didn't perceive any danger from humans in the dark.


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## ACguy (Apr 10, 2008)

That is awsome . Sucks for him thow he may not last long in the wild. I wonder if you shoot your gun at him if it would teach him to stay away from humans. If your land is big enough you could put a collar on him so the othere member new not to shot him.


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## cpowel10 (Apr 10, 2008)

ACguy said:


> That is awsome . Sucks for him thow he may not last long in the wild. I wonder if you shoot your gun at him if it would teach him to stay away from humans. If your land is big enough you could put a collar on him so the othere member new not to shot him.



I wouldn't put a collar on him, thats a good way to get tangled up in a fence or bushes and have a slow death, or have the collar slowly choke him to death as he grows.  Lots of dogs have met their fate that way.


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## insanehunter (Apr 13, 2008)

i have had deer watch me 10 yards away when i put corn out during the off season and a spike would follow me when i was  toting the corn to put it out. they knew were the corn come from!


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## honkee (Apr 13, 2008)

yeah happens to me almost every day, a neighbor shot his mother so they got a permit to keep and raise him for 90 days but now he wont leave and roames the neighborhood and just plays with kids and dogs all day


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## THREEJAYS (Apr 13, 2008)

I go w/ the pet theory


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## win280 (Apr 14, 2008)

Maybe your wife didn't wash your hunting cloths for good luck since deer season and you left some deer scent on them???just kidding!
Kool pics. Shows deer are very adaptable to the environment.


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## Inatree (Apr 14, 2008)

I had a similar expeirience with 2 coyotes while bowhunting in Missouri except they had me a little scared, (They were a good bit bigger than Ga coyotes) so I made sure they understood that they were not welcome to tag along with me.


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## fishbum2000 (Apr 14, 2008)

*i belive you*

here is why


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## sweatequity (Apr 14, 2008)

*I would*

say the deer was either retarded, curious, somewhat tame or a little of all the above.


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## drawdown (Apr 14, 2008)

*Your Buddy*

Great pictures. Thanks for your posting.


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## 4wheeling4life (Apr 14, 2008)

craaaaaazzzzzyyyyyy


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## Gentleman4561 (May 13, 2008)

wow thats a awesome story


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## marknga (May 13, 2008)

4 years ago we were in a lease in Putnam County and had a similar experience. We were driving down a perimeter dirt road and 3 deer crossed right in front of us. I stopped and my wife rolled down her window and there was a small deer standing by the road looking at us. My wife opened up the door and got out talking "sweetly" to the little deer and walked right up to it. Of course the "mama doe" was blowing like crazy about 10 yards into the trees.

That same weekend another member and his wife were scouting and walked up on a small fork horn buck. The buck walked right up to him and nudged him in the belly with his nose. Said it scared the heck out of him! Guess he had been a pet for some of the locals and was looking for a snack. 

Funny how we can have these encounters in the off season but when hunting season rolls around them ol deer get harder to see ............ much less pet!


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (May 16, 2008)

I also had an encounter several years ago that was similar.  I had been to a jobsite up in Pickens, South Carolina and I used my video camera filming the details at the plant.  During my drive home, I crossed back over into Georgia and decided to look at the new construction at the Russell Dam project.  A few miles from there in the middle of nowhere, I saw a deer standing in the edge of the woods alongside the roadway.  I turned my video camera on and turned around and went back to try to film this deer.  Well when I saw the deer again and pulled over, I just started filming out of the window on the drivers side.  Pretty soon the deer kept eating and coming closer to my car and as I talked to it and beat on the top of my car, it just looked at me without any fear.  I got out and continued filming as I walked out into the woods with this fat doe and it stayed within 6-10 foot of me as we walked along for about 15-20 minutes in the woods.  I had left my car running with the door open alongside the road.  I looked back up toward the road and actually saw the game warden driving by and I actually said that to the deer on film.    When I got home, my wife and daughter didn't believe me when I told them at first BUT when I got the VHS tape and put it in the recorder, they were really amazed.  I still have this tape and I watched it again recently.  Without the proof, no one would believe me.  It was a chance of a lifetime.  

I have a friend in upstate Virginia that has nine deer that live in their yard.  There are both does and bucks and they will even ring their doorbell and come inside their house when they open the door.  They also lay down beside them while the family sits in the yard and they will rear up on them while they are sitting in a lounge chair.  Their dogs actually play with these deer.  They sent me some photos of this several months ago.


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## WarrenCo (May 17, 2008)

that same thing happened to one of my friends. He was walking through the woods, on his way to hang a climbing stand. A spike walked up to him and followed him for several hundred yards and then walked off. He said it blew his mind.


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## GAnaturalist (May 18, 2008)

My dad was deer hunting, sitting on the ground against a old stump when a fawn/yearling and doe came into the open. He was waiting for the buck to follow when the fawn walked right up to him and blew snot all over his face. He didn't move because he did not want them to blow and alarm a nearby buck. So he sat there a took more snot to the face. He never did see a buck. You have to know my dad.


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## BornToHuntAndFish (Jun 26, 2012)

That was way too cool.  Somehow I missed this earlier  Thanks for posting.  

 

bump to the top


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## Marty55 (Jun 27, 2012)

That was a PETA deer, specially trained to distract hunters...


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## bigelow (Jul 2, 2012)

cool pix and story


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## NCHillbilly (Jul 2, 2012)

Cool story. I had a yearling doe follow me about a mile like that once when I was hiking back into the woods to a trout stream.


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## Michael F. Gray (Jul 2, 2012)

There is an elderly couple approved by our state's Wildlife Commission that takes in orphaned fawns, especially when the doe is hit by a car. At one time they had about 15 little ones. They raise them for kids to come and pet, and feed. I've been to this secluded location to find the little ones wandering around. If they think you have food, they are all over you. Some would eat out of your hand. It was a remarkable experiance I shared with my children. We carried a burlap sack of shelled corn, and a sack of feed to help the cause.


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## jerry russell (Jul 3, 2012)

I missed it too. I had this same thing happen to me with a whitetail in extreme North Clayton county years ago in an area where there were very few deer and no hunting. It was an adult doe and she ate pears out of my hand.


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