The deer were sure to come right past me, my father-in-law assured me  He and my husband would be in tree stands just down the trail so if I didn’t get anything, they would have a chance.  I was not in a stand this year due to pregnancy. I was going to be in a little cave overlooking a trail where the deer funneled through to a farm for grazing.  From the road, it didn’t look like too bad of a hike, but the footing was loose rock on a steep side hill and my belly wasn’t helping my balance.  It was all I could do to keep me and my bow from sliding over the edge. My father-in-law helped me get to the location, although when I got there we realized that the clear shooting lane for the guys was not so great for me, so I had to re-adjust the seating a bit. 

We were hunting in the evening and I wondered how I would get out in the dark.  Even though the guys were just around the corner, I still felt very alone as I settled in.  Once I felt like I was in a comfortable shooting position I just sat back and relaxed. I had a spectacular view.  I was watching the neighbors Great Pyrenees methodically walk the perimeter of the fence and keep the sheep together.  Not too long after I started watching, he came to the fence just across the highway from my cave He started pacing restlessly up and down the fence.  I couldn’t figure out why.  When I started scanning the area, I noticed a pack of coyotes working their way through the brush and ditches; they were on my side of the highway.  The dog had known they were there.  I watched the coyotes weave back and forth for what seemed like hours.  That was when I noticed a doe and fawn making their way through where the coyotes had just been.   The coyotes had gone down a ditch and I had lost sight of them, which secretly made me a little nervous.  Very slowly the pair started working their way towards me.  Much to my dismay though she crossed the water down from where I assumed she would.  Had she sensed I was there?  She seemed to be trying to stay as far from me as possible.  Instead of crossing at an easy crossing she jumped a fence into the brush on the other side and pushed her way through the willows to cross.  She never seemed startled; she just seemed to be making everything difficult.  I was getting anxious as she came out around the corner from where I was and I couldn’t see her.  I was ready and knew I only had a small shooting window.  My heart was pounding as I hoped for her to come around the corner and into my sights.  Just then she came around the corner, but instead of continuing in front of me, she stayed just out of a clear shot and crossed back through the water and willows.  I never had a clear shot.

It was starting to get dark by this time and I knew that I was done shooting.  I had hoped that maybe the doe would make her way past the guys but she must have crossed the highway instead, as I never heard a shot.  We had agreed to turn on our little 2-way radios at the end of shooting light. As I sat there, in the dark, waiting for radio contact the hair started standing up on my neck.  I am afraid of the dark and am not afraid to admit it.  They guys still hadn’t turned on their radios and I was feeling a little panicky.  I could see anything that came up from the front, but if anything came from behind me I wouldn’t see it until it was on top of me.  At that point I was frantically calling on the radio to no avail and I knew it was too risky for me to climb out on my own.  Just then I heard cat sounds, falling rock and all I could do was manage a feeble “GET”.  My heart was leaping out of my chest.  My presence was known and the cat left.  Finally, over the radio I was able to yell, “GET UP HERE NOW” at my husband.  Of course he has the nerve to laugh at me, and say it was probably just a barn cat.  Well maybe it was, but it was also quite possible that it was a much bigger kitty….that I will never know.

I was very much amazed at how heightened my senses were the whole evening. I felt the sounds of the cat were larger than that of a barn cat. Or did my imagination distort my perception of the sounds? Even though I did not fill my tag I had quite an eventful time observing the Great Pyrenees, sheep, coyotes, deer and being observed by the phantom cat.