Our land, Tower Camp, is an out parcel in the forest and while it
is in the middle of nowhere it's also in the middle of some pretty
good hunting areas so on occasion we hear other people out in the
woods around us. But once the sun goes down and the hunters go home
it's just us and the critters out there.
The Island King, the Youngest Island Boy and I were spending the
weekend up there and Friday night, after the Youngest went to bed,
the Island King and I were hanging out around the fire, talking and
enjoying how peaceful the woods are at night.
He was standing on the other side of the fire and suddenly I
noticed his entire posture change. He was staring at the tree line
and when I asked what he was looking at he told me to ssshhhh.
Immediately, he turned around and walked over to the truck, loaded
his shotgun and walked back towards the fire.
I knew he had his 45 on his hip and I knew that if a deer sprang
out of the woods into our camp he wouldn't shoot it so I had no idea
what was happening.
I picked up my 38 and stood up, fully expecting him to tell me to
sit back down because everyone knows he gets a little nervous when I
have my gun out.
But he didn't. He walked a little closer to the tree line, shotgun
pointed at the trees. I walked up and stood a few feet away from him,
aiming my gun into the woods as well.
He motioned at me and we both stepped a little closer to the tree
line.
By this time I could barely breathe. Honestly, I don't think I've
been that scared in a LONG time.
Suddenly, I'm not the crazy woman with a gun trying to shoot
snakes, I'm an armed asset - which means he obviously believes there
is a threat in the woods.
Buddy the Beagle, who had been snoring in a chair by the fire,
woke up and immediately went to growling. He came and stood between
the Island King and I and then started towards the woods.
The Island King called his name, loudly, and then racked a shell
into the chamber of his shotgun.
Which sounded SO loud in the quiet of the woods.
Right then something went crashing through the woods down the tree
line and I swear I almost wet my pants. Until that moment, us
standing there in the moonlight, guns pointed at the woods seemed
almost surreal but the sound of something running made everything
crystal clear.
The Island King told me to put Buddy on the leash, he turned on
his flashlight and into the woods we went.
Buddy was tugging on the leash and led us down a trail out onto a
fire break road.
Again, I realized this could be really serious because I'm walking
along behind the Island King, gun drawn and he's ok with that.
I could see our campfire through the woods and was torn between
following my husband and getting too far from my sleeping son.
Just then Buddy led us to the spot the Island King says he first
heard the noise come from and Buddy's whole demeanor changed. He went
from growling dog to baying beagle and in the moonlight I saw the
Island King relax.
“It was a deer” he says.
And the very next words out of his mouth were “You can holster
that cannon now.”
We beat our way through the woods and into our camp where the only
thing I could say was “What in the hell just happened?”
He says that when he first heard the sounds in the woods they
didn't sound like a deer or animal at all and he believed there was a
human out there, watching us. He got his shotgun because his 45 is
great but in the woods he felt better having his shotgun.
And he said he believed that if it was a human one of two things
would happen when he racked the shell – someone would either start
hollering “Hey, don't shoot!” or they would run away.
It's funny how that sound can be almost as powerful as the weapon
it comes from.
He was back at ease almost immediately but I was so full of
adrenaline I couldn't sit still.
It didn't help when he went on to bed a few minutes later and left
me wide awake and very nervously sitting by the fire.
The next morning the first thing I did was investigate.
I put on my Officer Obie hat, took 27 8x10 color glossies of the
scene of the crime and came to the conclusion that it was indeed a
deer.
This is the trail that Buddy led us into and it's the same spot the Island King first heard the noises.
Turns out there is a nice little clearing right on the outside of the fence facing camp.
When he racked the gun I heard whatever it was run off down the tree line - not back out the trail we came in on and as I was standing in the clearing I could see an obvious deer trail that led along the tree line.
A trail that had no broken branches on it. I'm no tracker or CSI expert but I am a geocacher and if a human had run down this trail branches would be broken and it would look like someone plowed through there.
Pleased with the results of my investigation I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend but that is one Friday night I won't forget for a long time.Labels: Done
