[Brian Pfleuger]

This is a good reminder.

I had a similar, though less dramatic (at least in the retelling), situation that also completely changed the way I think in the woods.

I was probably 18 or 19 and my father had gone to the end of a very long section of scrubs to walk back my way and hopefully push me a deer. Well, before long I hear something coming. I knew it was a deer. Sounded like a deer walking, stopped and started like a deer, didn't make any non-deer sounds and it was WAY too soon for dad to be back. I didn't point the gun but I did click off the safety and prepare to shoulder it. The next thing I know, there stands dad. He had only gone half way to the end instead of all the way because he was tired of walking.

I knew the sounds I heard were a deer. I can't even describe how positive I was. The shock of the potential of my being wrong in that situation has never left me, almost 20 years later. It still gives me chills.