Radical Bowhunter:

The Sounds Of The Woods
Understanding the mood

By Dick Scorzafava

A few years back I was hunting this really nice buck just outside his bedroom, when he instantly appeared to the left of my tree stand at 20 yards presenting a perfect broadside shot. I drew my bow, anchored, and slowly squeezed my release. My shot was dead on, or so I thought, but inexplicably my buck ran off into the thick cover of his bedroom. 

In my heart, I knew that I killed that old buck. I searched for him for over three hours with no results. But suddenly I heard a small flock of crows somewhere ahead of me sounding like they were ganging up against some type of animal. They were cawing and squawking to beat the band. I dashed in the direction of the din, and there in a small opening carpeted with high grass was a gang of crows cawing up a storm at my dead buck who was lying on the ground. Recognizing and analyzing the sounds of the woods helped me find my buck that day. 

The average deer hunter spends many hours on stand each season waiting for Mister Big to saunter by his location so he can take a shot. Many times the buck just seems to appear out of nowhere, because the hunter wasn’t really listening with his ears as much or more than he was seeing with his eyes. Most hunters don’t pay attention to the sounds of the woods. The woods are talking to us; all we have to do is pay attention and listen. 

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