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Yup! Well said. For decades I've been happy to see does because that really raises the chances of seeing a buck. It happened this afternoon, though the buck was a decent 8 but not a great one. Nothing gets my heart pumping like watching a group of does turn abruptly to the woods and get those ears up. I just know the big guy is about to walk out. I've seen it so many times.
You just have to put in the time to be in the woods enough to raise your odds of seeing the big buck. And you have to hunt them in a smart manner.
I'll bet it was 40 years ago when I was in a brand new wooden ladder blind, sitting under a poncho that I had 'borrowed' from the USMC. There was a steady sleet falling, but no other sound. Just the hiss of the sleet. Just at dusk, here came maybe 10 does, silent as ghosts, filing out of the woods from behind me on my right. They set up what looked like a defensive perimeter in the bean field stubble. Then...just at dark the lead doe turned to the woods and gave some unknown (and unseen by me) signal. And he stepped out of the palmettos. Man...I live for those moments and those memories. That buck was an old one. Way past his prime. He had lived a long time by making no mistakes.
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